Bhawani Bhikshu Biography

Life and Literary Journey of great Nepali Literator Bhawani Bhikshu

Bhawani Bhikshu is regarded as a leading figure in contemporary Nepali fiction. Bhikshu was one of Nepal's greatest novelists with extraordinary talent of psychological awareness, especially that of women and child psychology, something which still has not been achieved by others in the literary sector in Nepali literature.

Bhawani Bhikshu was born on 6 June 1966 BS (1910 AD) in Taulihawa of Kapilvastu of Lumbini. His real name was Noharram Gupta. He was the son of Indra Prasad Gupta and Yashoda Devi Kalwar Gupta. When he was very young he had a near-fatal His mother, in despair, prayed to the village goddess to save him. Luckily he survived and out of that occurence he was titled "Bhawani Bhikshu" (Bhawi's devotee).

His early life was one of sickness, hardship, constant migration between his mother's home in India and his own village. Though not traditionally educated as a child, he learned to read and write in India. He took Kulbhushan exam (in Hindi) when he was 12 years old and became proficient in Hindi, English, Bengali and Urdu. He later worked in Nepal as a scribe and eventually started to be immersed in literary world.

A turning point in Bhikshu's life was when he arrived in Kathmandu with the legal papers of his landlord and met literature figures such as Premraj Sharma and Siddhicharan Shrestha. Through them he started writing for Sharada, the leading literary magazine of Nepal at the time. His first Nepali essay, Alochya ra Alochana, was printed in Kartik 1993 BS. Thus, began his official tryst with literature.

His life was marked by emotional and personal turmoil. He had a disastrous first marriage, an early death of his wife, money trouble in Kathmandu and, finally, a life of increasing solitude. And yet, although born in the Terai and a product of Hindi, Bhikshu wholeheartedly committed his professional life to the Nepali language. He continued to support Nepali literature even when made fun of for being "Madise" and an outsider in Kathmandu's literary crowd.

He went on to edit big literary magazines like Sharada and Dharti, served in various government posts and came to work directly under King Mahendra's propaganda department. Bhikshu has been decorated with the prestigious Madan Puraskar for his book Agat, the Common Award and the Tribhuvan Pragya Award.

Style both in writing and conceptually Bhawani Bhikshu is primarily a character writer searching human psychology through image. Under the influence of Freud, his tales often explore repressed desires, emotional conflict, unconsummated love, sexual frustrationăand the mind conditioned by society. His heroes endure in silence, caught somewhere between social convention and private desire. Things like Tyo Feri Farkala, Mayasaheb,Gunakeshari, Avarta and Others are an example of that.

He was originally a poet, but Bhikshu was a story-teller par excellence. His use of reflective narration, internal monologues and metaphorical settings made his fiction distinctive. He also put in characters with internal complexity as well as external drama. He is known for articulating psychological nuances of love, suffering and emotional repression - particularly in women. Realistically and with emotional depth he depicted women's mute suffering, longing and social restriction.

Bhikshu latterly had lung cancer. He kept writing straight through to the end. He died on 4th Baisakh 2038 BS (1981 AD).

His major published works include:

• Shadow, Prakash, Sophistication (Poetry collections)
• Gunakeshari, Mayasaheb, Avarta, Avantar (Compilation of Stories)
• Subhadra Bajya, Agat, Pipe No Dui, Behind the Scenes (Novels)

The real achievement of Bhawani Bhikshu was that his experiments were fearless; his own mind was his laboratory. He was writing about pain, longing, identity, and internal struggles well before these became standard tropes in Nepali literature. With his story-telling manner, focusing on the psychology of his characters and the truthfulness of their portrayal, he is considered one of the best fiction writers of Nepal.