Picture Courtesy: Utkrista K.C.

I had got one copy of this novel as a present, but my boredom didn’t let me to turn the pages of this book till date. Last week, when I had been in maternal uncle’s home, the book’s cover caught my attention making me remember the gift. Due to a long vacation and nothing much to do, I made a decision to grab this book and read it.

The writer Amar Neupane has skillfully presented the character of this novel as ‘Haribansha Acharya’. Anybody can get confused with the life story of artist ‘The Haribansha Acharya’, but this novel is only based on the character Haribansha Acharya and the lifestyle of normal Haribansha Acharya (an imaginary Haribansha, a simple normal guy, who has not pursued his career on acting). This novel presents the scenario and the bitter truth of our society where educational degree is preferred the most. A child may have interest on different field and may want to pursue career on that field throughout his/her lifetime, but his/her potential is equalized to null and only the educational degree is made superior of all.

The victim of the society in this novel is Haribansha Acharya. This guy is not that interested in studying. More than that, caricature drives his heart more. However, the pressure from family and the dream of his father to see him as a doctor makes him dull. Due to extreme pressure, he himself shuts his door towards acting. He struggles in bookish knowledge and passes the examination in more than one try. The wonderland of this boy gets shattered. Finally, when he reaches the last stage of his life struggling to be what he is not made to be, he finds all those efforts useless. He does not do he wants and keeps consciously following what others wants him to do and be. Looking back at all the blocks that he had passed through in the bumping roads of life, he feels immense pain. The pain becomes unbearable and finally, he makes a decision to commit suicide at the end.

This is only a single story. Such stories may have occurred in the life of people around us. There exist people whose wings are cut off when they tempt to fly freely. “Only those who get good educational degree are educated and are the only ones who can lead a prosperous life”. Misconceptions like these should be eliminated and each child should be given the freedom to make decision, freedom to choose career and freedom to pursue dreams.

‘Karodau Kasturi’ is a wonderful novel. It may help those people who are afraid to follow the inner voices of their heart.