12 January 2026
‘What is literature?’
‘Literature is personal expression. Literature plays a big role in human development. Literature kindles hope and a joyous perspective. If something as crucial as literature gets tainted by vulgarity, lay people will lose faith.’
When the author of Shukti Sindhu mentioned ‘vulgarity’, I was naturally faced with the question ‘What vulgarity?’.
So, I asked him, ‘What is vulgarity in your opinion?’
‘When boundaries get crossed, that’s vulgar. For example, the contemporary trend of using rubbery rhythms [that don’t follow conventions] is literary vulgarity. Not only that, all kinds of writing composed to cause moral harm or disharmony are examples of vulgarity. These can pollute a reader’s emotions and potentially influence the entire society negatively.’
‘In that case, what is Shukti Sindhu?’
‘There is some obscenity, sure, but it would have benefitted from some editing. Shukti Sindhu has a bad reputation only because of a couple of words.’
‘Can you shed some light on how you compiled all that?’
‘Of course. At the time, I was studying in Allahabad. General Ram Shumsher wanted to publish nine volumes of poetry, each containing poems thematically organised by one of the ‘nine emotional states’ (navarasa). The general tasked Shyam-ji Prasad with this project. Then Shyam-ji Prasad asked various poets to submit poems that represented various states and began compiling them. The first one to come out was Shukti Sindhu that represented the shringara state, associated with love and beauty. One of my poems ended up in that collection. It was banned during Chandra Shumsher’s rule citing obscenity. Along with that, the rest of the collections representing different emotional states were all banned and even confiscated and they remain lost to this day. If we had managed to publish the entire work, an important project in Nepali literature would have been accomplished. Unfortunately, that couldn’t happen.’
‘How do you view Shukti Sindhu’s obscenity in the context of vulgarity in literature?’
‘As I mentioned before, if only a couple of words had been edited out of Shukti Sindhu, it wouldn’t have been associated with literary vulgarity. And I’m totally against the idea of justifying vulgarity in the name of literary realism. It’s not okay to spread obscenity and disharmony. There ought to be a limit, and by that, I don’t mean controlling and banning reason. Because anyone composing a literary work requires complete freedom of thought and expression. All I’m saying is literature should not encourage questionable cultural and systemic practices.’
‘What do you think about the way contemporary literature is progressing?’
‘To be honest, I haven’t had a chance to analyse contemporary literature properly. That’s why I’m not comfortable presenting my views on this.’
‘Even so, you must surely have a stance regarding how it ought to be.’
‘Since we live in a scientific age, it’s understandable, to some extent, that people tend to express roiling sentiments. We must allow imaginations to soar. In literature, it is also appropriate to portray a vision for the future facilitated by a soaring imagination. World literature has demonstrated that literature can play a huge role in national prosperity. How can one value one’s culture, tradition and complete sovereignty? Literature shows the way. To speed up the project of national development, we could provide educational messages through Nepali literature. We ought to feel proud of our literature. For example, Japan’s development since 1867 was made possible because of the dissemination of modern ideas through its contemporary literature while maintaining a traditional devotion towards the monarchy. To continue our wise traditions, it’s crucial to allow the creation of radical literary projects that are somehow based on our culture.’
Tribhuvan University’s campus in Kirtipur! The midday August heat! A few university students were sitting under a tree, chatting, and we could hear sporadic noise emanating from the Tribhuvan Highway. Apart from these, the only other sound was caused by leaves rustling. After trying numerous times, I was finally able to meet Vice-Chancellor Rudra Raj Pandey today. He was often occupied in the afternoons due to various meetings related to academic counselling, curricula and other important issues. Naturally, it was difficult to meet him because he goes to Pashupati every morning and spends his evenings in kirtan gatherings. It was also understandable that our conversation couldn’t proceed in a straightforward manner because it kept getting interrupted by phone calls or by personnel. Just now, there was a gentleman embarking for America the following day for higher studies, visiting to bid farewell. While saying goodbyes, Pandey-ji quipped, ‘If you find anything at the university over there that might be suitable for us, do write with your suggestions. When you return, maybe you’ll bring some of that to Kirtipur anyway.’ In this way, our conversation often merged and conflicted with issues related to the university.
It was Shree Teen Juddha Shumsher who had honoured him with the title of Sardar. And the contribution by Sardar Rudra Pandey-ji to Nepali literature’s initial development is indeed not minuscule but quite significant. Although Sumati by Bishnu Charan is considered to be the first, Pandey-ji’s Rupmati was in fact the first original Nepali social novel to be published and because of that, Nepali literature owes a lot to him. But it’s not just due to this pioneering aspect that Rupmati became well-known. Its publication was remarkable because it heralded an era of simple and fluid Nepali prose, uplifting the language itself and causing great stylistic influence.
Let’s hear about Pandey-ji’s childhood from the man himself, someone who managed to contribute greatly to Nepali literature but through the indirect medium of education, while working in the capital for advocacy. He says, ‘I began reciting Bhanubhakta’s Ramayana at the age of five. At the Sanskrit school, I was reading texts like Laghu Kamaudi, Hitopadesh, and Chandi. When I noticed our neighbour Kuble Raj’s three sons studying in English, I used to wonder, “What if I could also study in English…” That wish was fulfilled due to Ishwari Dutt Ratodi’s inspiration and assistance. And then Durbar School began offering English education. Although Bal Krishna Sama was in fourth class when I was in the second, the two of us managed to become good friends. I had already begun writing poems by then and was already exchanging letters with Parasmani-ji. When I was fifteen, my first two poems were published: “Sandhya” in the Benaras-based Chandrika and “Jagriti” in the Darjeeling-based Chandra.’
‘How did you get inspired to read and write?’
‘In those days, literature-lovers gathered in Jogbir Singh’s clothing store located in Machhindra Bahal to talk about literature. It used to be frequented by people like Lekhnath, Chakrapani Chalise, Shambhu Prasad, Mani Dutt, Dip Keshwar Lohani, Punyanath, and Bhojraj Pandey. Some even read excerpts from their work and received feedback. I used to tag along with the extempore poet Shambhu Prasad Dhungel from Te Bahal to Jogbir’s store even though I was a child. Perhaps that habit influenced me. Another important aspect—I used to visit the Gorkha Agency bookstore in Bhotahity, founded by the dual authors of Chandra Mayukh Bhuchandra Chandrika, Baijanath and Jagnath Sedhai, right after school and read recently published works. I regularly participated in literary programmes. I was also familiar with all the new Hindi and Urdu plays getting produced those days because I used to visit Sama-ji frequently. We regularly discussed the possibility of writing plays in Nepali. At the time, he hadn’t written a play in Nepali yet.’
‘So it’s possible that your acquaintance influenced Sama-ji to begin composing plays in Nepali?’
‘It’s possible.’
He went to Allahabad for further studies after completing high school in 1919 with a focus on the Hindi language. Six years later, he graduated with an MA in history. During this period away from Nepal, he kept in touch with various literary groups and collectives. After completing his studies, he returned to Kathmandu. According to custom, he paid a visit to Maharaja Shree Teen Chandra Shumsher and was appointed a professor to teach history in Tri-Chandra College that same day. Eighteen months later, due to the death of the then Durbar High School headmaster, Sharada Prasad Mukherji, he was ordered to take on the position. He didn’t want to work as a headmaster, but refusing might have caused unpleasant consequences. But he somehow managed to maintain his professorship at the college. Until then, no representative from Nepal had participated in Patna University’s board meetings. But Rudra Raj Pandey-ji began attending and also began contributing greatly to Nepali literature through his involvement in the education sector.
At the time, there was no provision to study Nepali in high school. It would’ve been very costly to arrange that but Pandey-ji made an effort and found a way. He personally arranged for students to take the SLC exams in Nepali in Nepal and convinced Patna University to recognise the degrees. Everyone was amazed and grateful for this resolution. This experience further galvanised people to establish a university in Nepal, which in turn contributed to the development of Nepali literature. The Allahabad system began offering Nepali as well, but Patna University was hesitant, citing the fact that there still weren’t enough books written in Nepali for IA and BA levels. But Rudra Raj Pandey-ji kept trying and this problem was also solved due to his crafty move. At Patna University’s curricula committee meeting, he took a box full of books which included a few copies of a few books. When he dramatically began taking out stacks of books, intending to demonstrate the variety, the committee was quickly convinced and approved his proposal. He had, in fact, tricked them into thinking there were more titles than existed.
Pandey-ji was religiously inclined in childhood and this trait continued into young adulthood. His ritual of fasting on Monday New Moons might have saved the lives of several scholars and intellectuals when the earthquake hit in 1934. On Monday, January 15 of that year, there was a plan to gather writers concerning the translation of the Oxford dictionary into Nepali. But Pandey-ji refused to attend due to his Monday fast. So, the meeting was cancelled and everyone’s lives were saved. Quite astonishing! He is also a favourite alternative. During the royal coronation ceremony, when the chairperson appointed to honour Dr Radha Krishna for his philosophical lecture disappeared, he filled in as the chairperson, thus saving everyone from humiliation. During the same ceremony, he also played a big role in successfully organising a folk music programme to entertain the special guests.
Rudra Raj Pandey-ji had received Tulasikrit Ramayan as a prize when he was a child. Perhaps his inherent religious inclination provided an opening for literary development. In addition, since he studied in Allahabad, the centre of Hindi literature at the time, his acquaintance with writers such as Prem Chand, Parshuram Chaturvedi and Sumitranandan Pant further refined his literary sensibilities. Since he stayed at the same hostel as Sumitrananda, the two became quite close, and as a result, both ended up acting in Dwijendranath Roy’s Shah Jahan staged at his college. These two talented individuals from Nepal and India became quite famous due to their acting.
Later, he began writing books more intentionally. In order to improve public consciousness after the 1951 political revolution, he published two anthologies, Hamro Gaurab and Hamro Nepal, which referred to national traits of both India and Nepal. ‘India and Nepal both have brave men and women but India lost its sovereignty while Nepal didn’t,’ he maintained. To connect children to spiritual traditions, he wrote Bal Ramayan and Bal Krishna Charitra. He also played a significant role in the production of the monthly Sharada in 1934. Subba Riddhi Bahadur Malla considered him a primary collaborator. Although General Mrigendra Shumsher also helped out quite a bit to produce the monthly, Pandey-ji was the one who faced off against the ruling anti-newsmagazine Rana administration. The team came up with several ruses to make Sharada happen. A censor board was created but he was able to elect his friend Prem Raj Sharma to ensure there was no foul play.
Pandey-ji’s debut was also filled with ingenuity. The revered poet Lekhnath had translated Panchatantra into Nepali prose but the Nepali Bhasa Prakashini [Samiti] prohibited its publication. Alarmed, Pandey-ji came up with another clever trick. He translated Aesop’s Fables, which was part of the English curriculum, and named it Aesop Niti Katha, which carried moral messages similar to Panchatantra. That was his first book-length work. He also wrote Bharat Barshako Itihas for the SLC curriculum, which included the Hindu and Muslim eras but Patna didn’t allow the inclusion of the British era. He wanted to illustrate the brave contribution and significance of Nepalis but wasn’t able to convince the Patna board members who supervised the publication of all textbooks used in Nepal.
