Kathmandu:

Our Nepal, Our Pride makes for a delightful read.

The collection is full of patriotic and revolutionary zeal. Poems on love and longing have made it all the more beautiful. Bhuwan Thapaliya, the poet, is a one-man

army: He calls humanity to rally against all sorts of suppression and social evils and echoes the voices of the silent majority and the young generation.

Thapaliya has a message for fellow youths: Don’t leave the motherland, for whatever you can do anywhere in the world, you can do it here. Hope the youngsters realise how important they are for the nation.

The poet has a message for fellow poets, too. He calls them not to live in an imaginary world. His message to them: Get in touch with reality, make a difference in people’s lives.

The poet seems to have got the definition of poetry when he writes —

Ah! Poetry is not about meter and rhymes only,It is more about people and their life,

It is more about their tears and smiles.

Peace is of utmost importance for the poet: He calls the dog to mew and the cat to bark for the sake of peace. (Hope the quarrelsome two are listening and are all too willing to give peace a chance.)

There’s no denying the fact that only a handful of poets write in English in this part of the world. Thapaliya is a member of that rare group.

The price is a bit exorbitant for the Nepali readership: In this age of economic depression and job cuts, a whole lot of readers may find it painful to cough up $15 for the collection.

The poet should have worked hard on the content. With the royal regime consigned to history books, some pieces in the collection have lost relevance.

Let’s hope Thapaliya’s poems will light up the dark alleys of our hearts, embalm our souls and show us the way at a time when the Nepali nation is passing through a turbulent period. After all, litterateurs are not only supposed to bring to light a myriad problems; they are also expected to find a way out of the woes.

May this collection encourage budding poets to keep writing, polish and publish their works.