Muglan

by Govinda Raj Bhattarai

Muglãn, the first novel by Govinda Raj Bhattarai is a heartrending tale of illiterate and naive Nepalese youths who are tricked to work as bondage laborers in Bhutan while in search of better future in India.It is a saga of sorrow owing to lack of education and consciousness; there is cruelty of the heartless and extreme of exploitation. The major theme is the dictatorship of the state and discrimination suffered by the immigrant Nepalese. Thule and Satar, the major characters represent thousands of poor, innocent and illiterate Nepali youths who flee their homes every year with the dream of better quality of life but their dreams get shattered in the hands of frauds and tyrants in the alien land. Various well known authors and critics like Parijat and Michael Hutt have spent words to praise the magic the twenty one year old author cast on the audience in those days and even now.For Parijat, Muglãn is “the second novel I have read in a single breath, within a decade. Unless the language, style, presentation is good, it becomes difficult to read any literature”. Muglan, however, is criticized for being too pessimistic in tone and exaggerating the then existing circumstances. Muglan has been rendered into English from Nepali by Lekhnath Sharma Pathak.

Genres: Fiction

194 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Richa Bhattarai · Rating 5 out of 5]

❤️

[Benu B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Hutt quotes from the book in Unbecoming Citizens: "Education was the empire of the village pundits, who had so far successfully campaigned against a school and English education in the village and pushed the society back from the light of education. The distinction between men and women was as great as that between earth and sky. A woman who had to speak to a man had to cover her face for modesty". (Hutt, 2014). This observation is of the society in Dorokha in Bhutan. The year isn’t clear, but it could be after the 1960s because Sutar, the protagonist, is a Nepalese youth who had left his home in Nepal in search of a job in India and had been duped by several Nepalis at the daurs and he had finally landed in a road construction site in western Bhutan. The construction of roads at these places occurred during the decade of 1960. Interestingly, the author, currently a professor of Literature in Nepal, was briefly a teacher in Samtse in the 70s. His firsthand knowledge of the place allows him to recreate the geographical details with considerable accuracy.

The novel is lauded as a masterpiece by many readers and critics. The best aspect of the novel is the elegance and stylishness of the Nepali prose in the novel. The sentences are clear, crisp, and elegant. The prose flows almost effortlessly.

While the book is a significant contribution to Nepali literature, it has its weaknesses. First, the historicity of the circumstances as presented in the novel is questionable. There, of course, was a trend of Nepalese workers coming to Bhutan in search of work and perhaps many of them were duped and many perished; but the working conditions were by no means as harsh as the young author presents them to be. Memories of local people corroborate to the author's claim that workers fled their workplace and many of them ended up staying as farmhands in Lotshampa villages down south; however, no local account corroborates to the claim in the novel that providing shelter to the "depitey" (a local term referring to people from outside the country, it seems) was considered illegal. Other critics point to the excessive pessimism the novel contains. I have a reservation to this, though. Life during those time wasn’t all that easy and pessimism was, in fact, a widespread phenomenon among many communities back then.


FUN FACT: Talking to the local folks from Dorokha (where I am from), I could locate one such family that hosted a "depitey" whose story in all respects has a striking resemblance to that of Sutar in the novel. Perhaps the writer was aware of the same – a conjecture from my part.

[Kshitij Chaurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterpiece in a true sense.

[Rupa Bhandari · Rating 5 out of 5]

गाेविन्दराज भट्टराईकाे उपन्यास " मुग्लान " नेपालकाे विभिन्न स्थानका मानिसहरूकाे एउटा बाध्यात्मक तथा हृदयविदारक यथार्थता सँग सम्बन्धित रहेकाे छ । विगतमा र अहिले पनि वर्षेनी परदेशीने चलनकाे व्याख्या गरिएकाे छ । परदेशमा धेरै धन कमाउने अाशामा जाने तथा वास्तविकतामा हुने विशाल अन्तर स्वस्फूर्त रूपमा पहिल्याईएकाे छ । ज्यानकाे बाजी थापेर परदेशमा सहनुपर्ने विकराल कष्टकर र निरीह जिवनकाे यथार्थ व्याख्या गरिएकाे छ । साेझासाझालाई डर देखाई अत्यन्त अन्याय गर्ने शाेषकहरूकाे प्रवृत्ति देखाईएकाे छ । मानिसहरूलाई वस्तु सरह वा यन्त्र जस्तै गरि काम लगाउने निर्दयी व्यवहार देखिन्छ ।यस उपन्यासका पनि प्रमुख दुई पात्र ठूले र सुवेदार कान्छा तथा अन्य साथीहरूको संघर्षपूर्ण जिवन र अरू धेरैकाे त्यस्तै कष्टकर जीवन यापनले वास्तविकताकाे यथार्थ चित्रण गरेको छ । परदेशमा पाउने सास्ती र हैरानीकाे विश्लेषण बडाे मार्मिक तरिकाले प्रस्तुत गरिएको छ । अाफ्नाे जन्मभूमि छाडेर परदेशमा सुनाैलाे सपना बाेकेर जाने र पछी अनेक हण्डर खानुपर्ने दयनीय अवस्था देख्न सकिन्छ ।

[Barun Ghimire · Rating 5 out of 5]

MUST READ!!!

४० वर्षमा गरिब नेपाली दाजु-भाइको गन्तब्य फेरियो तर नियति फेरिएको छैन । मुगलान पढिरहदा मन कुडीन्छ र मुटुमा चिसो पर्छ । पढ्न सामेत दरो ह्रिदय चाहिने जीवन जियेका 'सुतार' र उनि जस्तै सपनाले तानेर र अभावले ठेलिएर मुगलान पसेका नेपाली दाजु-भाइ र उनिहरुको बाटो कुरिरहेका सबै प्रति नमन । छिटै मुगलान पस्ने ऋङखलाको अन्तय होस भन्ने कामना ।

[Sabin Chhetri · Rating 4 out of 5]

गरीब, अशिक्षित, सोझो गाउँले परिवेशमा हुर्केका ठिटाहरु, अरूको लहलहै वा देखा सिखीको भरमा अकुत पैसा कमाउन घर छिमेक, गाउँलाई खबर नगरी मुग्लान झर्न घरबाट भाग्छन्। तर सोचेको भन्दा धेरै फरक, एक बन्धुवा मजदुरको काम गर्न बाध्य हुन्छन्। यो उपन्यास आज भन्दा करिब ५० वर्ष अगाडि लेखिएको भएता पनि, आज पनि उतिकै सान्दर्भिक छ। ठाँउ बद्लियो, चरित्र बद्लियो, तर नियति बदलिएन। आज पनि अरूको देखा सिकी, लह लहैमा वा बाध्यतावश होस्, युवाहरु आफ्नो देश, परिवार भन्दा टाढा संघर्ष गरिरहेका छन्, कोई कोई अपाङ्ग भएका छन् त कोई बाकस मा निर्जीव शरीर भएर फर्केका छन्।

एकदम यथार्थपरक उपन्यास, पढेपछि नसकुन्जेल छोड्न मननलाग्ने रहेछ। अङ्ग्रेजीमा अनुवादित पनि रहेछ यो उपन्यास, तर मैले नेपालीमै पढेँ। पढ्नै पर्ने कोटिमा पर्छ यो उपन्यास।

[Raju Gurung · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would say, this is a must read book for every Nepalese who loves Nepali literature and likes reading book. I dont know how many times I have cried reading this book, some times when tears dropped in the pages then only I used to realise I was crying.

Heart piercing story strongly narrating the struggles of Nepalese then which hasnt changed yet. Even today may be the place and context is different but every Nepalese abroad can relate himself with this book Muglaan.
I heard Mr. Govinda was very young when he wrote this book almost 20 or in his early twenty, I wonder how could such young fellow then came up with this much of tragedy and pain.

Thank you for the wonderful book sir.

[Aaron Gurung · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really sir it’s my 1st ever time reading novel and my best. I really feel myself inside the story hats off

[Rajendra Lama]

I love this novel

[Tejendra Bhattarai]

I want to read novel

[Pratima Shrestha · Rating 4 out of 5]

takes to you old time.

[Brija · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely sad story! Poor and simple people are always exploited. Few hopeful years in between but, always ending in sadness

[Baklol Master · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best Nepali books I've ever read. Is realistic in many aspects. Loved the ending (life isn't always fun and games). The book is neither overly descriptive (which most nepali novels tend to be) and nor is too slow in pacing. Just the right amount of everything!

[Hang Mangpahang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Be a phoenix, rise again and again....be hopeful...this is what i learned after reading this tragic tale Muglan.

[Saroj · Rating 4 out of 5]

लाहुरे बन्ने सपना बोकेर मुग्लान पस्ने सोझा साझा अबोध गाउँले नेपालीहरुको सपना र बास्तबिकता बीचको दुरीको साथसाथै उनीहरूको जीवन र मृत्युको ���ीचमा चल्मलाउने आशाको एक मधुरो किरणको निमित्त गरिने संघर्षको सुनौलो चित्रण गर्न मुग्लान सफल भएको देखिन्छ ।

[Tuladhar Bikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the best novel.....heart touching...hats off to the writer

[Anjalidahal]

1 want to read