there were two jatras yesterday in patan... the kathmandu literary jatra and that jatra of the jyapu samaaj. the patan durbar square was buzzing with people ... and one frog who was celebrating his 15th birthday.
at the patan durabr square...the temples as well as the women were all dressed up in their haku pataasi...
... washing feet in the dhunge dhara that refuses to run dry... and feet of people observing the 'retelling histories' photo exhibition around the dhara put up by photo.circle
... the intricately carved stone water spouts...
.. and the carved wooden post inside the first courtyard.. somebody taking the bulls by the horn...
.. and also the bird by its beak...
... and an enraptured naag kanya...
dada, eelum, cholu and judith waiting in the courtyard in front of the book stall, for the launch of bhaktaprasad bhyaguto's fifteenth anniversary going-ons...
setting up the stage in the patan durbar inner courtyard...
sandaji chitchats with madan krishna shrestha when the programme to launch the revised version of "adventures of a nepali frog" finally gets going...
bhaktaprasad dixit... ehhh.. kank dixit...sandaji... the author requests madankrishnaji to do the honours...
he hands him the 'bhaktay' cup and the copy of the book...
... the unveiling...
.. and the smiling display of the the book that tells the story of an adventurous frog's trip around nepal...
madankrishnaji talks about how he felt as he read the book the night earlier...
... his conclusion .. that towards the end.. he felt that the bhyaguto (frog) was kanak.. and by the time he finished he felt he himself was probably a bhyaguto.. and finally felt that perhaps we should all become like bhyagutos!
the audience had to bear the scorching mid-day sun.. here are the backs of gunaraj luitelji, dada and khagendra sangraulaji...
.. and part of the audience jamming up the shaded parapet area...
.. others clumped around the few parasols...
and others like shanta.. making tan while the sun shines...
.. and other family and friends were clutered in a shaded corner...
that is when bhaktaprasad bhyaguto, or bhaktay, made an appearance... 'tan chahin ko ni?' (and who are you?) the teenager asks his slightly older creator... (seems eelum's acting skills finally rubbing off to his dad!!)
.. the frogsome duo bantered along for a while, with bhaktay complaining about how humans were not thinking enough about climate change and how it could affect creatures like bhyagutos...
... and then bhaktay was politely parked on a mike...
...while sandaji went on to talk about the highlights of the revised version... tiny editing to make the book more topical in the current context... like replacing reference to the king's address, with that of the president... he also said that the adventures of bhaktay had already been translated into 13 languages, the latest into chinese, and would be brought out in nine other indian regional languages by the national book trust of india.. the trust has already done the assamese and telegu versions... phew!!!
.. he explained how the cover design had changed.. with the himal creeping now to the back cover too...
... nayantara was there patiently recording every word uttered by the speakers...
.. then while bhaktay listened patiently, sandaji read a chapter from the book.."the encyclopaedia of kagbeni..."
"...i am a frog of species rana tigrina.. residence kathmandu. destination, unknown..."
... then the children from the rato bangala hostel came in to sing bhaktay's song.. "tin ko twaak" (the tin can)
.. a little bit of the song...
after the programme, we filed out to the outer courtyard, where bhaktay's books were on sale...
including 'collaterals' like the bhaktay mug
this was followed by a book signing... a super-excited fan...
... who dares to 'touch' the great author...
.. and lap in every word he's writing for her!!
... the signing goes on for a bit...
while waiting for the next programmes with the dixit brothers, we went out for lunch... navigating through a crowd of the jyapu samaaj jamboree.. now gathered in full force... filling the square...
... some finding space on top of the elephant...
...or lined up underneath the pati near the dhunge dhara
sahuni cooks up wonderful woh (bara) nearby
.. back in the inner courtyard.. a packed crowd listens to william dalrymple talking with aditya adhikary...
.. who then stay on to listen to the media guys talk about new and old media... daji, tarun 'tehelka' tejpal, muhammad hanif (pakistan) and akhilesh upadhaya, moderated by prashant jha...
daji says he's fresh to new media.. talks about the growth of 'old' print media in china and india... and how the readership could always shift if the content did not match their expectations...
the speakers... who talked about the role of media in tackling corruption in india.. to the pitholes of reporting the truth in conflict areas... the challeges faced in grasping political twists and turns... or tweeting
.. and the audience...
... later on in the evening there was a one on one between sandaji and william dalrymple about the east india company, the gorkhalis and the moghuls...
.. there was interesting and educational anecdotes about nepal's connection with the east india company... of general ochterlony, brian hodgson, begum hazrat mahal (wife of wajid ali khan who took asylum in nepal and died in kathmandu, and was entombed anonymously near where the current overhead bridge at ratna park was built)... of the sindhuli gadi encounter with the british troops...and nalapani.. and much more.. way into the evening tll the lights came on.. and a traditonal musical concert from the durbar sqaure started to provide background music to the talk....
at the patan durabr square...the temples as well as the women were all dressed up in their haku pataasi...
after the programme, we filed out to the outer courtyard, where bhaktay's books were on sale...
