Warm reception for The Gurkha’s Daughter

THE NEXT LAUNCH SHOULD TAKE PLACE IN A SPORTS STADIUM: VINOD RAI, CAG

NAVITA PRADHAN
NEW DELHI, 26 Nov: The 24th of November, 2012 marked a special day in the literary world. It was the India launch of a much anticipated book, that of Prajwal Parajuly’s collection of short stories, “The Gurkha’s Daughter”. The book launch was hosted at the India International Center in New Delhi with Quercus as the principal publisher in collaboration with Penguin India.
Prajwal hails from Gangtok, and his stories are mainly about the Nepali-speaking community all over the world. The event flagged off with an introduction from Chiki Sarkar, publishing head of Penguin India setting the tone of the evening. There was a group of around 240 people who made it to the event, many more than anticipated and many had to stand since the approximated seats were already occupied. It was a mixed group with VVIPs such as Agatha Sangma, an MP and former Union Minister of State for Rural Development, Andrew Langstieh, former Accountant General, Sikkim, Karma S. Paljor, the CNN IBN news anchor from Sikkim, renowned poet Sudeep Sen and many top-shot bureaucrats   equally at ease with students and younger people.
The book was launched by Namita Gokhale, Director of the Jaipur Literary Festival, and Vinod Rai, the CAG who had the audience in fits of laughter with his self-deprecating humour and his clear praise of the book, insisting that he found no faults in it no matter how hard he tried, even though finding faults was his principal job. He even mentioned instances from some of the stories and queried Prajwal about how he managed to get nuances of the wide range of interactions so well especially that of the “saasu-buhaari” antagonism in the very first story of the book. The CAG also said he had a request to make- because of the number of people standing, he requested that the next launch be organized in a sports stadium instead.
Namita Gokhale was the moderator for the event and in conversation with Prajwal who fielded questions with an ease rarely seen in first-time authors. He read out two passages from the book giving the audience an idea about the kind of human relations and interactions he has chosen to share with readers with this book… intimate and palpable with a touch of humour. He spoke in a slightly accented English with familiarity, and all present hung on to each of his witty one-liners and humorous repartees.
On being asked whether English or Nepali was his first language, he took a moment and then replied that both were in fact his first languages, an answer that struck a chord with many of the bi-lingual people in the audience. The current state of Nepali literature and the language in the diaspora was discussed and a consensus agree that it was closeted in a way that did not invite global attention yet was alive and thriving on its own and of how the passion of the authors kept it alive. He also informed that The Gurkha’s Daughter has already been translated into Nepali, with a great deal of help from his parents (90 percent, he says), to his 10 percent and read out a passage to the audience which was reminiscent of the novels and stories read as a part of the syllabi in school. He seemed equally comfortable with Nepali as he was with English, using the correct inflection and gender connotations.
He was also asked about the authors who inspired him and he named Charles Dickens, P.G. Wodehouse, Jeffrey Eugenides, Tom Wolfe and Jane Austen amongst others.
The floor was then open to the audience, making it clear that time would allow only 4-5 questions. He was asked a variety of questions, about whether he drew his characters from real life, why short stories as a genre, why the title and if he had social reforms in mind whilst writing the book. To the first question he replied that characters from the stories may have parallels to people he's met in real life but that the incorporation was in no way conscious or arbitrary, “because that’s what fiction is all about”.
Admitting that short stories as a genre wasn’t encouraged very heartily, especially of first-time authors he candidly admitted to wanting to try it for he thought it was easier than writing a novel, a notion which was utterly shattered whilst writing this book. He also admitted that his agent made sure that he wrote a novel as well, as a balancing act perhaps. The difference between the two, he said, laughing, was that short stories were basically a novel without the frivolous parts.
Upon the choice of the title, anecdotes were doled out on the brainstorming of possible names and having people come up with titles such as Himalayan Sunset etc to do justice to the content. Finally they decided on naming it after one of the eight stories in the book, because not only did it fully justify the content, it also resonated with the British (his publishers) who were familiar with the Gurkhas.
He admitted to not thinking consciously of social reforms, as he was a writer of fiction with stories to tell without any conscious social or political agenda, Art for Art's sake as opposed to Art with a purpose.
The answers were to the point, funny and seemingly honest. The rhetoric was limited and the attention of the audience held throughout the evening. He was very cordial and seemed relaxed as he interacted with the people before and after the event. He joked about feeling like a movie star and he was every bit the star of the evening, signing books and posing for photographs whenever he was requested. The turnout was phenomenal and it was reassuring to see the number of people who were so warmly receptive of the book and the voices he sought to represent.