Review by Sarita Aryal, Edited by Nistha Shrestha
Kartikeya is a renowned author who has been working
towards the promotion of reading and writing culture for children since the
last two decades. Kartikeya, the
leader of Mount Everest Storytelling Express is also a skilled story teller. He
has already travelled more than 40 districts of Nepal in his storytelling
journey. He is also the founder of Kartikeya
Trust through which he has been providing Kartikeya Child Talent Award every year to talented children. Recently,
author Kartikeya has published
his three children’s story collections in Braille script from Children’s
Literature Foundation Nepal (CLFN), including some of his best selections,as a
valuable gift for visually impaired children from different background.
It
is a challenging opportunity for visually impaired children of Nepal to get any
books published in Braille script. It is very difficult for them to get even the
necessary course books in Braille script. In this context, it is a historic as
well as a praiseworthy moment for visually impaired children that they have got
a golden opportunity to read the best three children’s story collections
published in Braille script by a single author at once. I think that they will
be motivated towards writing the literary creations along with the
entertainment and they will also get the real pleasure of reading literature on
their own after reading all the three story collections.
I
got an opportunity to read all the best stories by author Kartikeya from his three children’s
story collections published in Braille script and it was a quite new and
different experience for me. I have been confronted with various difficulties
due to the lack of course books since my
school time as I am also a visually impaired person by birth. During my school
time, there were a limited number of course books in Braille script and we had
to read them by sharing with classmates. Therefore, reading the literary books
in the Braille script was not accessible. Though I had a great interest in
literature, there was no option rather than listening some of the literary
programs in radio to quench the thirst of reading literature. This time, I got
a real pleasure of reading literature when I read the three children’s story
collections by author Kartikeya
in Braille script. I am grateful to him that he gave me the chance to present
the analysis in the book launching ceremony of his three children’s story
collections published in Braille script. I also went through the flash back of
my beautiful childhood memories while reading the three story collections. I
have also felt that the reading of these story collections has activated the
awareness of literature inside me and tempted me to write children’s stories
myself.
The
following are the children’s story collections by author Kartikeya published in Braille
script:
1. “Waha! DunotPasalekiChhori” and other child stories
A. “WahaDunotPasalekiChhori”,
B. “Ram Ra Shyam Dubai Bessari Roe”,
C. “Cable Carko Katha”,
D. “Driver Uncle Kina Roe”,
E. “Duster Udyo”,
F. “Hanumanle Surya Nile”
2. “Ma ChorHoina” and other children’s stories
A. “Ma ChorHoina”,
B. “Rajan Maya NamaraHai”,
C. “BidakoBela”,
D. “Didiko Maya”,
E. “Kanchhi”,
F. “Lau VaiHarayo”
3. “ Sacchaiko Hero Ho Krishna Bahadur” and other children’s stories
A. “Sacchaiko Hero Ho Krishna Bahadur”,
B. “ChhiKastoNaramro Hero”,
C. “PiririkoDesh”,
D. “ParikoKalpana”,
E. “NayaBarsha”,
F. “ChitileKhelyoHoli”
All the above listed stories are the
beautiful documentation for the entertainment and literary pleasure of
children. There are altogether six stories by author Kartikeya in each story collection. children can be able to
bring positive change in their behavior from the various literary elements in
every story of author Kartikeya
such as beautiful child psychology, meaningful message, healthy entertainment,
social norms and values, satire against various discriminations along with the
beautiful presentation of fantasy. Some of the stories, such as “WahaDunotPasalekiChhori” carry a deep
lesson or message not only for children but also for the people of other age
groups. One of the most interesting thing about author Kartikeya is that he has not given a direct message to children
about what should be done and what should not be done. But children can
automatically gain the hidden message after they finish reading every story. I
think that this is one of the best feature and quality of a real author.
Similarly, the imaginative story “Duster
Udyo” has not only provided a full package of entertainment but also has
provided an ironical message for both the teachers and the students.
Author
Kartikeyahas published these
three children’s story collection in Braille script for free distribution to visually
impaired children throughout the country in the memory of his beloved mother Durga Devi Ghimire, “Devanayakiramanujadashi.” To publish
Braille book is very costly due to which Braille books are published in a
limited amount. Similarly another misfortune is that most of visually impaired
children are from poor economic background and they cannot afford the costly Braille
books. In such a difficult scenario, author Kartikeya has taken a praiseworthy step by publishing his best
story collections for visually impaired children. In this regard, I want to
express my gratitude to author Kartikeya,
Children’s Literature Foundation Nepal and his heavenly mother Durga Devi Ghimire “Devanayakiramanujadashi” for their
courtesy to publish three children’s story collections in Braille script and
distribute these valuable documents free of cost. It seems to me that author Kartikeya has also played a great
role to inspire the concerned authorities of visually impaired group to draw
their attention to this aspect which they have not cared about. I am sure that
he will also give continuity by publishing his literary works in Braille script
in order to develop the reading culture among visually impaired children in the
days to come.
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