US-based Nepali writer launches novel in Kathmandu

KATHMANDU: The US-based Nepali author Kenny Pandey's debut novel Other Side of Paradise has been launched amid a function in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

Veteran culture expert Satya Mohan Joshi launched the novel in the event organised by Nepal Chapter of the International Society of Nepali Literature.

The novel sheds light on the cultural differences that do not let materialistic ambitions prevail long.

The novel chronicles the story of two souls—Pemba from Nepal and Linda from California—united initially by admiration for one another, and torn apart by ever-mounting greed and unbridled ambitions.

Speaking on the occasion, chief guest Joshi opined that the book was a remarkable work bridging two paradises of the world.

Critic Mahesh Paudyal lauded the book for bringing into discussion some serious theoretical issues concerning migration and diasporisation in a globalised world.  He underscored the author’s ability to foreground the cleft mentalities of hybridised people, who live in a sub-liminal space between diverse cultures.

Author Pandey elaborated that the book scripts explored similarities between the Buddhist and the Amish Community living in Pennsylvania, America. He claimed the book recounted reality of the remote Amish civilisation in America, untraded by the global media.