jhamak ko chamak: aankha kaanda ra phool ko

these pictures are from 29th september, when madan puraskar and jagadamba shree were awarded to jhamak ghimire for her book 'jeevan kaanda ki phool' (life -- a flower or a thorn), and to poet durga lal shrestha for his service to the nepali language as well as his mother tongue. jhamak stole the show. the 31-year old dhankuta girl born with cerebral palsy, and unable to speak or use her upper limbs, is a regular columnist and had many books to her credit.. all which she's written with her 'write' left foot. squirming in her seat when she seems to be bursting to say something, leaning towards her mother to have her drool wiped off, or flashing her teeth to show her happiness, she had the audience mesmerised. 

the ceremony this year was really about kaanda (thorn) and phool (flowers).  jhamak's book wonders about life being kaanda or phool, and the winner of jagadamba shree, durgalal is known all over for the song made popular by the mellifluous voice of ani chhoying drolma, phool ko aankha ma phoolai sansara, kaandha ko aankha ma kaandai sansara (for the flower life is a flower, and for the thorn, life is a thorn).

jhamak with her parents before the hall filled up...

dada with the main guest of the programme, former chief justice, ram prasad shrestha

dada looks out for durga lalji who was late, stuck in traffic...

jhamak leans towards her mother...

ranisaab and jarsaab.. rani jagadamba and madan shamsher look on from the side

programme  begins with rato bangala children singing phool ko aankhama

shree satyamohan joshi, among the four who received the first madan purskar of 2013 b.s. (one of them was also buwa, my father in law, for his scientific tome!), and who since then has been the one who's received the most madan puraskars, watches the slide show of the history of the awards...

... and sees a five-decade-younger version of himself on the screen too...

the final slide of the presentation showing the book that jhamak received the madan puraskar for, as well as jagadamba shree recipient durgalalji's portrait.this pix taken from jhamak's facebook page.

dada with his welcome speech... including durgalalji in his address too, even though he was yet to arrive...

dada borrowed poetic words penned by others in praise of jhamak...

... to her delight...

similar words for durgalalji, also written by someone else...

...he repeated the stanza again when durgalalji rushed in towards the end of the swagat mantabya

the first prize to be awarded was jagadamba shree. the poet was 'olkyao'ed to the stage by senior litterateurs..

durgalalji receives the plaque, making sure chandrashekhar captures the moment!

arati of the 'byeula'

acknowledging the audience's applause after picking up the prize amount

shanta arranges the byeula's dubo and phool ko maala

photographers clump in waiting for the next awardee.. jhamak...

... who is wheeled onto stage...

... zeroing in...

dada offers the plaque...

... does arati...

... jhamak acknowledges the citation plaque with her feet...

... and uniquely picks up the prize amount with her feet too...

milan arranges the dubo ko mala for her

.. the beaming 'byeula' (groom, yes groom!)

.. then it was time for the mukhya athithi ram prasadji to give his lecture.. which touched upon humanity, spirituality and justice...

... durgalalji listens in...

.. while jhamak fidgets...

... dada flanked by the awardees ..

.. the following range of pictures showing various moods and expressions of jhamak...

dada and durgalalji read the text of ram prasadji's speech

...while jhamak seems to be wanting her feet to do some talking with her mother...

jhamak is said to have remarked to some that since she looks like a keta (boy) she wore a more ladylike pauju (anklet) on her feet for the prize ceremony!

durgalalji's turn for his thoughts and feelings.  he said when dada first called to announce the prize and congratulate him he had thought 'okay.. hmmm', just normally happy.  it was when he had to receive a flood of congratulatory messages when the news was flashed over the media,that  he realised how valued the prize was. he also expressed his gratitude to madan puraskar guthi for him being the first jagadamba shree recipient to be cited for his service not just the nepali language, but also his mother tongue...

then it was turn for jhamak's message to be read out

... her 'padakchhyar' (foot-writing)  was printed, in reduced size in the programme booklet...

...which was read out with a bit of difficulty by gopal guragain ji of the jhamak ghimire trust.. the audience prompting him with the words as he struggled through the tiny script...

daji looks on bemusedly at the participation of the audience in the whole process!

what was jhamak doing? squirming a bit more?  can't tell...

as is a ritual every puraskar time, it was time for the official launch of dada's new books.. two new ones this time... 'bajey ko bijey' (grandpa's wedding) and 'chamakdar tara' (bright stars).. which are inaugurated by signatures in the receipt copy by the chief guests and the byeulas ...

jhamak put her signature as only she can.. with her left foot.

she then got her copy of the two books...

which she fondled...

... and examined carefully...

...daji's turn for the dhanyabaad gyapan...

.. and the formal programme ended...

time for a group picture...

and a beaming jhamak again...

...congratulations from the chief guest...

people throng around her...

.. and she provides written answers to questions from journalists...

waiting for the elevator, sandaji chats with her about her trip to the spinal rehab centre in sanga, kavre, and how all the patients there had been so inspired by her...

just as we were heading towards the food it started to rain

... while some started to eat... others queued up to sign up and get dada's books for free...

away from the rain under the multi-coloured tent...

while bhadaurey jhari (in asoj) showed off outside... 

...message delivered,  it was time for syaal ko bihey  as kul chandraji and sandaji chat up...

.... and the rainbow over rato bangala signals the end of the burst of rain...

... jhamak meanwhile is still swarmed by people who want to have their pictures taken with her...  and she seems mighty pleased about it...

.. the literary ghimire mafia cosy up...

... later we decided to all bunch up and take a group picture instead...

... dada finally doing a hand-foot shake with jhamak before seeing her off...this picture by naresh shresthaji

... so that was how this years madan puraskar was held amidst a lot of chamak jhamak...