This year’s Madan Puraskar, Nepal’s most prestigious literary prize has gone to an autobiographical book written by handicapped writer, Jhamak Kumari Ghimire.
Ghimire, 30, was born with a severe disability and cannot use her arms andbody, has limited speech, and writes with her toes. Madan Puraskar Guthi cited her extraordinary literary creativity and skill in the Nepali language that she honed overcoming her handicap. “It is a heart-warming and inspirational story that should set an example to value the written word for today’s students who do not have the disadvantages that she had to overcome,” the citation says.
Ghimire is the only the second woman to receive the Madan Puraskar in its 56 year history after the novelist Parijat in 1965, who was also handicapped. The chapters in Ghimire’s book deal with the earliest
memories of her childhood, how she had to overcome her disabilities, her yearning for learning and the physical and mental hardships she had to bear on account of her handicap. The book has a strong message to the Nepali state and society on gender discrimination and the right of marginalised individuals and communities to be treated equally.
Madan Puraskar Guthi also awarded the Jagadamba Shri prize for lifetime contribution to the Nepali language to the poet, Durga Lal Shrestha. His poems have been immortalized by Ani Choying Dolma, including the hit song, “Phulko Ankha Ma Phulai Sansara”.
Both prizes carry a purse of Rs 200,000 and will be formally awarded on 29 September.
Phulko Ankha Ma Phuhlai Sansara, lyrics by Durga Lal Shrestha sung by Ani Choying Dolma:
Of poverty and poems by Manjushree Thapa
https://nepalitimes.com/issue/105/Literature/10242
A renegade child of the hills by Rabi Thapa