This year's Madan Puraskar literary award went to noted Nepali poet and lyricist Dinesh Adhikary. What many of Adhikary's admirers don't know is that he is a government lawyer working for Council for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). So, beneath this anti-corruption lawyer lurks a modern poet whose simple words and accessible contemplation evoke deep social comment.
Some Dinesh Adhikary verses have found their way into music, with vocals by Narayan Gopal and others. "My words are about people, the love, hate, angst and soul of people," Adhikary told us. "So I explore their place in society, the economy in politics." The Madan prize was awarded for Adhikary's latest book of poems, Atirikta Abhikekh (Extra Archives).

In "Home", Adhikary examines the relationships between modern mores and family values, community and individual, individual and god, and finally the place of religion in a materialistic age. It is an age-old quest, and no longer confined to the godless consumerist west. Urban Nepal is going through similar spiritual confusion, the rituals of traditional religion and the yearning for spiritual solace. Adhikary here makes a scathing judgement on people who go to temples to look for peace, even though for him there is nothing to compare it with the peace that comes from the love of his wife and children.


HOME

whenever i see people
heading for the temples
with offerings
i don't know why
i'm always in a hurry to get back home

my son is shaping the times
with his mighty hands
so what if he did not eat some curd on the sly?
i think he's more valiant than krishna
my little daughter
with her bright eyes
and oh-so tender fingers
she always manages to drive away my fatigue
i find her stronger than kali
and when my beloved shrouds her needs
and serves me a platter of smiles
i find her more bountiful than laxmi

forgive me, if i have offended anyone
those who always leave their homes
to scour the temples in search of peace
i cannot even bring myself
to see humanity there
so what if they have conquered the spoils of the world?
if they have not discovered happiness in their own homes
i wouldn't hesitate
to call them born losers

when i'm away
and see
people
busy clanging bells in the temples
i don't know why
unknowingly
and slowly
i take it out from my pocket
and start caressing
the photographs of my children

(Translation of Ghar from the anthology Atirikta Abhilekh, Sajha Prakashan, 2056)
translation and text by Rupa Joshi)