Nights of the Buffalo Bull

The cultural significance of the buffalo and the real fate it suffers.

The buffalo is a culturally very significant animal: it is the vehicle of Death. Death, or Yama as He is known by, is believed to be dark and rides a male bull buffalo. The dream in which one is chased by a buffalo is thus believed to be a significantly bad dream heralding unknown dangers. This story, taken from "Daughter of a Watermill" thus revolves around the buffalo: its cultural significance as well as its fate... The following is an excerpt from the story titled "Nights of the Buffalo Bull".

Sabitri noticed him paying the boy as she walked along the pavement carrying morning meal for him. As the boy darted across the street, he turned, noticed her, and smiled. She felt awkward: he was her husband of years. Why should he smile at her, at this age, as if he was a young man and she a teenager? No doubt, he’s changed again after that eclipse over his brow. ‘(You’ve) Come smiling. What so strange has happened today?’ He flattered her with an unbelievable smile. Yes, unbelievable, of the man muted only yesterday.

‘You know, I saw an insect moult today,’ she replied, ‘and saw it shed a skin.’

‘Is that a good enough reason to smile along? Well, perhaps it is. After all it’s living its life, and life’s a rather precious thing. Don’t mind.’ He sat down on the small mat, his shoes taken off at some distance, towards his back. ‘So you’ve seen an insect moult, aye?’

‘I also noticed a seedling,’ she added, not answering his question of surprise or that of curiosity if that was one. Her husband sometimes asked too many questions like an innocent child as if he knew nothing. And she liked him more for that. He was learned also, and possibly wise too, but not with cunning as was natural to most men. He was her artless husband and she sometimes loved to play with his simplicity even if she hardly knew to read or write her own name.

‘What seedling?’ he asked, startled. ‘I mean, in this cold of winter?’

‘Probably an orange pip has germinated, or a lime seed, in the flower pot. It’s so small, it’s difficult to know which one it is.’

‘It’s orange. I know it’s orange. I’d thrown all the seeds from an orange into that pot last time. Which pot was it?’

How can he be so sure it’s orange. Sabitri questioned to herself. The pots are moved from this side to that side, placed and replaced and exchanged. It all depends upon his moods, the full moon, the no moon... ‘It’s on this side of the doorway—’

‘Which side?’ he quickly asked.

‘This side, ké, this side. The one in which there was aloe before.’

‘Leave it, leave it. Maybe it’s lime, or orange...’ his cheerfulness vanished now that he could not be sure and certain, but it returned once again. ‘So you saw a seedling on the pot? Hhhmmmmm!’ The aloe had already been re-potted in another because the previous pot had looked rather small for its size and now there were few empty pots as well. Empty of any specific plant, that is, and anything could germinate and grow in them. But neither orange nor lime. The pot would be too small for either of them when they grew. Had they germinated in open soil, they would keep growing, produce branches, flower, and fruit. A gift of heaven... Aye, wait! Adhikari had a flash. He hurriedly finished eating and left the empty box for his wife to take back home. ‘Beginning to feel a bit hungry these afternoons,’ he reminded her.

‘In winter it’s always so; one feels more hungry because of the cold.’ She reminded him of the fact.

‘Could you make some rotis and prepare potatoes? Something like the sort?’ he asked.

Sabitri sensed he was up at something again, nodded in affirmation, and left with the empty lunchbox. He couldn’t be dating a damsel at this grey age of his, could he?

Were it a mango... he continued thinking, a banana or a papaya seedling. Anyway, a seed has germinated, sprouted out, pierced the earth and emerged itself into the air, the sky, the light of the heavens. It doesn’t matter what plant or tree it gives rise to, or has the potential. Were it in soil—not in the pot, that is—it would grow, spread branches, produce buds, flower, fruit. And it would cast a shade. Adhikari quickly grabbed a sheet and scribbled lines in it. After finishing, he went through the lines again and again in amazement and chuckled gleefully. Some came so smooth and so easily while others turned you into a different man altogether before they were readable. In ten minutes, for example, this seed-germination-life poem was finished without much effort. In comparison, the buffalo poem had taken three days completely, and disturbed his nights’ sleeps as well. Ah, poetry; poetry! He went through the lines again and satisfied, folded it and shoved it into his pocket; there were now two in it. Adhikari smiled within himself, his gladness visible on his face that has appeared to be brighter. He knew well that there was no end, no finis, to a composition or a creativity of words; the revisions through time could become endless but for the time being two had been done well and they could be filed or trans-written onto his third poetry note-book and read from time to time, to feast himself, to relax his eyes and mind, and for possible improvements. The loose pages and sheets of paper that were now in his pocket could, after they were copied over with dates, then be burnt or shredded, disposed of one way or the other. Adhikari brightened up and became cheerful; he was happy now, at least for the time being.

*** *** ***

There is a love story, two rather strange stories with strange narratives, a story about cigarettes and the Burmese uprising of 1988, and among these, as well as others, also a story of abduction during the violence of the armed insurgency that started in 1966 and lasted for more than a decade. The details are in another post within this blog, if you are interested.

Daughter of a Watermill

Finally, after a long passing of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, suns and moons, seasons, I have been able to bring out my new volume of stories entitled, rightly or wrongly, Daughter of a Watermill. Is there a story by the same title? Of course, there is. Rest assured.

A road accident in the US ends a friendship in an odd twist; the 8888 Burmese Uprising has a strange connection to a father-son duo and cigarettes; the consequences of eating the forbidden are too much for a pious man in Kathmandu; a strange out-of-the-world relationship exists between a teacher and a mirror; a butterfly narrates the sequence of events that leads to death and beyond; the headmaster of a public school delivers a speech-in-mourning brewed with inspiration, anger and satire; and a teenage student narrates the tales of her abduction, at a very very wrong time, by the rebel guerrillas during the armed insurgency.

Find characters as weird as a buffalo or a narrator as unlikely as a mirror, or even a butterfly, in some of the finest stories the likes of which appear nowhere else.

So, what has changed since the last prediction?

First, no characters from the older stories have re-appeared. Rimi got late, of course. Others were slow as well and could not catch up. 

Second, the weird and the strange, unexpected, continues in this book as a whole. Perhaps, it has now become my identity and so has chosen not to leave me. A mirror will tell you a story, yes, believe it right now! Or if you think it can not happen, then there is a butterfly that does it in another place and time; across time's boundaries from two different worlds, in fact. 

Third, the characters are themselves common and ordinary. Their stories are not so at all. 

Last, the cover image has been arranged across cultural, social and language barriers despite the obvious difficulties. Thanks goes to Andrew Ioch.

HERE IS THE DEAL, FINALLY

THESE ARE THE MOST MATURE AND REFINED STORIES I HAVE WRITTEN, AND MOST INTENSELY EMOTIONAL TOO. I DOUBT THERE WILL BE ANOTHER VOLUME LIKE THIS ONE.

If you have gone through the death of a friendship, then I am really very sympathetic. We can even be friends, you and I.

If you have been associated with the 8888 Burmese Uprising, or are part of a father-son duo, or very similar, or have had to share smokes with someone, then I am definitely a friend of yours. (I am not promoting cigarettes or smoking in any way.)

If you are the one whose story is being told by a mirror, lucky you! You have been fortunate enough that you at least had someone, or something, rather, to tell your story.

If you are the butterfly that can flutter between two absolutely different worlds, befriend with me. I need just a connection like you to bridge two different worlds. Would you accept?

If you have eaten the forbidden, you share the same fate with me. I am living through the consequences.

If you happen to listen to one of those speeches in the desert heat, thanks god, you made it through. I could not.

But if you had ever been abducted by the rebel guerrillas during the insurgency for forceful recruitment as a cadre, then I am extremely sorry for your plight. But, yes, I can understand. I will definitely listen to your story.
      

THAT WAS A LITTLE BIT OF DISCLOSURE FROM INSIDE THE STORIES.

So, what's the fuss about?

Nothing in particular. There is no pride, no joy, no celebrations... But, O YESSSS! There's victory in having written something that seems so much difficult to express, so much more difficult to write. SO MUCH EMOTIONAL it made me during the whole of the writing process, so much disturbing it proved throughout. YES, THAT IS VICTORY!! Two of the stories are definitely out of this world, yes.

For a snippet, please go into one of the stories here.

(Cover graphics: Andrew V Ioch; Modified and used with permission. Cover designed by the author.)

Wind Chimes!!!

Some winds are mild and gentle while some are forcefully violent. Talking about life's music, some winds make calm and peaceful chimes while some brew hurricanes. It doesn't matter who faces the cyclones and tornadoes--the question is, who doesn't?--but how and for how long, to produce what music.

The beat, the pulse, the tempo and the rhythm... Winds across the terrains of my life definitely produce my own music. And music does not necessarily always sound beautiful to the ear.

* * *

Since the very beginning I have attempted to get my creative writings in print. My first book was published by a small publisher in Australia way back in 2006. After the initial print run, the publisher went out of business and got dissolved. My bad luck!

I tried most of the publishers I could find on the internet: in Australia, in the UK, in the US and in India. All were regional publishers. I got left out of South Africa, not by design though. All of them turned my books down citing the only reason that my creative work/s did not fit their publishing programme.

Then I found one in Kathmandu, others rejecting, for the very secretly maintained reason that I had no links to higher powers in the chain: I am neither a well-known politician nor a journalist. A small publisher formed by a bunch of friends worked in it but eventually they got separated and my bad luck returned back one more time!

I did not give up trying: I wrote to most. I sent queries, I wrote proposals. All good lucks but all rejections. No way! It should not have happened but it did.

Was I a bad writer? Were my writings not worth the market? Were they not of good beginnings or of quality? Did they not deserve a chance? Was I, in fact, a writer not worth publishing? Was I just a one-time writer after all, like many internationally best-selling ones, and not worth the salt to write any further, or, any more?

Many unanswered questions that plague and haunt me most of the time.

Then luckily, or unluckily, I got a break. I started self-publishing my works. Three books have already been published this way. Five are on the way.

What? Did I really say FIVE?
YES, and YESSS!!!

But what will they be? What will they contain? What will they look like? Have a guess!

The first one to come next will be a collection of short stories. Any continuations? Probably Rimi will come back if she is ready by the time. Another older story may also be back but with original and unmodified plot as against the modified one that had appeared previously.

The second one to come will be a non-fiction, and by the looks and appearances of it, shall take a very beloved position. This one will be a self-help book.

The third one to come will possibly be another non-fiction. If this turns out to be a fiction then the fourth will be the non-fiction. If the fourth becomes another fiction, then the fifth shall be the non-fiction. These three books shall definitely compete with each other to cross the finish line. The two fictions shall have their own positions but the non-fiction shall once again be a self-help book.

So here is a neat probable line-up (re-shuffling may occur).

*Fiction/Short Stories
*Non-fiction
*Fiction
*Non-fiction
*Fiction
*Fiction
*Non-fiction? Fiction? (Impossible to tell at present.)

So the race is on. Everything depends on the way things go with me now as I work on them. Circumstances being favourable, they will come out one by one, soon enough. However, circumstances acting on the contrary, they may take years, or even not get published at all.

But why so cynical? Are they not being written?
Yes. I am working on all FIVE at the same time. I work on one, then take some rest, then I go to the other. The process continues. The speed is the limiting factor, and it depends on things beyond my control. That is FATE, if realizing it is called cynicism or fatalism, or something else. Bad things happen to most people but at their backs, and so is with me. Things are really not that beautiful from many perspectives.

Worried?
Not a bit more than is necessary, no. (We all worry, and need to, but the degree differs.) Why should I be? It isn't a solution, ever, and doesn't provide one, to life's manifold problems. The realization of things slows me down, that's all.


But to cheer myself up, I think I have been in the past, and still am, something that dies many times but never gives up. I have been dead, yes, yet I have risen to fight the battle. To give up, I have never learnt because it has never been an option in my life. If fighting is a must, then either I need to get eliminated or come out victorious. There is no in-between...

Of course there is! That is why I am alive but not completely living!! If Darwin's natural selection process be applied, then my chances of getting selected to live on are rather grim. (If you happen to find out otherwise, please let me know.)

Disappointed?
Yes.

Frustrated at/with myself?
Yes.


What then to expect?
HOPE. There is no better medicine in the world than this. And DREAM. And wait. With PERSEVERANCE!

Things will be as they will be. Neither you can change their course, nor can I. We sing and waltz like wind chimes, the only difference lies in the tune we make in the end. Or we are like parachute-mounted seeds of dandelion carried by the mercy of the wind. Accept or deny, it makes no difference to the way of things. What matters most is how we encourage the good, and enjoy it.

So long then...

Out of Kathmandu

Kathmandu principally can mean three different things: the capital city, the whole Valley of the capital city, or a district by the name of Kathmandu that is in the Valley (the valley derived its name from the name of the district of Kathmandu). Out of Kathmandu is then a collection of stories that were primarily sourced from and written out of the Valley of Kathmandu. For someone from the west, these stories are exotic and they deeply reflect the socio-cultural elements of the Himalayan foothills. Writing these stories presented a huge challenge as many of the terms and references cannot be translate directly into English, and some may even require a whole passage to explain what a term actually refers to. 

Meet the characters that you may not have ever met before: a poverty-stricken village drunkard who is being walked home as muddy as a wallowing water buffalo; a fisto who loses and regains its life more than once during its sleep; a helpless husband who begs by the street to pay for his wife’s operation at a hospital; a home-sick outsider of the city who remembers his remote home-village in the distant mountains; an insane man who disappears into the mist of the busy capital; a legendary ghost who chases villagers out of their wits after dark; an innocent and uneducated village girl who tells the enumerator that she was born in a hay-stack behind her house while she tries to register her name for a voter’s ID...

Characters as weird as a three-horned buffalo and Black Nightshade come vividly alive in this collection to portray the true-to-life tales of love, of loss, of human suffering, of humour, of human-ness, and, after all, of fate and fatelessness of the poor and helpless people living in the remote mountains of Nepal. These are the stories that may not have ever appeared in the west before.

***   ***   ***

The source and inspiration for my stories:

For the most part of my stories, although fiction, I delve deep into the real lives of people and research into their stories. This may take the form of a casual conversation or go much deeper in studying their lives for a long time. Sometimes, a short and brief 5 minutes' conversation becomes enough and sometimes it takes months.

I am not able to create a story completely out of imagination. When I first wrote the story about the typical uneducated country girl by the fictitious name of Rimi (see the list above) I had to rely heavily on my own experiences in the most remote corner of my home-country Nepal, and I was quite sure I had created the most fictitious locale by the name of Ulleri. But after about a year or so and after the story was printed inside the book did I find out, accidentally while scanning a large-format map, that the place by that same name really did exist out of fiction. I could not believe my eyes back then.

For the two stories "Tormented Lakeshore" and "Out of Kathmandu", the latter serving as the cover story, I took the materials from the time of the violence of the Maoist Insurgency in Nepal that saw the loss of more than 14000 (fourteen thousand) lives, many became disappeared, many became the victims of physical disabilities, and many saw the loss of their near and dear ones.

The story "Little Life -- Big Life", on the other hand, revolves around the experiences of a little village girl belonging to the blacksmiths and the social discrimation that exists between a male child and a female child. - See more at: http://fallencorner.blogspot.com/2012/04/stories-in-out-of-kathmandu.html#sthash.r3MiZnWc.dpuf

The source and inspiration for my stories:

For the most part of my stories, although fiction, I delve deep into the real lives of people and research into their stories. This may take the form of a casual conversation or go much deeper in studying their lives for a long time. Sometimes, a short and brief 5 minutes' conversation becomes enough and sometimes it takes months.

I am not able to create a story completely out of imagination. When I first wrote the story about the typical uneducated country girl by the fictitious name of Rimi (see the list above) I had to rely heavily on my own experiences in the most remote corner of my home-country Nepal, and I was quite sure I had created the most fictitious locale by the name of Ulleri. But after about a year or so and after the story was printed inside the book did I find out, accidentally while scanning a large-format map, that the place by that same name really did exist out of fiction. I could not believe my eyes back then.

For the two stories "Tormented Lakeshore" and "Out of Kathmandu", the latter serving as the cover story, I took the materials from the time of the violence of the Maoist Insurgency in Nepal that saw the loss of more than 14000 (fourteen thousand) lives, many became disappeared, many became the victims of physical disabilities, and many saw the loss of their near and dear ones.

The story "Little Life -- Big Life", on the other hand, revolves around the experiences of a little village girl belonging to the blacksmiths and the social discrimation that exists between a male child and a female child. - See more at: http://fallencorner.blogspot.com/2012/04/stories-in-out-of-kathmandu.html#sthash.r3MiZnWc.dpuf

The source and inspiration for my stories:

For the most part of my stories, although fiction, I delve deep into the real lives of people and research into their stories. This may take the form of a casual conversation or go much deeper in studying their lives for a long time. Sometimes, a short and brief 5 minutes' conversation becomes enough and sometimes it takes months.

I am not able to create a story completely out of imagination. When I first wrote the story about the typical uneducated country girl by the fictitious name of Rimi (see the list above) I had to rely heavily on my own experiences in the most remote corner of my home-country Nepal, and I was quite sure I had created the most fictitious locale by the name of Ulleri. But after about a year or so and after the story was printed inside the book did I find out, accidentally while scanning a large-format map, that the place by that same name really did exist out of fiction. I could not believe my eyes back then.

For the two stories "Tormented Lakeshore" and "Out of Kathmandu", the latter serving as the cover story, I took the materials from the time of the violence of the Maoist Insurgency in Nepal that saw the loss of more than 14000 (fourteen thousand) lives, many became disappeared, many became the victims of physical disabilities, and many saw the loss of their near and dear ones.

The story "Little Life -- Big Life", on the other hand, revolves around the experiences of a little village girl belonging to the blacksmiths and the social discrimation that exists between a male child and a female child. - See more at: http://fallencorner.blogspot.com/2012/04/stories-in-out-of-kathmandu.html#sthash.r3MiZnWc.dpuf

The source and inspiration for my stories:

For the most part of my stories, although fiction, I delve deep into the real lives of people and research into their stories. This may take the form of a casual conversation or go much deeper in studying their lives for a long time. Sometimes, a short and brief 5 minutes' conversation becomes enough and sometimes it takes months.

I am not able to create a story completely out of imagination. When I first wrote the story about the typical uneducated country girl by the fictitious name of Rimi (see the list above) I had to rely heavily on my own experiences in the most remote corner of my home-country Nepal, and I was quite sure I had created the most fictitious locale by the name of Ulleri. But after about a year or so and after the story was printed inside the book did I find out, accidentally while scanning a large-format map, that the place by that same name really did exist out of fiction. I could not believe my eyes back then.

For the two stories "Tormented Lakeshore" and "Out of Kathmandu", the latter serving as the cover story, I took the materials from the time of the violence of the Maoist Insurgency in Nepal that saw the loss of more than 14000 (fourteen thousand) lives, many became disappeared, many became the victims of physical disabilities, and many saw the loss of their near and dear ones.

The story "Little Life -- Big Life", on the other hand, revolves around the experiences of a little village girl belonging to the blacksmiths and the social discrimation that exists between a male child and a female child. - See more at: http://fallencorner.blogspot.com/2012/04/stories-in-out-of-kathmandu.html#sthash.r3MiZnWc.dpuf

The source and inspiration for my stories:

For the most part of my stories, although fiction, I delve deep into the real lives of people and research into their stories. This may take the form of a casual conversation or go much deeper in studying their lives for a long time. Sometimes, a short and brief 5 minutes' conversation becomes enough and sometimes it takes months.

I am not able to create a story completely out of imagination. When I first wrote the story about the typical uneducated country girl by the fictitious name of Rimi (see the list above) I had to rely heavily on my own experiences in the most remote corner of my home-country Nepal, and I was quite sure I had created the most fictitious locale by the name of Ulleri. But after about a year or so and after the story was printed inside the book did I find out, accidentally while scanning a large-format map, that the place by that same name really did exist out of fiction. I could not believe my eyes back then.

For the two stories "Tormented Lakeshore" and "Out of Kathmandu", the latter serving as the cover story, I took the materials from the time of the violence of the Maoist Insurgency in Nepal that saw the loss of more than 14000 (fourteen thousand) lives, many became disappeared, many became the victims of physical disabilities, and many saw the loss of their near and dear ones.

The story "Little Life -- Big Life", on the other hand, revolves around the experiences of a little village girl belonging to the blacksmiths and the social discrimation that exists between a male child and a female child.
- See more at: http://fallencorner.blogspot.com/2012/04/stories-in-out-of-kathmandu.html#sthash.r3MiZnWc.dpuf

The source and inspiration for my stories:

For the most part of my stories, although fiction, I delve deep into the real lives of people and research into their stories. This may take the form of a casual conversation or go much deeper in studying their lives for a long time. Sometimes, a short and brief 5 minutes' conversation becomes enough and sometimes it takes months.

I am not able to create a story completely out of imagination. When I first wrote the story about the typical uneducated country girl by the fictitious name of Rimi (see the list above) I had to rely heavily on my own experiences in the most remote corner of my home-country Nepal, and I was quite sure I had created the most fictitious locale by the name of Ulleri. But after about a year or so and after the story was printed inside the book did I find out, accidentally while scanning a large-format map, that the place by that same name really did exist out of fiction. I could not believe my eyes back then.

For the two stories "Tormented Lakeshore" and "Out of Kathmandu", the latter serving as the cover story, I took the materials from the time of the violence of the Maoist Insurgency in Nepal that saw the loss of more than 14000 (fourteen thousand) lives, many became disappeared, many became the victims of physical disabilities, and many saw the loss of their near and dear ones.

The story "Little Life -- Big Life", on the other hand, revolves around the experiences of a little village girl belonging to the blacksmiths and the social discrimation that exists between a male child and a female child.
- See more at: http://fallencorner.blogspot.com/2012/04/stories-in-out-of-kathmandu.html#sthash.r3MiZnWc.dpuf

The source and inspiration for my stories:

For the most part of my stories, although fiction, I delve deep into the real lives of people and research into their stories. This may take the form of a casual conversation or go much deeper in studying their lives for a long time. Sometimes, a short and brief 5 minutes' conversation becomes enough and sometimes it takes months.

I am not able to create a story completely out of imagination. When I first wrote the story about the typical uneducated country girl by the fictitious name of Rimi (see the list above) I had to rely heavily on my own experiences in the most remote corner of my home-country Nepal, and I was quite sure I had created the most fictitious locale by the name of Ulleri. But after about a year or so and after the story was printed inside the book did I find out, accidentally while scanning a large-format map, that the place by that same name really did exist out of fiction. I could not believe my eyes back then.

For the two stories "Tormented Lakeshore" and "Out of Kathmandu", the latter serving as the cover story, I took the materials from the time of the violence of the Maoist Insurgency in Nepal that saw the loss of more than 14000 (fourteen thousand) lives, many became disappeared, many became the victims of physical disabilities, and many saw the loss of their near and dear ones.

The story "Little Life -- Big Life", on the other hand, revolves around the experiences of a little village girl belonging to the blacksmiths and the social discrimation that exists between a male child and a female child.
- See more at: http://fallencorner.blogspot.com/2012/04/stories-in-out-of-kathmandu.html#sthash.r3MiZnWc.dpuf

The source and inspiration for my stories:

For the most part of my stories, although fiction, I delve deep into the real lives of people and research into their stories. This may take the form of a casual conversation or go much deeper in studying their lives for a long time. Sometimes, a short and brief 5 minutes' conversation becomes enough and sometimes it takes months.

I am not able to create a story completely out of imagination. When I first wrote the story about the typical uneducated country girl by the fictitious name of Rimi (see the list above) I had to rely heavily on my own experiences in the most remote corner of my home-country Nepal, and I was quite sure I had created the most fictitious locale by the name of Ulleri. But after about a year or so and after the story was printed inside the book did I find out, accidentally while scanning a large-format map, that the place by that same name really did exist out of fiction. I could not believe my eyes back then.

For the two stories "Tormented Lakeshore" and "Out of Kathmandu", the latter serving as the cover story, I took the materials from the time of the violence of the Maoist Insurgency in Nepal that saw the loss of more than 14000 (fourteen thousand) lives, many became disappeared, many became the victims of physical disabilities, and many saw the loss of their near and dear ones.

The story "Little Life -- Big Life", on the other hand, revolves around the experiences of a little village girl belonging to the blacksmiths and the social discrimation that exists between a male child and a female child. - See more at: http://fallencorner.blogspot.com/2012/04/stories-in-out-of-kathmandu.html#sthash.r3MiZnWc.dpuf

The source and inspiration for my stories:

For the most part of my stories, although fiction, I delve deep into the real lives of people and research into their stories. This may take the form of a casual conversation or go much deeper in studying their lives for a long time. Sometimes, a short and brief 5 minutes' conversation becomes enough and sometimes it takes months.

I am not able to create a story completely out of imagination. When I first wrote the story about the typical uneducated country girl by the fictitious name of Rimi (see the list above) I had to rely heavily on my own experiences in the most remote corner of my home-country Nepal, and I was quite sure I had created the most fictitious locale by the name of Ulleri. But after about a year or so and after the story was printed inside the book did I find out, accidentally while scanning a large-format map, that the place by that same name really did exist out of fiction. I could not believe my eyes back then.

For the two stories "Tormented Lakeshore" and "Out of Kathmandu", the latter serving as the cover story, I took the materials from the time of the violence of the Maoist Insurgency in Nepal that saw the loss of more than 14000 (fourteen thousand) lives, many became disappeared, many became the victims of physical disabilities, and many saw the loss of their near and dear ones.

The story "Little Life -- Big Life", on the other hand, revolves around the experiences of a little village girl belonging to the blacksmiths and the social discrimation that exists between a male child and a female child. - See more at: http://fallencorner.blogspot.com/2012/04/stories-in-out-of-kathmandu.html#sthash.r3MiZnWc.dpuf

The source and inspiration for my stories:

For the most part of my stories, although fiction, I delve deep into the real lives of people and research into their stories. This may take the form of a casual conversation or go much deeper in studying their lives for a long time. Sometimes, a short and brief 5 minutes' conversation becomes enough and sometimes it takes months.

I am not able to create a story completely out of imagination. When I first wrote the story about the typical uneducated country girl by the fictitious name of Rimi (see the list above) I had to rely heavily on my own experiences in the most remote corner of my home-country Nepal, and I was quite sure I had created the most fictitious locale by the name of Ulleri. But after about a year or so and after the story was printed inside the book did I find out, accidentally while scanning a large-format map, that the place by that same name really did exist out of fiction. I could not believe my eyes back then.

For the two stories "Tormented Lakeshore" and "Out of Kathmandu", the latter serving as the cover story, I took the materials from the time of the violence of the Maoist Insurgency in Nepal that saw the loss of more than 14000 (fourteen thousand) lives, many became disappeared, many became the victims of physical disabilities, and many saw the loss of their near and dear ones.

The story "Little Life -- Big Life", on the other hand, revolves around the experiences of a little village girl belonging to the blacksmiths and the social discrimation that exists between a male child and a female child. - See more at: http://fallencorner.blogspot.com/2012/04/stories-in-out-of-kathmandu.html#sthash.r3MiZnWc.dpuf

The source and inspiration for some of the stories in this volume:

For the most part of my stories, although fiction, I delve deep into the real lives of people and research into their stories. This may take the form of a casual conversation or go much deeper in studying their lives for a long time. Sometimes, a short and brief 5 minutes' conversation becomes enough and sometimes it takes months.

I am not able to create a story completely out of imagination. When I first wrote the story about the typical uneducated country girl by the fictitious name of Rimi, I had to rely heavily on my own experiences in the most remote corner of the Himalayan countryside, and I was quite sure I had created the most fictitious locale by the name of Ulleri. But after about a year or so and after the story was printed inside the book did I find out, accidentally while scanning a large-format map, that the place by that same name really did exist out of fiction. I could not believe it.

For the two stories "Tormented Lakeshore" and "Out of Kathmandu", the latter serving as the cover story, I took the materials from the time of the violence of the Maoist Insurgency in Nepal that saw the loss of more than 14,000 (fourteen thousand) lives.

The story "Little Life -- Big Life", on the other hand, revolves around the experiences of a little village girl belonging to the blacksmiths and the social discrimination that exists between a male child and a female child.

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Download and read one of the stories, completely free from the link below:

http://www.goodreads.com/ebooks/download/18622724-out-of-kathmandu




Wishing you a happy reading, and a good reading.