Kathmandu:

Samjhanaka Kuenetaharu is a collection of memoirs of Khagendra Sangraula, one of the most read columnists, written in different time and spaced during the last decade.

In the book, a reader can encounter different people - from Bhawani Ghimire to Basant Thapa to Nirmal Lama to even earlier British envoy Bloomfield, to contemporary literary figures. Some of them are the author’s teachers, some are his friends, philosophers and guides, and yet others are the common characters from among us. But they are not redundant as the readers get to know them more, of course, from the author’s eye. In some of his memoirs, the central character is even a radio, a cap or a telephone. But they are some of the metaphors of his life and our society at present.

There are 26 memoirs in Samjhanaka Kuenetaharu that helps us peep into not only the author’s life but also into the time he has lived and we have lived as well. A lot of people love him and an equal number of people hate him at the same time. The reason: his aggressive writing style.

“He is a daring writer,” writes senior journalist Narayan Wagle of him. But sometimes, somewhere he seems childish in his arguments, not daring rather a stubborn child. But it’s a difficult thing to be a child also. That’s why his literary work is the most controversial and at the same time contemporary.

As it happens, memoirs are not always true and authors are famous for lying to the readers. But Sangraula’s love-hate relationship with Nirmal Lama, honour and respect for Bhawani Ghimire seem true to his heart.

In many ways, Samjhanaka Kuenetaharu is a collection of contemporary essays that bring some rich and so-me poor memoirs of the author’s life. In many ways, the essays seem familiar, at least to the readers of his column.