Gandhi Raj Kafle 

August 18 was not a usual day for many Nepalis at home and abroad. As the evening fell, a piece of bad news started spreading like wildfire among the people already saddened by the coronavirus menace. There was no other option but to believe the bitter truth with a heavy heart: The nation’s Rastrakavi had passed away at his Kathmandu residence after battling the age-related complications.
The beloved poet of the Nepali masses, Madhav Prasad Ghimire, is no more with us now. But his literary creation and his memory will remain etched in the mind of many generations.
How to interpret the demise of the popular poet? The reason of death is always contentious. To borrow the phrases of the Nepali Kavishiromani, Lekha Nath Paudyal, death is that reality which causes everything to happen suddenly and which ceases the existence of a living being for all time.
All living beings pass away this way. What is there for us now is- to live with the bitter reality of the passing away of our beloved Rastrakavi: his stammering voice due to old age which kept coming on TVs, his beautiful new lines of poems through which he mesmerised the whole nation and his physical presence through which he continued to inspire the hugely expanding creative domain of Nepal, will be missed sorely. We have to learn to live through the inspiration he left behind by penning the golden pages of his literary creations.

Sad Moment
In this heavy and sad moment, we do remember his last poetic mission: Did he complete his Rhitambhara Epic? Several times, while he was alive, he had said he would not die before the completion of this epic. And, he had also said the much-loved literary work was advancing well and it was about to complete. We hope that he poet might have completed this poetic mission before he died and we hope we will be able to get the posthumously published Rhitambhara Epic.
Let’s go through a few facts about the poet. Madhav Prasad Ghimire was born in 1976 BS (1919 AD) at Pustun village in Lamjung District, which is now in the Gandaki State of Nepal. If we compare the age of Ghimire with that of the noted trinity of the Nepali literature- the Great Poet, Laxmi Prasad Devkota, Kavishiromani Lekha Nath Paudyal and Natak Samrat Bala Krishna Sama, Ghimire turns out to be a legendary in terms of his longevity too.
He was just ten years junior to Devkota, who passed away when he was only 50. Similarly, his age differences with Sama and Paudyal were 17 and 35 years respectively. He had good relations even with all the members of this trinity of the Nepali literature while they were alive. And, notably, Ghimire had impressed even Devkota, Paudyal and Sama with his quality of writing.

A Legend
Our Rastrakavi is legendary figure for not just because he died after living his full life at the age of 102, he was a legend from the perspective of life’s energy, literary enthusiasm and creativity. His yet-to-publish Epic Rhitambhara, which he had been writing until his last moment, is an illustrious proof of his energy, enthusiasm and creativity.
Let’s also talk about him from the readers’ perspective. In the long duration, he continued to work for one after another generation of readers. His poems are loved by readers of all age groups. There are still many who can remember how they grew up chanting the Rastrakavi’s patriotic poems at schools or homes. In life’s every circumstance, his poems are inspiring. He possessed unmatched talents to decorate poems with all the sweetness choosing right words and making them harmonious to captivate readers of all generations with his impressive poetic messages.
The success he gained in his early life, too, was unbelievable. In interviews with media, he had said he would like to remember a poem which he had written at the age of eight. This poetic feat remind us the popular Nepali saying – Hune Biruwaka Chilla Pat – the shiny leaves of a plant shows the sign that it grows well in future.
The Rastrakavi was endowed with such talent from the very beginning and it came to notice everywhere with passing of time – among his senior poets, peers, common readers and all.

Literary Journey
Poet Ghimire’s literary journey began with the publication of “Bairagyasukha” and his books like the “Gauri” and “Malati-Mangale” are all-time favorite among readers. He also worked four years as one of the editors of the Gorkhapatra, the pioneer vernacular newspaper of the country.
He was also one of the members of the Mahakavi Devkota-led national team that attended the historic Tashkent Afro-Asian Conference of Authors in Uzbekistan of the then USSR in 2015 BS.
In fact, we must not forget that poet Ghimire came from a Sanskrit academic background but who created his write up for the Nepali literature. At that time it was natural because many of the boys of the Brahmin families used to dream to receive education like him. So, after starting preliminary education at his own home in Lamjung, he came to Kathmandu where he studied Sanskrit and then went to Benaras in India and completed Shastri (BA level study in Sanskrit) from the Queen’s College there.
Upon completing his degree in Benaras, he came to Nepal and worked as the chief of the Basic Education School in Lamjung in 2005 BS. He had been briefly imprisoned for the participation in the revolution of 1950.
Talking about his personality in terms of literary creativity, poet Ghimire certainly had sound background of the Sanskrit language but this quality never became a burden for his poetic creation in the Nepali language. He used Sanskrit only to sweeten his expression.
He always believed in sweet amalgamation of both pure Nepali words and use of Sanskrit in appropriate quantity and context only enhances the beauty of our poetry. Maybe it is this reason which has made his poems sweet and popular among readers.

Death Wish ?
Following the death of the popular poet, a few wishfully protected lines from one of his popular poems have come haunting the collective mind of the Nepali people. Actually, while he was alive, the Rastrakvi had stated that this poem was not meant for singing. He did not want to listen to the singing of this particular poem in his life time. In fact, the Rastrakavi had written this poem sixty one years ago in 2016 BS.
What is in it? In fact, he has made his death wish golden with the glory of Nepal through the medium of this poem. He has unveiled his poetic power to overshadow the dark perception about death to make it golden and the theme which is assisting to do it for him is not other but his love to Nepal.
Can a poet imagine this way that too at the age of 41 which is considered to be a prime time to live life and make progress actively? How can death theme come so intensely to a poet at this age? Therefore, it is only a matter of vision which is composed in the art of poetry and the poet here Let’s go through the five lines of Rastrakavi's highly popular poem:

Tyasari howos maran
Jasari Sutchhan Tarama Gitaka Charu Charan
Himalchuli Deshama, Dinko Shanta Bheshma
Jasari Garchhan Bishram, Suryaka Sworna Kirana
Tyasari Howos Marana

Clearly, the nation and the people have been seeing and singing the poetic works of the Rastrakavi and he lived full with his indomitable spirit of creativity all the time. But, all of a sudden, he went. He will not come back because this departure is not common; it is the death. Physically, the Rastrakavi cannot be with us; he has though inspired academic psyche of the nation by his myriads of literary activities personally; there will be a void which the nation will feel in the days to come.
But, can a literary figure like Rastrakavi die? Has the Pioneer Poet Bhanu Bhakta died? Have our Mahakavi, Kavishiromani and Natya Samrat, Bala Krishna Sama, died? In fact, artists and littérateurs do not die, they live among their readers and people through their creation. If their piece of art is immortal, they continue to make their presence in the form of art.
In this context, when the wound of death of the Rastrakavi is still fresh, the need before us is that we have to learn to feel his presence in the form of his art or literary creation.

A True Tribute
In our nation, the prudent circle of the people often complains that artists are worshipped but only after death. This complaint can be altered if we change two traditions of working. First, the nation should protect and promote the writings of litterateurs even after their death. The second is the genuine grievances of authors and artists must always be heard while they are alive because it will keep the intellectual environment of the nation alive and vibrant.
The nation bade farewell to the Rastrakavi who died at 102 years Wednesday, 19 August, 2020. It is a tragic moment for the nation and a irreparable loss to the Nepali literature. So, there will be no true tribute to the late poet other than working for the country's well being and enriching the people, which were the twin life-time themes of the writings of the Rastrakavi.

(The writer is former deputy executive editor of TRN)