What went wrong? | Book Shelf

A good book asks question, rather than spoon-feed answers. Manjushree Thapa's honest and controversial Forget Kathmandu could be a sore disappointment to readers seeking answers.

Thapa's introspective book about our country is part history, part memoir, part travelogue, and part analysis. Her wit and rhetorical skills are excellent and aid her to take apart what we know as the history of our nation. If anything, Forget Kathmandu will successfully pull the rug of conformity from under our feet.

If history is always of the winners, then what does it say about our monarchy? Why, after over two-and-a-half centuries is the history of this nation still confined to that of one extended family? What went wrong with our democracy? What will the fallout of the Maoist insurgency and the measures taken to curb it be? Forget Kathmandu is about recognising that these are issues, albeit difficult ones. One of the key resolves of the book seems to be to create a space to think about bigger, messier questions. What Thapa does best is point out clearly what was once taken as fiction that we now know to be reality, and vice versa.

While Forget Kathmandu is a captivating read, it lacks focus in some places, and meanders without much impulse from ancient history to more recent troubled times. History buffs might argue that Thapa is leapfrogging over a considerable number of years to illustrate the point she's making about our history.

Thapa is unafraid of pointing fingers at those she holds responsible for this mess—politicians, the Kathmandu elite—including herself, the king, and apathetic people the country over. But she does it with grace, facts and figures, and logical deductions.

The most important chapter of this book is the last one, in large part because it doesn't just describe, but also prescribes:

"Nothing is more critical to Nepal now than winning back democracy... and the sovereignty of the Nepali people…neither the monarchy nor our failed leaders nor any national myth or relic need be kept if they pose obstacles. It is time to re-imagine Nepal."

What WAVE Book Club members thought
Anup Lamichhane: It is an interesting—if not always original—read. It gives voice to the people and portrays the rage and chaos of troubled times.

Sumit Sharma: It's nicely presented, and it's good that the author includes her own memoirs too.

Samrachana Adhikari: Thapa superbly sketches the 'mood' of the times, and she offers a deep, but never boring, perspective.

Prabhat Shrestha: It made me rethink our history as we know it. It's a rare book that asks question and allows readers to come up with their own answers.