Karnali Blues

Karnali Blues is an epic story about a young boy who travels to different phases of his life; with his parents. The story's main plot focuses on the character's father who develops in our own spirits by the layers of Buddhisagar's writing. We are made to see the character's father from different angles: from being strict to loving. Though the main character is the father, the writer also adds a major chunk of his life into it while holding the story and binding it together with several in-and-out characters like Parvati Didi, Ekraj, Mamata Didi, Sharmila, Chandre, Bhagiram, Batu, Sadham, Mandire, Ramesh, Shiva Shankar etc. The story contains the naughtiness of childhood that are hilarious as well as moments of heart-breaking chapters that will keep you wanting more of Buddhisagar's easy words and perfectly structured sentences.

“Karnali Blues” is a rare Nepali novel that has almost totally displaced Sanskrit in its narratives. There are no speechifying politicians and pseudo-intellectuals in the book, nor development gurus and social workers and other dollar farmers waxing their lingo and lacing their reports with mind-blowing idiotic idioms. The settlements’ carpetbaggers don't fuss with Sanskrit. Rather, the pages have local Tharu dialects of Bhagi Ram, west Nepal's guttural expressions delivered by Brisha's mother, and the Kumaon-Garhwal-Khasan-Sinjali vernacular of Nepali spoken by Jarilal in Kalikot. These variations are Nepal's very own, and readers will enjoy deciphering their nuances.

- Abhinav Chalise