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The people’s History of Bhaktapur

: A Book Review on Dr. Yogesh Raj’s

"History as Mindscapes: A Memory of the Peasants’ Movement of Nepal"

by Sanyukta Shrestha, London

Published: The Himalayan Times Online, 03 March 2012

If any history is just another attractive collection of official statements by people in

power, someone will have to try rewriting it. Dr. Yogesh Raj's "History as

Mindscapes: A Memory of the Peasants’ Movement of Nepal" is one such work.

Disturbing it is at several junctures; Raj's hard-hitting revelation of the otherwise

untold is definitely not for those who enjoy garnished works. Unfolding in brief 

chapters narrating KrshnaBhakta Caguthi's life in his own words, and accompanied

by adequate supporting documentary evidences, this dark-but-engrossing project

makes you question your own assessment of perceived truth and does it repeatedly.

Section 1 reviews available literature on relevant history writing methodologies and

does a comparative study on their relevance to this book. Your confusion whether it is

more of a thesis is soon brought to an end by Section 2, "Caguthi speaks", which

forms the major portion of this book.

His memories of some landmark events from Nepalese history simply take the

narration to another level, whether it be his picturesque recollection of the great

earthquake of 1990 v.s. [pg 23], the first house with electricity [pg 36], an account of 

first aircraft in the Nepalese sky [pg 37] or the very rare snow-clad Kathmandu of 

2001 v.s. [pg 58]. Most interesting aspect of it being not only how he perceived it but

mainly how his fellow peasants did, - eventually evolving as a people's history andnot that based on any King's inscription, or 'skilfully interpreted' by any prolific

historian.

Everything that Raj explains in great detail in Section 1, you appreciate only in

Section 2 as you get to know the theory followed by its practice within the same

bookbinding. Throughout Section 2, the narration is accompanied by a parallel

comparison of similar incidents from various other books which, when not provided

as supporting evidences, exhibit contradicting perspectives. Unconventional it is, this

layout is effective in presenting history not as an episode from a monographed time

but allowing various viewpoints to create a dimension of space in the readers' psyche.

Any review of this book will also be incomplete without a remark on the past miseries

of  Jyaapu cast that the various sub-plots in this book revolve around. We get to read a

lot about how the  jyaapus have preserved one of the original cultures of Nepal.

However, the book highlights one of the less appreciated qualities of the jyaapus, that

of perseverance. It traces the rising of a Bhaktapur peasant KrshnaBhakta Caguthi 

from a state of extreme poverty historically rooted in his household, to a political

status unimaginable to the uneducated and uninitiated. Following the twists and turns

his life goes through, one might as well wonder if politics is really for the true sons of 

their soil. Was it possible for Caguthi to save the dignity of all peasants without

loosing that of his own? You will soon find yourself wanting to know more about hislife.

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Peasants' children leaving school just because of not having "one Paisaa" to offer to

the idol of Sarasvati [pg 60], Kisaan Samgh having to mobilize 1,920 peasants just to

safeguard their flags from being robbed by minority landowners [pg 77], and the first

 jyaapu woman  Helmaayaa Caguthi climbing a public stage [pg 78]; sequences like

these colour this ambitious book with one central theme, - for the peasants, couragewas the last resort!

In discontinuous but ample detail, Caguthi's account also includes farming, labour,

dressing [pg 53], marriage [pg 54], (sub-) caste system [pg 84], etc. While it

seamlessly hops between most from the above spectrum of socio-cultural topics, the

narration remains focussed to it's central theme. These were some of the timeless

words by Caguthi, who died only last year without even being noticed by today's

scoop-frenzy media:"What do the peasants in this country want? … If the tiller has the joy of eating the same

thing that the landowner gets to, they are ready to work…" [pg 99] 

Although I could not find any fundamental problem with this project, I do believe, as

a book, it could be made more informative through related photographs of people and

places; more so if the images are from relevant time. Kisaan Samgh's meeting sites

might have been converted into a tea shop or anything else by now but photos could

show as they stand today. Even Caguthi's childhood home, or the fields he worked in

could have added much more to reader's visual imagery.

Neither Raj nor myself belong to the  jyaapu community. However, my experience

with this book has made me believe that we need not be one to feel their immense

pain within. So, on their behalf, I sincerely thank the author for giving us 'History as

Mindscapes'.

Publication details:

Title: History as Mindscapes:

A Memory of the Peasants’ Movement of Nepal 

Author: Dr Yogesh Raj

Published: 1st Ed. 2010 (2067 v.s.)

Pg: 336

Price: NRs 500ISBN: 978-9937-8194-8-0