Nepali Haiku Literature: A Landscape
Nepali Haiku Literature: A Landscape
by ‘Godhooli’ Dinesh Chapagain
Nepal: A Favorable Environment for Haiku
Nepal is a comparatively small landlocked Asian nation with about a population of thirty million people and is situated between two demographic giants of the world: China in the north and India in the south. It is a sovereign country, which has never been occupied by any other foreign supremacy since the historical period. Thus, it developed its own socio-ethnic cultures and livelihood. It can easily be called a melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities with one-hundred and twenty-six different ethnic groups living in peace and harmony. Among these diverse groups of people, there are one hundred twenty-three different languages declared as mother tongues coming from different cultures. However, more than 90 percent of its population follows Nepali as its common national language. The northern part of Nepal covers a wide range of snow-capped mountains, with the tallest Mount Everest, neighboring to Tibet. The low land Tarai region in the south (adjacent to India) spreads from east to west. Nature has given an abundant scope for artists to create their literary works, with large natural lakes, high altitude mountains, high speed streams, rivers and lakes, low land greeneries, as well as dense and minor forests. Moreover, Nature has blessed the country with six seasons of two months each: spring, summer, monsoon (rainy), autumn, falls and winter. We hear the chirping of birds and see the blooming of various types of wildflowers in spring. We feel the soft heat in summer and hear the heavy to light rain in the monsoon season as per the diversified contour of the country. The colorful festivals and withering nature in autumn and the cold breeze and snow falls in winter covering high altitude mountains are some romantic seasonal fluctuations of the country. Nepal is thus a very favorable country for haiku aspirants.
