Is writing for fun and fame only?

[blazeofglory]

Is writing for fun and fame only? the participants in the forum may not have heard the name of this country. This is a very small country geographically and very poor indeed. Yet culturally it is very rich. On the top of that nature is very bountiful for Nepal for the beauty of this conuntry is unsurpassable and a country with great bio and enthic diversity.

Despite its size and economic condtions that are not good in point of fact. yet we have many things to hold our heads high. Let us swing to a literary domain. Nepal is really a great country speaking of its rich heritage, religions, cultutre and most of all literature.

We have world class literture and particualry poetry is matchlessly great.

The main concern here is with something that pains me deep down at times when it comes to speaking of some writer who smeared the image of Nepal internationally.

Samrat Upadhyaya, a noted writer who earned great applause from some western medias or literary circles had misrepresented Nepal. People all over the world know us by what is written about us. He had written a collction of poems in the book Arresting God in kathmandu he mainly focussed on sexual perversions. He gave a sadistic picture of Nepal. The degrees by which he wrote pervering and distorting truths we intellectuals in Nepal feel badly hurt.
He just is intent on earnig a reputation as a writer fabrciating things that are totlally not represetative of what Nepal is and the tradions and culture we live with.

Any outsiders readind his books miscintrue how we live in Nepal. This is injustice. As a writer who represents or mirrors the voice of people should no t write in such a perverted way twistig facts. It is totally against progenies and his own will have a misgiving when they visit this country. It is against all of us,his friends and part of his family residing in this beautiful and holy land.

Getting name and fame and money thru a crooked means is not a good thing. Samrat must pay for it and this writing is done out of a desire of getting the rest of budding writers not to follow the course of writing just for the sake of getting over night polyularity. We can be popular by doing good things aswell.

[blazeofglory]

Have you gone thru this book? A book that earned acclaim in the west. A book written by a Neali writer living in the US. A book that is writter with a purpose to represent Nepal to the west, a book written to show that Nepal too have writers who can skillfully write in a foreign language.

However I plead never get swayed by what is written in the book. I agree a novel is fiction and we should not link it with fact. But the fact is we defuinttely without awareness weave an image of the place described in the book.

In this book, criticlly speaking, Samrat did injustice to all of us, particualry to the Nepalse people. No events or cirucmstances so elegantly described in the book represnt or relflect Nepal. It misrepresnts Nepal.

Nepal is really a beuautiful country with rich cultural heritage. I do not claim Nepal is totally clean of things narrated by Samrat but never to the extent of what he did. He picutred Nepal not as it is culturally, full of perverted accounts. No this is injustice to all of us living in this beautiful Himlayan countery, an abode wherein it is written in the Puranal Lord Shiva dwelled.

As a Nepali I must respond to what is misconstrued.

[Aiculík]

I haven't read that book but I can understand how you feel. Not so long ago, some crazy American director (Eli Roth or something like that) made a movie about my country... it was called Hostel. In this movie, Slovakia is terrible place... poor, dirty junkyard, full of maniacs that like to torture American tourists... I need not to say that it was not very popular in Slovakia. And the jerk even made the sequel...

But though it is unjustice, there's nothing we can really do about it. And in fact more you shout about how unjust it is, more people will be curious about the movie or the book or whatever... the best thing is to ignore it. To let everyone forget it...

[Turk]

Oh hello i've never met a Nepali person. Do you wear shoes?

[blazeofglory]

Oh hello i've never met a Nepali person. Do you wear shoes?

You seem to be an alien. The one who is too much obsessed with his country and totally ignorant of the outside world. Have you left your country and travelled any where?

Do not worry even if you have not travelled at all. You can take a virtual travel. Now almost every country on earth is mapped and if you a little curiosity, but you sound you have little, you can see if you can not go there.

If you do this you will not ask a question like a person who has been circumscribed within one's viilage or town.

I pity a person who knows not about a country that birthed the Buddha and whereon stands Mt. Everest. Civilization dawned frst on this land and despite that it is poorer in Economic terms but in so far as a question of culture arises this country is sperior. I hope this will eface part of your ignorance to ask a qustion whether Nepalis wear shoes.
Man! Today you live in an era of globalization. Do not cocoon yourself in a confinement and visit places of civilzation an meet people you will be baffled to see more open and civilized and cultured than you. Then be judgemental. If you prejudge this will be a prejudice. I think you got this.

This is to awaken you to the fact from your state of confusion.

[Turk]

Oh i didn't say i don't know Nepal. I said i've never met a Nepali person. Anyway i didn't hear something named globalization what's that? What do you mean i don't understand you. Whatever. Thanks for information anyway, i didn't know Nepali people wear shoes. I've never been there you know.

[booksbuddy]

I had heard a lot about Nepal and i knew it is a great country in every respect.It's culture,beauty is just unexplainable.Don't worry what other say about ur country b'coz everyone has to face criticism but only those survive who maintain their dignity and their self-respect inspite of all criticism.For some authors writing is a source of Fame and Money but their impact is also of short time b'coz only those survive who share sympathy for whole mankind and express everybody's common situation through tjeir writing without any prejudice.So,don't worry b'coz people in my country think very good of Nepal and i along with many people like me might havenot heard about the person you have mentioned.

Remember,Writing is not a source to criticise someone,it is a source to express your hidden feelings which you can't otherwise.

[Mortis Anarchy]

I think every country or people gets bashed by some form of media or literature...that doesn't make it right though.

I think, or I hope, that writers write for themselves and not just so they become rich and famous. But everyone has different intentions.

[booksbuddy]

I think every country or people gets bashed by some form of media or literature...that doesn't make it right though.

I think, or I hope, that writers write for themselves and not just so they become rich and famous. But everyone has different intentions.



I agree with you.:thumbs_up

[tudwell]

blazeofglory, I mean no offense, but you sound a bit pompous when it comes to your country and its literature. I'm not one for nationalism, and you pretending that only the purest and least morally deviant authors accurately represent your country smacks of nationalism. Other people might have a different view of Nepal than you. I don't judge a book based on the nationality of its author, nor do I judge a country based on its literature. If this Samrat Upadhyaya wrote a good book (I wouldn't know, I've never even heard of him), then he wrote a good book, despite where he's from, what is in the book, or how the latter reflects the former.

Then again, maybe he is just looking for a quick buck.

[Video Drone]

You seem to be an alien... Well, you seem to be a bit pompous/overreactive. Even arrogant. He just wrote one sentence, you cant attack him with all those accusations just because of it. And there are countries where people don't wear shoes. Your country is just another country, not better or worse than his.

And Nepal is quite a well-known country if you ask me.

[blazeofglory]

blazeofglory, I mean no offense, but you sound a bit pompous when it comes to your country and its literature. I'm not one for nationalism, and you pretending that only the purest and least morally deviant authors accurately represent your country smacks of nationalism. Other people might have a different view of Nepal than you. I don't judge a book based on the nationality of its author, nor do I judge a country based on its literature. If this Samrat Upadhyaya wrote a good book (I wouldn't know, I've never even heard of him), then he wrote a good book, despite where he's from, what is in the book, or how the latter reflects the former.

Then again, maybe he is just looking for a quick buck.

Tudewell, you are absolutely right.Samrat is looking for a quick buck. Here the question I araised was not about nationalism. I do not like this term. I feel I am part of or citizen of the world irrespective of where I came from.

The point of concern here is he wrote too much about sexual perversions to the extent that it shames all of us here. That was his main focus. There were other subjects, burning issues in the country. The country was in turmoil and was undergoing thru a political impasse. Large numbbers villages were deserted, people were uprooted and everyone was highly concerned about his or her country at this juncture whereas he was in the US dreaming a sexually perverted sociey and where people are open and too free. As a writer he is free to writer what he feels, but there is a line, a borderline that one should be a little sensitive to the feeling of the people he represented.

Nepal is unlike the way he described in his novel a traditionnally rooted country and sex is a taboo in this country and his represntation of Nepal is totallyflawed and perverted and it hurt totally all of us.

I can not recommend the book to any of my brothers and sisters and to closed ones, for he wrote about Kthmandu as if it is a highly modern city even with an open society that is more open than any European society where sex

I am proud that Samrat rose to a height that he attracted international attnetion and that he was a successful weriter to writing in an international language and that he proved to the rest of the world that even a Nepali could reach a height of that scale and measure.

Yet what saddens me intensely is that he took on a perverted course. He did not write for us so that we could discuss and make mentions of his stores in your day tody chats.

[tudwell]

What may be sexual perversions to you may not be to him, and I don't see how this alternate view point in any way hurt your country. As I said before, I don't judge a country based on the literature that comes out of it - I don't worry much about countries at all. They're just arbitrary borders on a map. I don't see why you are so offended that a supposedly immoral writer came from your country. Bad writers come from every country. It doesn't really affect the people living in that country.

I guess the thing I don't understand is why you feel such a personal connection with this man, simply because he happened to be born in the same country as you. If I encounter an author I don't like, I just move on. It doesn't matter what nationality he or she is; it has no effect on how I view that particular author.

[blazeofglory]

Today everywhere we hear as catch phrases freedom of choice storming everyone irrespective of which society we represent and it has been a norm or a standard for everyone to define his or her pace in society.

Yes freedom is indispensible and we can not live like animals chained to their masters commands and we can not live the way slaves were treated. Of course ours is a world totally different and we have a different approach to life and how we should live. We are masters of our own and slaves of none.

Living in this era we are proud beings and that we do not choose to succomb to any authority at all.

But somewhere there needs correction. Correction in the course of liviing and apprach to life.

Here the main concerns I raise is writers' social responsibilities.

I have come across many repsoses on this forum to some of my topics where in I commented on some of the populalr and acclaimed writers who crossed the border line of social responsibilites and ehthics as a writer.
For instance in one topic a Nepali writer who have earned international acclaim as a successful writer writing in English and he made fast bucks overnight selling ideas that are out of tune with the society he represneted or set in for his novel Arresting God in Kathmandu.

Some commnetors argued that writers must have freedom and perecetion differs from person to person an dthere may be different view points and all these should not govern or dominate the writer.

I agree. A writer is a free being and he needs freedom no doubt or else creativity can not spring up from him at all.

Yet I have a different opinion about the moral responsibility of a writer.

Writers can not write abusing or demeneted articles demenaing particular persons. Or to put it more clearly he must not write against a particyualr person. It is a breach of moral conducts, codes and ethics. You agree. Do'nt you?
Okay. Society is also likened a person. It is a group perosns. Or to speak symbolically a group of persons are personifed into a social shape. Therefroe when you totally abuse, misuse or misconstre or misrepresent that society you tend to be unjust, discriminatory to it.

This is my viewpoint. Society is simply composed of people and woound and hurt that society indicates you hurt everyone residing in that society.

This is an opinion of mine and I will be plased to read your comments.

[Video Drone]

You don't need to create 3 threads on the same topic, one is enough... As I said before, I am against any form of censorship for anything written.
Or to put it more clearly he must not write against a particyualr person. It is a breach of moral conducts, codes and ethics. You agree. Do'nt you?No, not really. If what he writes against that person is true, how is that wrong? It is when he writes something that is not true, it becomes wrong, but it is hard to distinguish.

[Logos]

You don't need to create 3 threads on the same topic, one is enough.
True.


....For instance in one topic a Nepali writer who have earned international acclaim as a successful writer writing in English and he made fast bucks overnight selling ideas that are out of tune with the society he represneted or set in for his novel Arresting God in Kathmandu.
Was started as separate topic "Freedom of Choice" in Gen Lit, merged with this one.

[blazeofglory]

You don't need to create 3 threads on the same topic, one is enough... As I said before, I am against any form of censorship for anything written.No, not really. If what he writes against that person is true, how is that wrong? It is when he writes something that is not true, it becomes wrong, but it is hard to distinguish.

There is something distortion from truth. Here the original question is society is comapred with life. If any ills inflict life and is any disease there that needs to be taken care of. Since you cannot morally and even legally make any injury to a perosn and in the same way you can not do the same to the society you have in queston. Is society simply a body people put theirs souls and bodies together. Yoy can not simply separate one from the other.

Therefore to write something against a person or to fabriacte facts about a person and tarnish his image is a matter of censorship. Then how come society being in a different form the same people living together will go not injured when it is wounded and wriiten things about it smearing its image.

The original idea is Kathmandu is not a domain where sex is so common and people live perverted lives. No. It is still a primitive society and people's lives are rooted to traditions.

All that Samrat did is virtually misrepresnt a country he was born.

This is a voice that may not interest outsiders but this is menat to share with the rest of Nepalis wherever they reside.

I like his last book the Royal Ghost somewhat more, for there is less use of sex and perversion the way his earlier one had.

One can be popular and make bucks wihout distorting one's wrting from facts.

Samrat must learn a lession from the criticism he receives from the communites of which he too was a part once upon a time if not at the moment.

This is the original post and I feel there has been some distortions from that in the post replies.