The old man in the moon (Story for children)

It was a full moon night. So, the night was bright with moonlight. The sky looked very beautiful with twinkling stars.

Since it was a hot summer night, the room was filled with hot air. The ceiling fan was only circulating the hot air and generating more heat inside the room.

Baba and Mama were on the porch where cool wind was sparsely blowing. Bitu uncle had arrived the same evening from Letang. All three were enjoying their talk. Prakriti and Pratik also turned off their favorite cartoon show on television and came out to enjoy the cool talk of their elders.

Prakriti suddenly got a question in her mind while playing with her brother.

“Can you tell me, Pratik, what that black spot in the moon is?”

Pratik stopped playing to stare at the moon. After a while, he answered: “That’s……Er……that’s………..Sorry, I don’t know.” He gave up easily.

“Idiot! You don’t know even that very simple fact?”

Prakriti seemed happy to know something that her younger brother didn’t know. Anyway, it is always fruitful to know more about something that somebody else doesn’t, she thought.

“People say that is a very big tree, bigger than any on our earth, under which a lonely old man is seen sitting and mourning.”

“Why?”, Pratik was surprised, “How can he sit alone and mourn there?”

“It is the kind of punishment he’s got from the God for his crimes on earth. He has to mourn under the tree every full moon night”, Prakriti explained to Pratik, “Anyone who can see the old man stand up and move away can be a lucky person in his life.” Pratik became curious. He was interested in the idea of becoming a lucky person.

They got badly startled at Bitu uncle’s sudden guffaw. They had been eavesdropped. They realized something had gone wrong in their conversation. So, they blushed.

But Bitu uncle did not chide or mock at them. Instead, he beckoned them both to come near to him. Having them sit on his lap, he pointed to the moon and said, “That’s not a tree and an old man under it.”

Prakriti was first to ask him, “Then, what’s it?”

“There are many big ditches on the surface of the moon. They are called ‘craters’. Some of them are very wide and deep, but they don’t have water. Therefore, when sunlight falls on them they make shades. We see them from here as black spots”.

Though it was a bit long, Bitu uncle’s explanation was interesting. They knew he studied science in college. Prakriti and Pratik nodded their heads in agreement. Then, Bitu uncle resumed his conversation with their Mama and Baba again. They wished they knew as much as their uncle.  

First published in Nepali in Kopila (Kantipur Publications) on 26th December 2003. 

Paaneeko Thopaa: A Science Fiction for Children

0. Background

Science fiction is a distinct type of fiction that uses scientific rationale besides having the regular features such as plot, characters, setting, action and point of view. It speculates about the situation of human beings in the world of science and technology; real or imaginary; present or future. Despite being imaginative in quality, it is different from fantasy because of the content of science used in it. 

Since the publication of Frankenstein (1818), a precursor of science fiction[2], by Mary Shelley, English literature has got several works that have used explicit and coherently developed scientific principles. They are divided into two main groups- hard and soft- by the critics. The former uses much of scientific knowledge and gadgetry along with scientists and engineers as its protagonists. The latter exploits the ideas from other branches of knowledge such as sociology, psychology, philosophy, etc. while raising moral questions about human existence in the world of science and technology.

Recently, a new type of science fiction called cyberpunk has come into existence in English literature. Its characters, either human or artificial intelligences, are set in ‘virtual reality’[3] created by the use of computers and computer networks. It seems to be a combination of science fiction and fantasy.

   Despite being greatly influenced by English literature’s universal presence, Nepali literature is still far behind in this genre. Moreover, it is a very novice idea in Nepali literature for children.

In this context, this article tries to discuss, in short, the presence of science fiction in Nepali literature written for children. The major discussion is focused on how a novel, Paaneeko Thopaa (The Drop of Water), written by Kavitaram, for children, can claim its position as a science fiction. The conclusion is based on the findings of the discussion.

1. Science Fiction in Nepali Literature

Science fiction is in a marginalized state in Nepali literature. It is a less heeded genre by Nepali writers.  

After BiraaT Parva, the first published narrative work in Nepali, translated by Shakti Ballav Arjyaal from Hindi (in 1827 B. S.), Nepali literature had to wait almost seven decades more to get its first original fiction Rupmati (1991 B. S.) by Rudra Raj Pandey. (Baral and Atom 2056 B. S.:73) Since then, several works of Nepali fiction (long and short) have been published, but science fiction is still in the marginalized state.

            Critic Krishna Chandra Singh Pradhan says that early Nepali novels (written around 1970s and 80s of Bikram Sambat) were similar to either folk tales or miracle tales, or social and reformative novels since they borrowed ideas from Veda, Braahmana, Upanisads, etc. (quoted in Shrestha 2008:12). Along with time, literary works based on different isms such as Idealistic Realism, Social Realism, Historical Realism, Socialist Realism, Human Psychology, Existentialism, Feminism, Post-modernism, etc. appeared (ibid: pp 12-20). But hardly a few works have science as their subject matter.

Aatmaako Meemaansaa (2011 B. S.) by Shankar Lamichhane is said to be the first Nepali science fiction that encouraged many other Nepali writers such as Ramesh Khanal (RoboTko Maanabiya Astitwa), Vijay Malla (Engineer ko Taauko and Pravesh Nishidda), Saru Bhakta (Padaarthaharuko Geet, Chhoree Bramhaanda and Saayad Mahaavisphot), Madan Mani Dixit (Kaanch, Shubra ra Devyaanee), etc. into this genre. Some other science fiction writers who have mainly written for children are: Kavitaram, Gorakh Bahadur Singh, Vijay Chalise, Vinay Kasaju, Dhruba Ghimire, Kapil Lamichhane, etc. Their works can be categorized into three- mechanical, adventurous, and social- based on the subject matters included. (Atom 2068 B. S.:pp 100-11)

1.1. Science Fiction for Children in Nepali Literature

Most of the works in Nepali literature written for the children seem to have only one motto: to entertain while teaching moral lessons to the readers. Therefore, most of the works for children are influenced by folk tales because of simplicity, imagination and entertainment found in them (Rai 2067 B. S.:77). And many other works are based on myths. 

Laxmi Prasad Devkota’s Raaj Kumaar Prabhaakar (1997 B. S.) is regarded to be the first published work for children in Nepali (Pradhan 2057 B. S.:27). After him, some other Nepali writers such as Madhav Ghimire, Dev Kumari Thapa, Krishna Prasad Parajuli, Parashu Pradhan, etc. published their works for children. But they have not included science in their works.  

Critic Pramod Pradhan (2057 B. S.) has given credit to Kavitaram as the first Nepali writer of science fiction for children (28). According to him, Kavitaram's published books on the genre are Bandevee  (2036 B. S.), Paaneeko Thopaa (2038 B. S.) and Kamilaa ko Kathaa (2048 B. S.).

2. A Study on Paaneeko Thopaa as a Science Fiction

2.1. Summary

            The novel Paaneeko Thopaa (The Drop of Water) is an account of the adventures of the main character called Paaneeko Thopaa. Written in the third person narrative form, it presents many scientific facts about water in a simple and lucid language suitable for children.

Paaneeko Thopaa evaporates off the sea, becomes cloud and drops to the earth as a hailstone. A small boy’s mother puts it into a freeze and prepares ice-cream. It enters the boy’s body through his mouth and is dragged into different organs by an unknown force. Together with other drops of water, it falls into the toilet and reaches in a sewer pipe which leads it to a flooded river. Flowing down, it reaches the deep mines of gold, diamond, silver and coal and comes out to the earth’s surface along with a stream of hot water. It reaches into the plain as a dirty river contaminated with the human created pollutants and germs.  A farmer collects it in a pot and waters a flower plant whose roots suck it into. From the leaf of the plant, it reaches to the sky through evaporation. Flying over the Himalayas, it falls down into a glacier as snow. Reaching over the snowline, it melts into water to be collected into a pond. From there, it falls upon a turbine used for the production of hydro-electricity. Then, it falls upon a wheel of a water-mill used by a farmer for grinding flour and reaches into a pond. A group of children having picnic on the pond pollute the water. The germ-laden Paaneeko Thopaa drops into a kettle of a small boy through the nozzle of his house tap. When the boy boils the water for making it pure, it comes out of the kettle in the form of vapor and gets stuck on the window pane. The next morning, the house owner opens the window and Paaneeko Thopaa reaches up into the sky being evaporated by the heat of the sun.

            The wind pushes it toward south and, after all, it reaches over the sea, its home. It becomes frost and falls down into the sea, and gets reunited with all its relatives.

2.2. Use of Science in the Novel 

Prarambha (2010) says the majority of Nepali fiction for children is based on myths that are hardly believable in the modern context and they cannot fulfill the modern generation’s need for “intellectual input in the art of story telling”. Therefore, myths should be recycled with “a scientific taint” (ibid) to win the children’s hearts.

Paaniko Thopaa has no myth. The whole novel is based on one complete cycle of the journey of water from the sea to the sky and finally to the sea again. The scientific description through the narration of Paaneeko Thopaa, the protagonist of the novel, who encounters various odds and evens along its adventures, is delightfully knowledgeable to the children.  

The heat of the sun evaporates Paaneeko Thopaa, a drop of water, off the sea. The vapor flies high up in the sky and changes itself into a cold cloud. (Kavitaram 2059 B. S.:2) A hurricane pushes and tosses the cloud that turns into hailstones that fall down to the ground with rain.

            Water freezes when it is kept in a fridge. This theory is applied when a boy’s mother makes ice-cream from Paaneeko Thopaa.

Water, when drunk by someone, reaches into different parts of human body and do the appointed works. When it reaches into the blood stream, it helps to reduce the temperature in human body. Water also helps in the formation of tear, saliva, mucous, urine, etc., and in cleaning the body. Paaneeko Thopaa reaches into the urinary bladder as urine after cleaning up the body (ibid:9) and waits there to be thrown out.  

            When water is polluted with harmful germs, nature tries to purify it in its own way. As the narrator describes,

soorya tantalaapur chamkiraheko thiyo. safaa haawaa pani bahiraheko thiyo. sooryako taap ra haawaa ma bhayeko aksijanle usma bhayekaa kitaanuharu bistaarai mardai gaye. (ibid:11)

(The sun was shining brightly in the sky. The fresh wind was also blowing. The germs he (Paaneeko Thopaa) contained died slowly due to the sun’s heat and the oxygen in the air.)

            Thus, water restores its natural freshness with the help of oxygen and the heat of the sun.

            Streams of hot water are found to be flowing under the surface of the earth. The streams spring out at various places on earth where humans take bath for healing purposes. Paaneeko Thopaa finds a boy taking bath in one such spring. (ibid:16)

            How does lava burst out of the earth? The process is described in the novel in simple words of a drop of water through its own narration:

…talatala puge pachhi ma yesto thaaunmaa pugen jahaankaa dhungaa, maato, khanijharu sabai pagliyera paaneejastai taral bhayekaa thiye. tyahaan ma maatra pugeko thiyina. ma jastaa asankhya thopaaharu pugekaa thiye ra sabai pugnaasaath baafmaa parinat bhaisakekaa thiye. ma ta baaf hundaa aafno yo aakaar bhandaa satra saya gunaa failiyen ra tyahaan tyasari failane ma maatra thiyina. haamee ek arkaalaai thelamthel garee tyahaan nai atesmates garirahyaun. thaaun ekdamai saano thiyo ra tyahaa nayaa thopaaharukaa dhaaraaharu uttikai aaundai baaf bandai jaandai thiye. antamaa haamee sabaiko thelamthel le gardaa tyahaan jameen nai futyo. tyas futeko thaaun baata sabai baafharu baahira niskiye. baafharu sangai tyo taatole pagliyeko aago jasto taral padaartha baahira bhutututu niskiyo. ma tyo baafko rupmaa aakaasmaa pugisakeko thiyen. tara tala maile dekhen, tyo aago jasto taral padaarthale waaripaari ko jangal ra maanchhe kaa gaaunharu sabai dadhaayera bhasma paaryo. (ibid:18)

(… going deeper into the earth, I reached the places where soil, stone, minerals, etc. had melted into liquid. I was not the only one. Innumerable drops of water like me had immediately been changed into vapor. My volume increased by seventeen hundred times, and I was not alone there to have the fate. We kept pushing and pulling each other for some time. The space was very limited and the new trickles of water were being changed into vapor. At last, the earth split open at a place due to our force. Then, the vapor came out of the rupture. The melted hot liquid was also spilled out all over the surrounding forests and the villages which were immediately burnt down by the excessive heat.)

            There is also a description of the scientific process of the formation of water. A science teacher and his students conduct an experiment in the lab where they mix two parts of Hydrogen and one part of Oxygen in a glass tube and put a burning match-stick into it. Drops of water are formed with a loud bang in the pot. (ibid:20)

            When water is polluted, it is full of harmful germs due to which the aquatic animals die of diseases. (ibid:21)

            Water also helps in photosynthesis in plants. A flower plant absorbs water through its roots. Then, it is sucked into stalks, branches and leaves of the plant in turn. (ibid:24)

            Paaneeko Thopaa turns into snow and falls down on a mountain. It reaches into a glacier which flows very slowly, not more than one and a half inches everyday (ibid:26). After years, Paaneeko Thopaa arrives at the snowline, the place where the temperature is enough for snow to melt automatically, and becomes water again.

            Water is led into a reservoir through a canal and is dropped upon a big wheel through a tunnel. The force of water turns the wheel round and produces electricity. (ibid:27)

            There is also a watermill that is run by the force of water falling down through a tunnel. Human beings pollute water by carelessly throwing dirty things. But it can be purified by heating it for twenty minutes in a high temperature. A boy puts the kettle with Paaneeko Thopaa and other drops of water on a stove and boils the water for twenty minutes. All the germs in water are killed. (ibid:31)

            The water vapor has been a very useful form of energy in the human history. Many descriptions about vapor engines that pulled trains, ships, etc. can be read in books. In the novel, Paaneeko Thopaa sees the lid of the kettle being pushed up by the force of water vapor. (ibid:32)

The vapor rises high up into the sky, becomes cold mist and starts coming downwards to the sea at night. At last, the mist gets into the sea water. Then, another cycle of water starts. In the same process, Paaneeko Thopaa reaches into the sea. (ibid:pp 33-5)

            Besides Paaneeko Thopaa, there are many other assisting characters that come along the events in the novel. No character has any specific name. Perhaps it is the writer’s effort to generalize events and the characters in the novel.

            No hard and fast scientific theories or rules are explained in the novel. The language used and the information included target the general reader, preferably children, without any prior knowledge on science.   

3. Conclusion

The novel provides knowledge of various scientific facts about water in an interesting third person narrative with omniscient point of view. It is entertaining as well as knowledgeable to the children, the targeted readers, due to its simple and lucid language. Also, it describes human behavior towards nature and water, one of its main ingredients. Water is life for human beings and all living creatures in this world, but only a few people know everything about it. On the whole, the novel is focused on showing through an interesting narrative how water is useful for human beings and how it reaches from one place to another. 

References

Atom, Netra. 2068 B. S. “Nepali Bigyaan Kathaa Siddhaanta ra Prayog”. Garima. Kathmandu:

            Sajhaa Prakashan. 

Baral, Krishnahari and Netra Atom. 2056 B. S. Upanyaas Siddhaanta ra Nepali Upanyaas.

            Kathmandu: Sajha Prakashan.

Kavitaram. 2059 B. S. Paaneeko Thopaa. 3^rd edition. Lalitpur: Sajha Prakashan.

Pradhan, Pramod. 2057 B. S. Nepali Baal Saahitya ko Itihaas. Kathmandu: Bagar Foundation Nepal.

Prarambha, Mahaesh Paudyal. “Reinventing the Art of Storytelling”. The Kathmandu Post. Page no.

            6. December 4, 2010.

Rai, Bhakta. 2067 B. S. “Baal Saahityamaa Lok Saahitya ko Prabhaav”. Garima. Kathmandu: Sajha

            Prakashan.

Shrestha, Parshu Ram. 2008. Voice for Aestheticism in Palpasa Café. A thesis submitted to the

Department of English, Mahendra Multiple Campus, Dharan in partial fulfillment of

the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English.

---

1&2 Abrams, M. H. 2004. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7^th ed. Bangalore: Prisms Books.

First published in CET Journal Volume V, Issue 1 (2013).

Too much hopefulness is folly

Hope is something that helps you stay alive at difficult times. It's a driving force inside you and keeps you motivated for action. Only hope provides you energy to fight with adversities in case you lose all your strength and stamina. But too much of it befools and drags you to the middle of the vast ocean of troubles and failure. Ultimately it hurts.  

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway is a great novel with the eponymous theme. Through the lonely sufferings of an old fisherman in the vast ocean, the novel shows the limitations and disadvantages of human hopefulness.

After spending 87 days in the sea without catching any fish, Santiago, the old fisherman finally finds his luck in a great fish that is eighteen feet long. He has been deserted by his apprentice, Manolin, a young boy who is forced to leave the old man unwillingly by his parents because he is regarded as 'unlucky' to catch a fish.

The mysterious fish has swallowed his bait. He follows it for three days and two nights on his small kiff in the vast ocean even without having a chance to see it. He only hopes it to be a big fish that will fetch him a good sum of money in the market. He dreams of catching the fish. So to keep himself alive and awake he tries very hard with raw meat of fishes. He fights with muscle cramp in his left hand and tries to forget the severe back pain. He keeps talking to himself to kill his loneliness.

Finally, he sees the fish that he is pursuing. The fish, his hope and dream in reality, appears much bigger than he had guessed earlier. Using his experience and fisherman's skills, he is able to kill the fish but the carcass is too big for the space inside the kiff. Then, the old man ties the fish's snout with a rope and rows towards the bank. But he and his fish are attacked by many sharks one after another. Though he manages to kill some of them and to injure others, he cannot save his fish from them. Only the bony head remains when he reaches the shore defeated and exhausted. While being attacked by sharks, the old man repeats his remorse for going out too 'far' (being overly hopeful and ambitious) many times. Finally, he has no zeal or zest left in his body and mind. He hopelessly surrenders to the cruelty of his fate. 

Mistake in name

Many people are not serious about the mistake they do while writing names in Nepali or English. Sometimes, such mistakes cause really serious problems. I frequently remember an event that happened with me around six years ago. I was sub-editor at a Dharan-based local daily newspaper. I had to do a reporting about milk farmers of Tarahara. They were on a strike. The leader’s name was ‘Indra’ who had given me information via telephone.

The next day, I received a phone call as soon as I had joined the office. It was the same person who had given me ‘news’ the previous evening. But instead of showing any gratitude for the news coverage of their strike, he started bashing me on phone. He was saying me, “Why did you change my gender, Mr? You don’t know how to write people’s names?” He kept scolding me for a long time while I was frequently trying to placate him. At last I said, “I am really very sorry for what has happened, sir. A corrigendum will be published in tomorrow’s issue.” Then, I forcefully dropped the receiver.

In place of his name, another name- ‘Indu’- was published in the news. In Nepali, both ‘Indra’ and ‘Indu’ look almost alike in written form.

I was surprised how it had happened because I knew I had written the name correctly in my draft the previous evening. I searched around the computer room and in the trash box.

After all, I found my draft crushed and thrown in it. I took it out of the trash box and looked for the name. Lo! The name was correctly written- ‘Indra’. Then, how had it got published in that way which would fetch me bitter words instead of sweet and gentle gratitude?

I found that it was the mistake of the proof reader; a middle aged grumpy junky man who was very jealous of my position (I was in a higher rank than his). When I asked him why he had changed the name, he said he could not read my handwriting. He did not give me a satisfactory answer. Instead, he quarreled with me. He enlisted me as his enemy from that day, and stopped speaking with me. When I left the newspaper two years after, I was still his enemy.

My Mother

I am afraid to imagine how my life would have been without my mother at my side. I have seen many orphans who sleep in the street and eat the leftovers they find on the heap of garbage. Many others, who are from rich families, and who are often replete with material prosperity, are emotionally 'empty' due to the absence of motherly love. Luckily, I don't belong to any.

I am very happy because I have my mother to take care of me selflessly in this world full of con people. She is the one who is always worried about me. She is the one who cries first when I am in pain and smiles first when I am in gain. No one in this world matches for her unconditional love, support and care for me. I always feel secure because I have my mom to pray God for me every morning.

I am already over thirty, but for her I am still a small boy. She drags me onto her lap and caresses my hair. She still enjoys feeding me with her bare hand. If I do any silly mistake, she still scolds me as if I were a small boy. But I feel her love with soothing power even in her angry words. When I am at home, she is always ready to prepare my favourite dishes such as rice-pudding, aaloo-fry and spaghetti. She is always the first to ask me about my health and to make me tea with green leaves of mint after I get home from outside on a sizzling day. She cooks, feeds, washes, cleans and prays to God for me.

Though I don't know what a father's love is, she did her best to compensate for it. It's because of her efforts that I never felt orphaned and loveless. I think I would have suffered a lot if she, instead of my father, was absent in my life. How could I have learnt the values of love, care, politeness, honesty, sympathy, and humanity without her presence in my life? Therefore, I am always thankful to her.