Chandra Singh Gurung
Jayant Sharma
BIO
Chandra Singh Gurung is a Bahrain based Nepali poet, who writes in his native language Nepali. His first collection of poems was published in 2007, and his works have appeared in many print and online magazines worldwide.
He had also organized many literary events in Nepal, including the event of Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh in 2016. Fayad was later sentenced to death for apostasy by the government of Saudi Arabia. He was accused of promoting atheism in his work.
Chandra Gurung’s poetry depicts the politico-socio-economic conditions of his place. In 2016, he was awarded “Asvikrit Bichar Sahitya Samman,” and was invited to the First Dhaka Translation Festival in Bangladesh in 2018.
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BIO
Jayant Sharma is a translator and editor of Sathi that publishes English translations of Nepali Literature. He is also the editor of Beyond Borders anthology published annually from Nepal. A computer engineer by profession, he has published more than a dozen books to his credits, including ‘Guerrilla Girl,’ ‘Children Stories of Nepal,’ ‘In the Battle of Kirtipur,’ ‘Gurkha War Poems,’ ‘Odes from the Himalayas,’ and ‘Color of Epoch.’ He regularly contributes to many national dailies, journals, and other publications.
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The Old Mountain
Always
Silent
Pensive
Focused
It is as if, aiming for the firmament in its fantasy,
Swimming in the sea of thoughts,
That old mountain.
Around the dead silent caves of its ears
Birds chirp mellow euphony,
The winds fly past whistling its archaic tune.
Thrusting out from its shoulders
Taking long leaps,
The rivers play waterslide.
The clouds come tiptoeing to blindfold,
The storms impose a sturdy kick
In the rage of being deterred from its way.
The unabashed headstrong breeze
Runs away nipping its cheeks.
The bolt of thunder inflicts a sharp jolt,
The sunset blazes a wildfire.
With crags on its shoulders,
And drenched in silences,
It withstands the monsoon.
From time immemorial,
In the dearth of winters,
In the euphoria of springs,
It nurtures buds of poetry in every corner of its heart,
Like a bard,
Standing there, that old mountain.
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बूढो पहाड
सधैँ–
शान्त
विचारमग्न
एकाग्र
लाग्छ ताक्दै छ कल्पनाको आकाश
पौडँदै छ विचारको समुद्र
त्यो बूढो पहाड ।
कानको चकमन्न ओडार वरपर
चराचुरुङ्गी मीठा धुन चिरबिराउँछन्
हावा आफ्नै आदिम गीत सुसेल्दै छेउबाट उड्छ
काँधबाट हुत्तिँदै
हामफाल्दै
चिप्लेटी खेल्छ खोला ।
बादल आँखा छोप्न आउँछ चाल मारेर
बाटो छेकेको झोकमा
बजार्छ जोरदार लात्ती आँधीले छातीमाथि
गालाहरू चिमोट्दै
भाग्छ नकचरो बतास ।
चट्याङले तेज प्रहार गर्छ
घामले काँधको भीरभरि डढेलो सल्काउँछ
रूझ्दै मौन–मौन
सहेको छ बर्सात उसले ।
युगौंदेखि
उमङ्गका वसन्तहरूमा
अभावका शिशिरहरूमा
हुर्काउँदै हृदयको कुनामा कविताका पालुवा
बाँचेको छ कुनै कविझैँ
त्यो बूढो पहाड ।
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