[Kartikeya is a story writer, who has more than hundred books for children to his credit including those originally written, edited and translated works. Many of his books have been translated into English. His stories have found a place in school textbooks, and a couple of theses have been written on his works at the Departments of Nepali and English at Tribhuvan University. He is also a child-right activist. President of Children’s Literature Foundation Nepal, Kartikeya has traveled extensively and had trained several children to write their voices. He is the founder of Kartikeya Child Talent Trust that identifies and awards talented but underprivileged children every year. Presented herewith is an interview taken with him by Mahesh Paudyal for The Gorkha Times.]
Greetings! It has been about two decades that you have been constantly writing for children. What, do you think, is your achievement?
Thank you! In these two decades of writing, I have discovered a beautiful purpose in life: to advocate for children's rights and happiness. As a writer, I did not just write; I also traveled. And during my tours, I met many promising but underprivileged children. I used all my resources to promote them, and today, thankfully, many of them have either become writers or are shaping their careers to become successful people. Writing also gave me a different responsibility in society, and I have always warned myself that like children, I should be truthful and honest.
Though you have many books to your credit, most of them are stories. Why so?
Children’s literature is by and large a storehouse of stories. Stories always grip children. The children own the characters that appear in the stories and try to emulate them. If we want to delight the children best and inculcate certain values in them, we can most effectively do it through stories.
What kind of subject or theme do you choose for stories?
My earliest writings are more or less moral and corrective stories. When the nation entered a phase of conflict, I wrote stories of conflict too, exploring their connection with children. Stories collected in my collections The Flying Duster and Interesting Stories for Children also include such stories. In the meantime, I have also written stories that urge for children's participation in decision making. I want to see that through my stories, a generation of socially and politically aware children grows up.
What is your assessment about children’s literature in Nepal?
We have many writers, many books. Every year, hundreds of books for children get published. We, however, have very little works for beginners and a dismally low quantity of books for teens and young adults. Whatever we have is still dominated by moral and instructive content; we have not been able to explore and experiment much on other themes. I believe pure entertaining work can also serve a moral purpose in a subtle or symbolic way. We must try this.
You are not just a writer; you are also a trainer. You have been reaching out to children to tell stories or help them write. What potential have you seen in Nepali children?
Nepali children are wonderful. They are extremely creative. I have seen that many of my trainees have become published writers today. There is also a huge number that is practicing literature. I can see that we have a very bright literary future resting in the hands of our children. All we have to do is give them opportunity and love.
What has occupied you these days?
Lock-down, and the stillness in public activities foisted by Covid-19 Pandemic gave me an opportunity to read. In fact, I had a pile of books I always wanted to read, but could never make it due to constraint of time. This time, I found the opportunity. I read about 250 books by both Nepali and foreign authors, original or translated. This reading has inspired me to revisit my own approach to writing children’s literature. I have started considering more on what interests children, rather than writing what I want to. This, I confess, is going to be a shift in my writing. My writings ahead will reflect this shift.
That means, we can predict that a lot of stuffs for children is going to come out of your prolific pen. What is your writing ahead going to be like.
I shall fully devote to writing fiction. As I have told you earlier, stories/fictions in children’s literature are things you can never dispense with. Before, I used to publish isolated pieces like short stories, and later collect them to form books. But now instead of doing that, I shall publish bigger volumes—collections of stories, or novels. I have realized the absence of an influential ideal character whom our kids can look upon as their model. Isolated pieces can never do that. This is my realization over the years. I have such a character in my mind, and it is only through bigger volumes—novels to be precise—that can invent and establish such characters. My mission ahead is directed to that end. I am doing my homework. Let’s hope, I will publish some of them pretty soon.
What are children in your understanding?
Children, for me, are embodiment of the best human beings with their soft, empathetic, truthful and innocent hearts. As we grow older, we tent to lose these qualities. We must try our best to maintain that our heart remains as truthful as children are, though we might grow in body and mind.
Thank you for your time.