M. B. PRADHAN : A LIVING LEGEND

M.B. Pradhan : A Living Legend

(published in The Rising Nepal, Friday Supplement , June, 2014)

Sandhya Regmi

   MB Pradhan reciting Sandhya's translated poem, July 2012

My first meeting with MB Pradhan

It was a brand new Saturday. Early in the morning of July 21, 2012 I got a phone call from Professor Govinda Raj Bhattarai giving me a pleasant surprise. “A great academician, writer, poet, columnist, translator and linguist from Darjeeling is in town.” I was invited to attend a literary function, for an interaction on MB Pradhan’s newly released travelogue ‘Man ka rahar ra lahar haru’ (‘Waves of dreams and desires’) at the Rodum Foodland in Kamal Pokhari. The invitation was a great honor for a tyro writer like me. Additionally that occasion would provide me a rare opportunity to meet such a noble personality.

The luck factor too was in my favor. I happened to be in Kathmandu at that very moment. In fact, I had just arrived from Ho Chi Minh City- where I have been living and working since the past 8 years- to organize a highly significant socio-religious event to mark the 84^th birth anniversary (‘Sahashra chandra darshan’) of my respected father Kamal Raj Regmi and a book release ceremony related to that event ‘Kamal Raj Regmi: in various dimension’- on which I had been working strenuously for the past one year.

Other invitees in the programme comprised renowned writers, literary critics and professors of Nepal, about 15 personalities in total. Among them were prominent novelist Dhruba Chandra Gautam, renowned story-writer Padmawati Singh, and some other literary critics, and professors from Tribhuvan University. A small yet powerful gathering, hosted by Professor Anjana Bhattarai- portraying a true reflection of her magnanimous heart. No words could describe how honoured I felt to be a part of this intellectually elite group.

Naturally, the moment was filled with anticipation. With heart full of thrill, passion, and zeal, I waited for the chief guest to arrive in the venue. While waiting, I found myself transformed into a teenager’s dreamland …. My poetic and artistic heart fused with imaginative part of the mind started portraying very bright and warm colors all over the canvas my dream writer and poet MB Pradhan. How would he look like… is he handsome? Would I fall in love with him ?? 

I awoke from my dream, with the arrival of a tall man of almost 6 feet height in a maroon T-shirt and dark blue trousers and of very sportive personality as if he had participated multiple-times in the Olympics. Indeed a very attractive and a charismatic personality- no less than that of the world-renowned football player Maradona. At a closer observation, his high forehead and elegant face compared with that of a learned saint, and his eyes shined as if his brain stores a universe of millions and millions of wisdom-cells (‘Gyan kosh’), reminding me of the scientific brain of Sir Albert Einstein. For all his nobilities, one thing was missing in this gentleman. He was free from all the pride and ego. All I could see was love, love, and only love in his eyes.   

As the curtain opened, Professor Govinda started reading his 10-page long analysis of Pradhan’s travelogue, shedding light on each and every aspect of the writing, projecting how unique place this book would secure in the travelogue-literature history of Nepali language. A Wordsworth in the heart and a Shakespeare in his mind, I thought. Amidst the cozy literary session, I was asked to recite my poem ‘Briksha’ (Tree), from the recently released book containing collection of my poetry and paintings ('Sandhya ka kavita ra kyanvasharu’), a poem aimed at fostering awareness in global warming, green house gas emission reduction and environmental protection.

The next session of the event witnessed the release of English translated version of Professor Govinda’s reputed novel ‘Muglan’. I not only felt highly honoured to be the first recipient of the book, but also got pleasantly surprised when I saw that it had embodied my comments on it in the first column of the readers’ response. Assistant Professor Lekhnath S Pathak at the Department of English of Tribhuvan University had toiled for seven years in translating this book.

The programme concluded with a lunch reception. While all the other guests were busy entertaining themselves in the dining hall with food and drinks, I stayed behind and shared few moments with MB Pradhan, exchanging ideas and opinions related to the event, and also complimented him some literary works that I had authored.

…………….……………

Next day early in the morning while I sat in front of my laptop to get into internet to read the morning news I was delightfully astonished to see an email which read: … “Dear Miss Regmi, I liked your poem very much. Hurriedly translated three stanzas…. I hope you like it. MB Pradhan” 

Yes, he had transformed it overnight! …. I read the translation with sheer delight … with tears of joy running down my eyes…. It ran:

‘Ode to a tree’

Exposed to the tempest from time immemorial

But not beaten,

Battling against lightning thunder down the ages

But not lost,

Smitten by blistering rains for centuries together

But not shaken,

Shorn of all its beauty in winter

Yet reborn in grandeur in spring,

Spreading fragrance and freshness,

To earth under the azure sky;

Forever smiling even providing shelter

To criminals raising arms for slaughter.

Standing upright as an oak tree

On the mountains,

Smiling as a ‘Christmas Tree’

In its abode of snows,

Dancing as a ‘Pine Tree’ smeared

With sands all over,

In the grueling heat of the sun

You flap your wings constantly,

To provide pleasant whiff of air.

Inhales himself the dust and smoke

To bring lively breeze

And refreshing greenery in abundance.

Suffering from pangs of dislocation

The nectar bearing coconut tree

Still stands a hero as always.

To you he has always provided

Has taken nothing from you ever,

The people annihilated

By spate of river and floods

Depleted by earthquakes

And lost their hearth and home,

Shattered by all destroying fire

And failing to receive any succour,

From society and state

He has sustained them

As an affectionate mother

A lap full of tenderness

A cloak to naked body

And an embrace of friendship.

As I read his translation I wondered ….what a great passion, skill, and horizon he is blessed with; … each and every line of the translation is coupled with feelings and meanings- just like the clouds impregnated with rain. MB Pradhan has the passion, zeal, vision and skill to lead poetry and translation into the new millennium.

Before MB left Kathmandu to continue his journey to Europe and USA, I had the honour of hosting and arranging a farewell programme for him. This provided added opportunity to interact with him, as I had not yet quenched my thirst of his poetic heart. On 25^th of July, a group of ten of us gathered at Bhancha Griha of Bag Darbar, to cherish the moment with MB. During the candlelit dining amidst the folk dances and music, MB recited, with profound sentimental feelings and zeal, his English translation of my 5-page long poem 'Ode to a tree', transforming the hall into a Shakespearean theatre but with full of greeneries, making the event lifelong memorable.  

Five days after the farewell, yet another email dropped on my computer from my poetic hero: …"Dear Sandhya, Greetings from Frankfurt. We landed here amidst great excitement and almost got lost in this huge airport with practically no signs in English. While flying high above the Arabian ocean, I was literally lost in the mists of your poems and got nostalgic… I have completed the translation of the first half of your poem entitled 'A Letter to my Motherland Nepal'. I hope you like it….” Thus:

A Letter to my Motherland Nepal

Into migrants metamorphosed we are
Much against our inner proclivity
In the very present transcended we are
Into mere onlookers of the past.
Our countrymen we greet thee.

Name and honour in an alien country
Seemingly a distant dream
Reaching long before,
Across the seven seas
Disembarked on the hostile shore
Commuted in Bombay with crispy notes
As awfully cheap commodities.
Before we touched the dreamland of Malaysia
Beguiled without any sympathy
By our own malefactors.
On ashore once of Mauritius
Fleeced clean by marauders
Of Indian ingenious
Landed once on the dunes of Dubai
Assaulted without compassion
By our own Indian conspirators.
Slit by blades of Iraqi terrorists
None to shade tears for us.
when toiled day and night
we as menial workers.
Once we set our feet on UK,
As typical new recruits,
Transported forthwith to confront
The bullets of the dreaded Talibans
When fortune smiles on us
Through unerring DV though,
All our paraphernalia we dispose.
And land on the shore of USA
Only to wake up in morn startled
To find life of menial labour ahead.
And the cry comes from within
To your homeland to return
which is a mirage in the desert now.
We fall prey sometimes to
Bali’s bomb explosion
Or marooned at Phuket
When hell breaks loose of Tsunami.
By the time we enter the camp
Of German refugees
Burnt alive by Neo Nazis.
To Hong Kong and Singapore
We toil our weary way to begin
A new life of helpless porters.
Totally incapacitated we are
With humiliation and exertion
In Japan and Korea struggling
As servile labourers..
Wiping out the beads of perspiration
On the gulfs of Arab,
we literally crumble into pieces
And go down forever.
Events of this nature if repeat
On the sublime and holy
Land of your birth
Solemnization of your last rite
Is a certainty by your kith and kin
In a dignified way.
We die here a death
Of a beast unsung,
A disreputable dissolution indeed.

We bow our heads to thee
Our countrymen and all
People of respectability.

This poem echoes the cries of thousands of sons and daughters of mother Nepal who are living outside the country. I had penned its original version with my grief-sunken heart with tears rolling down the paper while living overseas (paradesh), after the most unfortunate, terrifying, barbaric, and cruel murder of a dozen of innocent young and aspiring sons of mother Nepal in September 2004, while toiling in Iraq to realize the mother’s dream. And now, MB has, through his splendid translation into English language, made it accessible to wider circle worldwide.

Upon bidding farewell to MB and after my holidays in Nepal were over, it was time for me to return to Ho Chi Minh City. This time I was flying with a gift so precious- MB’s travelogue. When the TG 577 took off from Kathmandu heading towards Bangkok I gazed through the window the wide open sky far above the horizon, and through the chain of snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas- the land of the Yetis, while my artistic heart started pouring snow-white colors all over the mountains in the canvas of my heart. I grew even more sentimental, firmly gripped in my hands was Pradhan’s travelogue, the pages of which I started turning over one after another,…each word, each line, each sentence, and each paragraph of every page was breathing with life. With the reading of each page, I started understanding Pradhan’s personality in fine detail.

Born in Pokhriabong in Darjeeling on 6^th April 1933, Mr. MB (Manbahadur) Pradhan has got outstanding educational background. He passed his matriculation examination of Calcutta University from St. Robert’s School, Darjeeling in 1949. Moving forward, he prosecuted his college education at St. Joseph’s College, Northpoint, Darjeeling and Darjeeling Government College. After his graduation, he proceeded to Shantiniketan, Visva Bharati University from where he did his Masters in Education in 1964 and was placed third in the University. He earned his diploma in Guidance & Counseling from the Bureau of Educational & Psychological Research, David Hare Training College, Kolkata in 1962. Even after earning those prestigious degrees, MB refused to contain himself within the limits of his formal education. His continued passion for education and knowledge led him to continue riding the life-long self-learning vehicle.

He has had a very successful professional life with 28 years of teaching career.  MB started his career as a Principal of Ghoom Boys’ school, Darjeeling. At this point of time, his father was taken ill and the doctor advised him to move to a warmer place. He then joined Dr. Graham’s Homes, Kalimpong- an institution of international repute- where he spent most of his productive and eventful years. After his retirement, Pradhan joined Saptashree Gyanpith Kalimpongn as ‘Pracharya’ (Principal) and built this institution from its nascent stage to its present stature. It is an English school (plus 12) with more than two thousand students.

MB’s passion for Nepali language and literature is evident from his active involvement in it from his schoolhood. During his school and college days, MB was an editor of a Nepali handwritten magazine ‘Sudhar’, a popular literary venture very much in vogue during those days. An exhibition of such numerous magazines from every nook and corner of Darjeeling and its neighbouring areas used to be held annually and on one occasion, Dr. Parasmani Pradhan, a legend and a well-known figure in the history of Nepali language and literature was one of the members of the Selection Committee. MD’s relentless love and appetite for the Nepali language and literature lead him to pursue second Master degree in Nepali literature from Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Mr. Pradhan is also a freelance writer. His numerous articles written in English have been published in leading newspapers, magazines, and journals, including ‘The Statesman’ (Calcutta), 'Illumine’ (Siliguri), ‘The Courier’ (Delhi), ‘Darjeeling Today’ (Darjeeling), ‘The Rising Nepal’ (Kathmandu), etc. He has contributed many articles in Sahitya Academy’s publication ‘History of Indian Literature’ in 8 vols. Besides, he has penned numerous articles in Nepali dailies including 'Sunchari', 'Diyalo', 'Prawah', 'Himalaya Darpan', 'Gorkha Bharati', 'Diyo' etc.

MD has authored many books, some of them are 1) ‘New History’, 2) ‘Social Studies’,             3) ‘Sugam Nepali Byakaran ra Rachana’ (in collaboration with Mr. Bhaichand Pradhan),        4) ‘Teach yourself Nepali’ (in English), 5) ‘Guidance to English Idioms & Phrases’,                6) ‘Kalimpong ka Graham Bajay’ (translation of Dr. Minto’s book ‘Graham of Kalimpong’), and 7) 'Man ka lahar ra rahar haru' (A Travelogue).

MD has not limited his spare times in writings. He contributed actively as the Convenor of Association of Heads of ICSE/ISC schools of Kalimpong. He is serving as the Editor-in- Chief of ‘Pulse Yo’- a youth magazine in English. He is the Adviser to ‘Nag Dhara Jana Kalyan Samiti’, Kalimpong. At present he is serving the President of 'Nepali Sahitya Adhyayan Samiti', a premier literary institution of Kalimpong recognized by Sahitya Academy, New Delhi.

Talking about MD’s travelogue, reading has always been my hobby ever since my school days. I recall that the first two Nepali novels I had read at the age of 12 were the ‘Seto Bagh’(White Tiger') and ‘Basanti’ by Diamond Shamsher Rana. My interest for travelogues aroused profoundly after I got the taste of ‘Bidesh ko yatra swadesh ko samjhana’ (‘Remembrance of homeland while travelling abroad’) by Ghanashyam Rajkarnikar, a pioneer in travelogues writing in Nepali language in recent time (probably the first ever travelogues written in Nepali language is 'Junga Bahadurko Belayet yatra' ('Junga Bahadur’s trip to England')). This was followed by ‘Belayet tira baralinda’ (‘Wandering towards England’) by Taranath Sharma, 'Tin baas’ ('Three facet accommodation') by Dhanush Chandra Gautam, ‘Spain ko Samjhana’ (‘Remembrance of Spain’) and ‘Europe ko Chhitthi’ (‘Letter from Europe’) by Lain Singh Bangdel, ‘Saat Soorya Ek Fanko’ (‘A single rotation around seven suns’) by Ramesh Bikal, etc. I also recall reading the ‘Sangai basaun yo raat’ by Dr. Govinda Raj Bhattarai, an essay of which I liked so much that I could not help translating into English entitled ‘This night could be the last one - be together !!’ 

Today, numerous travelogues exist in Nepali literature, leaving the readers confused on which ones to pluck and taste. Among the piles of these literatures, Pradhan’s travelogue stands tall. It is a must read pick for anyone interested in the literature of this kind.

A book tells not only about the story in it, but also provides insight on the personality of its writer. Before closing this note, I wish to list some outstanding matters that I have come across, while going through the travelogue.  

1)         Pradhan’s travelogue: A masterpiece literature

I dare to rate the book ‘Man ka lahar ra rahar haru’ (‘Waves of dreams and desires’) as the best travelogue ever written in the history of Nepali language and literature. Earlier writers of travelogue Ghanashyam Rajkarnikar, Taranath Sharma, Dhanush Chandra Gautam, and Lain Singh Bangdel have set up their own legend in the 'niyatra sahitya' with their immortal writings. And today, MB’s travelogue has set new record and added new dimension in it. The book deserves the prestigious literary award like 'Madan Puraskar', and is recommendable text book for inclusion in university course. For the benefit of wider spectrum of readers, the travelogue is worth translating into English and various other languages.

The book contains what a travelogue is traditionally expected to talk about. It vividly captures MB’s travel experiences, shedding light on civilization and culture of various societies both in the East and the West. This is the first travelogue ever in the history of Nepali language and literature which has indeed connected Asia, Europe and North America together. Through his travelogue, Pradhan has not only connected the three continents but also harmoniously fused together the religious faith and belief in the three religions: Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity.

What makes this literature unique and very special, and distinguishes it from others is that besides being a travelogue, it fuses in contextual form the encyclopedia of geography, history, philosophy, sociology, and science- and serves its readers in a same plate.

2)         Pradhan:  A literary Traveler

In his lifetime, Pradhan has extensively travelled to Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, USA, Hawaii Islands, Canada, England, Scotland, Belgium, Germany, France, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland, and his neighboring countries Nepal and Bhutan. But MB is not an ordinary traveler. As noted in the foreword of the book by Dr. Diwakar Pradhan, MB is a leading literary traveler the so-called 'Sahityik Yayawar'.

A literary traveler is far placed from an ordinary traveler. While the latter travels and sees only with his outer eyes ('Charma chakshu’), the former does so with his inner literary eyes ('Gyana chakshu’). While the latter complains of thirst and gets restless amidst the vast Sahara desert, the former finds an oasis in the desert with his inner literary eyes.

MB has additionally been blessed with some special qualities. His each observation is deep and every expression, description and illustration are the outcry of his sentiments- giving deep insight into life. He has the skill of describing the most minor incidents as frying fish and potato chips with literary flavor ('sahityik mithas'). In addition, Pradhan possesses a unique and elegant style of writing. As our ‘Mahakavi’ Lakshmi Prasad Devkota used to see each and everything with his poetic eyes and literary heart, so does Pradhan as he describes every minority in a poetic way in depth of sentiments and affection.

No wonder, MB’s travelogue charters the readers through a series of magical, lively, adventurous tours across the world. Its readers can get the nectar and derive the pleasure of world-travel, even without setting own foot out of the house.

In one instant, a reader finds himself worshipping 'Daibutsu'- the statue of Amitabh Buddha in the pagodas of Kamakura of Japan (pg. 6). A moment later, the reader takes the tour of and offers prayers to the majestic Hindu temples of the 'Angkor Watt' in Siem Riep of Cambodia- the once lost civilization of the Khmer which had started 1100 years ago and which is now designated as UNESCO’s world cultural heritage site (pg. 158). With the next sip of the tea, the reader would be visiting the precious gothic cathedrals- the architectural masterpieces of Cologne and Munich in Germany (pg. 23, 26).

3)         Pradhan: A poetic heart

I quote a line of what ‘Mahakavi’ Devkota wrote in his essay-collection 'Lakshmi Nibandha Sangraha': “Swarga ko rass bhariyeko chhati lai shabda shastra padnu pardaina, tyasai jharjharaundachha” (“A man with a poetic heart does not need any Ph. D. in literature. The literature spontaneously flows from his heart…”). Pradhan’s writings have proved that he has such a heart.

MB has an extraordinary capability in expressing himself in very long sentences; sometime his one sentence runs through a full paragraph. Yet, his expressions are not only grammatically correct and structurally flawless, but they also flow beautifully in a musical rhythm much like that of a stream running down a hill.

Pradhan has given striking title to each chapter of his travelogue. The adjectives he uses are poignant with meaning, heart touching, and often rhyming, such as ‘kalkalaundo California’ (pg 74), ‘jhalmalaundo Netherland’ (pg 199) which I liked so much that I tried to find the English parallel to them as ‘the emerging California’ and ‘brightly lit Netherland’ respectively.

The words and expressions he selects in his writing testify the beauty of his brain. He confidently and yet elegantly writes ‘London ko sero phero sab mero’ (pg 65) ('I am the owner of London’s territory'), ‘Lagdachha malai ramailo Paris ko pakha pakhero’ (pg 162) ('I admire the Paris village'), ‘Mero mridul smritipat ma Monalisa’ (pg 193) (‘Monalisa in my subconscious mind’) making the readers gleam with glory. What I find most beautiful in his writing is as we read through we feel we are seeing vividly all the descriptions in a series of pictograms as if we were watching a movie; his words convert themselves spontaneously into pictures and start dancing in the wind. They have the colors of Rhododendron ('Laliguraas') and the fragrance of Almond blossom ('Parijaat') and at the same time one can even hear the musical rhythm flowing through his writings. A combination of the 3 ‘S’ namely ‘saundarya’ (beauty), ‘sugandha’ (fragrance) and ‘sangeet’ (music) simultaneously outpouring miraculously through his writings. Every single line Pradhan jots down becomes a poem, a song. When he reaches West Virgina (pg 276) he is spell-bound by the beauty of the heavenly Senando - the waterfalls, the sunrise and the sunset; his heart drums with pleasure and dances with the daffodils. He grows nostalgic to his homeland and starts singing together with John Denver….

“Almost Heaven, West Virginia

Blue Ridge mountain Shenandoh river

Life is older, older than the trees

Younger than the mountain, blowing like a breeze

Country roads, take me home to the place

I belong          

West Virginia, mountain mama

Take me home country roads.” 

Furthermore, Pradhan also has the zeal, passion and capacity to create his own literary words appropriate to theme as our Mahakavi Lakshmi Prasad Devkota used to do. This has been a supplementary contribution by Pradhan to enrich the Nepali Thesaurus.  

Pradhan is another Mahakavi Devkota who carries all three personalities- Wordsworth, Keats and Shelly in his heart. He is a genius poet, an extraordinarily talented laureate, a celebrity of literature, and pride of literary society.

4)         Pradhan: A sociologist and an anthropologist

A very interesting chapter in Pradhan’s travelogue is about the Aamish tribe of Lancaster of Pennsylvania in the USA (pg 131- 150). I suggest its readers not to miss this chapter while going through the book. It is most astonishing to note the fact that even in the most developed nation of the world there exist tribes who choose to remain absolutely detached from the urbanization, industrialization and materialization and follow with pride and joy the conservative traditional ways of life limiting themselves to their home and neighborhood.

Pradhan takes us along with him to such interesting nooks and corners of the world to get introduced to and also derive pleasure through the observation of such conventional life styles, living mechanism, social behavior, religious beliefs and moral values which are inconceivable in the new millennium in the age of Science & Technology.

Aamish lead a pious lifestyle with firm belief in their own morals, virtues, and values. They are isolated from the industrialized materialistic world, which is suffering from environmental and social degradation. At a time when today’s world is threatened by such issues as environmental pollution, green house gas emission, and global warming, Aamish's lifestyle declining to use motorbikes, scooters and 4 wheelers as transport vehicles could serve as a good lesson for the rest of the world towards reducing environmental pollution, maintaining our ecosystem, and managing our resources sustainably. No matter how awkward their living style may sound, their small world is free from environmental, social and moral pollution. Their attributes such as maintaining a very strong family bond, living in joint families, cultivating hospitable nature,  visiting churches frequently, offering regular prayers to God, abstaining from alcohol, cigarettes, drugs and discarding the modern machineries and even the electric-electronic equipments such as television, telephones etc, and not indulging themselves in materialistic pleasures ('bhautik sukhasayal'), respecting the family norms have definitely helped contribute towards a more pollution-free environment, and a more socially coherent and a healthier society.

This is more a matter of sociology and anthropology, in which Pradhan has indeed opened our eyes through his travelogue.   

5)         Pradhan - A prominent journalist

Besides serving as editor in magazines stated earlier, MB’s historical meetings and interviews with Sir Edmund Hillary and Tony Hagen (pg 8-17) are remarkable events, which have given extra fragrance and colors to his travelogue. He has not forgotten to express his gratitude to late Dr. Harkha Bhahadur Gurung for his providing the opportunity for getting introduced with these international personalities in the rest-house of Tiger mountain.

The content of his exclusive interview on one hand shows Pradhan’s profound love for Nepal and on the other hand Hillary’s extreme emotional attachment to Nepal, Nepalese, and the Himalayas. Hillary considered Sagarmatha as the holy shrine of Lord Shiva, so he believed that stepping on the Mt. Everest with their feet would amount to an act of disrespect to the holy land, so both Edmund and Tenzing Norgay bowed down their heads very low, soon after reaching the summit and planted Nepal’s ‘sun and moon’ embodied flag. I was moved and blown away emotionally while reading these lines, thinking how high and pious our Himalayas were considered by these climbers, who describe Nepal as a piece of Shangrila directly fallen from the heaven to earth.

In his travelogue, MB has introduced the Swiss geologist Tony Hagen as one of the first foreigners to explore the height of Nepal’s Himalayas and a leading figure who subsequently became Nepal’s best friend, and helped in the field of development aid.

The travelogue literally took me back to 1984 and 1999. I recall that, in 1984 Tony was awarded the then Nepal’s highest honor ‘Birendra Pragya Alankara’ for his outstanding services to Nepal. In fact, I had witnessed that honorable event. Again in 1999 when I was working as a translator and interpreter for the German Embassy, Hagen had returned to Nepal 50 years after his first visit, accompanied by film crew, in order to return a ring known as ‘the Ring of the Buddha’ to his old friend, the Buddhist monk Chogye Trichen Rimpoche- the last surviving teacher of the Dalai Lama. Rimpoche had given Hagen the ring 40 years earlier as a token of appreciation for his tireless commitment and support for the welfare of Tibetan refugees. A documentary feature film ‘the Ring of the Buddha’ recounting Hagen’s life and work was subsequently prepared, which became hit in German and Swiss cinema halls. 

6)         Pradhan – An outstanding historian

While going through MB’s travelogue, we feel as if we are reading a book on history.  Particularly, the chapter entitled ‘At the broad background of Nazi’s brutality - Rutka Laskier and Anne Frank’s diary' (pg 176-191) deals with a series of the barbaric incidents of second world war and  genocide- merciless murder of innocent Jews by the German Nazis.

The author digs deep into the life story of Anne Frank, starting from her plight along with her family in Frankfurt, escaping the German Nazis and sheltering in Amsterdam, then her hideout ('bhoomigat') in the ‘Secret Annex’ after the brutal attack over Holland by the Nazis, till her most tragic demise in January 6, 1945. Apart from Anne Frank, Pradhan also introduces to the readers a Jewish teenager Rutka Laskier from Poland, also referred to as ‘polish Anne Frank’ and her 1943 diary chronicling three months of her life during the Holocaust.

The travelogue provides a vivid description of the most melancholic incidents in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp of Germany and the concentration camps of Poland, as described by Anne Frank and Rutka Laskier in their respective diaries, where even the old, sick, diseased, disabled, pregnant and new-borns were not spared of the inhuman barbarous cruelty and murder by the Nazi troops- all dying one by one like  animals and insects, out of hunger, thirst, exhaustion, physical and mental torture, and ultimately by poisoning inside the gas chamber.

Pradhan has successfully carved such vividly descriptive histories in his travelogue. The heartbreaking events, and the unbearable sufferings of the innocent Jews as described by Anne Frank and Rutka Laskier will not leave even the tough-minded readers from shedding few drops of tears and feeling awfully gloomy while going through these contents. While going through these melancholic histories described by Pradhan, I recalled the cinema ‘Schindler’s List’ I watched in 2000. His descriptions come as in film, revolving round our eyes as if we are witnessing those deaths inside the gas chamber. Pradhan’s travelogue has thus established himself as an outstanding historian.  

7)         Pradhan: An artistic heart, an art lover

Pradhan takes all his readers to an expedition to the world-renowned and most prestigious art gallery - the Louvre of Paris - one of the world’s largest museums and a historic monument of Art and Architecture.

I, being a devotee of fine arts and an artist, was not only inspired by his rich description of contemporary fine arts, but also got drowned in the two chapters of his travelogue, namely ‘I admire the Paris village' (‘Lagdachha malai ramailo Paris ko pakha pakhero’) (pg. 162-175) and ‘Monalisa in my subconscious mind’ (‘Mero mridul smritipat ma Monalisa’) (pg. 193-199). He introduces to us the Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, Roman and North Asian antiquities, and sculptures; including the most ancient Greek statue ‘Venus de Milo’ carved by Alexandros (130-100 BC) and ‘Winged Victory of Samothrace’ by an anonymous Greek artist (200-190 BC). Pradhan goes deep into the description of Louvre’s most prestigious Leonardo de Vinci’s ‘Monalisa’ (1503), and much deeper into the oil colors and canvas.  

Besides Monalisa, Pradhan reveals to us the other Masterpieces of Louvre - Vinci’s ‘Virgin Mary with her mother Saint Anne and infant Jesus’ (1508) and ‘The virgins of the rocks’ (1483), Raphael’s ‘La bel Jardinière’ (1507), 'Slaves’ (1513) of Michelangelo, ‘Marriage at Cana’ (1563) of Paolo Verones and the Spanish painter Diego Velazquez’s ‘Infantas’ (1653).     

In his book, Pradhan does not miss to pay tribute to the world-renowned Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh (pg 195), whose work, notable for its rough beauty, emotional honesty, and bold color, had a far-reaching influence on 20^th-century art. After years of painful anxiety and frequent bouts of mental illness, Van Gogh had committed suicide at the age of 37, by shooting himself with a gun. While going through Pradhan’s words on Van Gogh, I vividly recalled my visit to Amsterdam to the Van Gogh museum during my immortal Europe tour in 1994 while studying in Germany. Ironically, for the emotionally sincere artist whose paintings did not fetch any price during his lifetime, his masterpiece painting ‘the Potato Eaters’ got the price tag stuck 10 million USD after his demise.    

Pradhan defines art and paintings not only as creative expression to manifest the conceptual intention of practitioner. Rather he rates them as creation and abstraction meant more for the archaeologists, abstractionists and transcendentalists than for ordinary people.  As an artist, I myself try to apply all my mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual energy towards personal transformation and growth. I am of the same strong opinion as that of Pradhan that art should have a myriad of uses: as a tool for psychological healing, a symbol in spiritual rituals, an impetus for political or social change, an expression of inquiry, a form of entertainment, evidence of status or identity, a reminder of what’s important, and most commonly, a simple celebration of beauty.

8)               Pradhan: A philosopher and a mentor

Pradhan's specialty or uniqueness lies in his intelligence to see each and everything in a philosophical manner transforming the most ordinary subject into the sublime. Philosophy is hidden in each and every chapter, every land he steps his feet on, each monument he visits, every art piece and sculptor he observes, he does not miss to share the glorious history and the lessons learnt, sharing and spreading enlightened opinions and messages to mankind.  

Germany is not just a country of mechanics and technology for him nor just a land of gothic architectures and cathedrals. He turns over the pages of German history (pg. 24) revealing the world-renowned German philosophers, socialists, reformers, scientists, writers, and attributes the success of today's Germany to Karl Marx - the revolutionary communist and the messiah of socialism, Emanuel Kant - the central figure of modern philosopher, Max Scheler  - the social and ethical philosopher, Martin Luther - the reformer and the translator of the new testament of Bible, Robert Koch - the founder of modern Bacteriology, and Johannes Wolfgang von Goethe - the poet, play-writer and novelist. 

Similarly when he reaches Paris (pg 162) he recalls the social and political upheaval in France in the 18th century. He attributes France's today's progress and prosperity to the intellectual freedom ignited by the enlightened writer and philosopher Voltaire and his 'Candide', the scientific mind of Marie Curie, two-time Nobel Prize winner whose work led to the discovery of radioactivity, the novelist Honore de Balzac's magnum opus 'The Human Comedy',  presenting a panorama of French life, the intellectualism and existentialism of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Paul Sartre and the novel waves floated in the world of art and paintings by the Impressionist painters Pissarro, Renoir and  Gauguin. To Pradhan even 'Monalisa' is not only a painting, but also a philosophy.

The dazzling development, the heights and peaks of achievements in Science & Technology of the prosperous industrialized nations is not just a miracle of a single day; the nations and their people have toiled and struggled relentlessly, selflessly and fearlessly fighting against all kinds of exploitations, suppressions, and discriminations, and even sacrificed their precious life towards achieving individual freedom, human rights, equitable social system, and prosperous nation. This is an example and inspiration - a good lesson for countries like ours to learn with baby steps in the path of national development.

9)         Pradhan: A natural critic

In his last Chapter ‘Thailand - South East Asia’s Paradise’ (pg 290-296) Pradhan has proved himself a natural critic.

In his eyes, Thailand beams amidst all the nations in Southeast Asia like a bride with beauty and ornaments. Pradhan goes on to describing Thailand as a country blessed with the natural scenic beauty and resources, breath-taking blue serene ocean, political freedom and cultural uniformity, sovereignty, a country which has never been colonized by outside forces, and also refers to it as a Paradise of South East Asia. However, Pradhan balances his views by daring to criticize flaws some aspects of the culture and civilization.

Its restaurants, pubs, café, bars, massage parlors, brothels and prostitution centers have definitely amassed a fortune of foreign currency to the nation. However, some of these activities have challenged and put big question on the morality, mental consciousness and sentiments of the sector of society involved in or affected by it, though they may have already been physically accustomed to that type of lifestyle. Pradhan does not hesitate to question the integrity of highly intellectual international personalities like Joseph Conrad, Somerset Maugham, Alfred Boke and Pisko Eyre, who had once fallen in love with this nation and were all in praise side only.

Another big question mark to all nations no matter the East or the West who are enjoying their social, cultural, and sexual freedom including premarital sex, multiple sex partners, and embracing all the materialistic luxuries, is would they ever look back once to the traditional lifestyle of the Aamish tribe of Lancaster Pennsylvania (pg. 131-150) free from environmental, social and moral pollution and get to learn something good from them?

 10. Pradhan: A track-maker for all the trekkers

At the ripe age of 80s when others would be either bed-ridden with diseases, physical exertion or finding excuses to take complete rest both physically and intellectually, Pradhan has set an everlasting example by using all his energy, time, and resource to craft a Masterpiece of his lifetime in the ‘Niyatra Sahitya’. The human body made of the ‘Panchabhootas’ - the five essential elements of  air, water, earth, fire and sky will perish away, but the writings of Pradhan will continue to live to infinity. Pradhan has secured immortality with his travelogue. He continues to remain a magnetic personality and his book a continuous source of inspiration to people of all ages.

However, his pen has not stopped there. In fact, he is now busy writing his memoirs. He is a staunch believer in the well-known maxim 'Work is Worship'. Pradhan is walking on earth in the path of ‘karma yoga’ towards enlightenment as guided by the enlightened Siddhartha Gautama and the ‘Bhagawat Gita’ singing the songs of ‘Charaibeti’ ‘Charaibeti’ ('chara' + 'ewa'+ 'iti') meaning “Continue to walk, that is all life is about.” I find it relevant to quote Robert Frost here whose aphorism is adopted by Pradhan.

 "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep

But I have many promises to keep

And miles to go before I sleep 

And miles to go before I sleep"

Pradhan is hence a track-maker for all the trekkers. Take an inspiration from him and keep walking trackers!  

One question on the travelogue

Going through MB Pradhan’s travelogue was like a world tour for me. I saw, felt and thought along with Pradhan- the same way as he did. It was like holidaying in the most beautiful resorts observing gorgeous mountains and breath-taking natural scenes with the background of vast blue ocean. I have been completely drowned in the vast ocean of dreams and desire and experienced extreme joy as if it were a celebration. I travelled extensively to wherever Pradhan has led to see the grandeur of the world-renowned art galleries. Until I completed going through it, whenever I had free time, this book used to be in my hands; it was with me while travelling in the bus, waiting for the doctor in the hospital, working in the office hidden below the keyboard of my PC, even while going for my own holidays and also in my sleep next to me in my bed. In fact, this book followed me like my shadow. My poetic and artistic heart lost control; I surrendered, I fell in love with his writings … astound by his sheer wisdom, ideas, opinions, and of course his philosophy. I had read many other travelogues in my life but this book did cast a spell on me, and today I would like to ask very affectionately to my poetic hero, "Sir, how did you manage to craft such a masterpiece in your lifetime, and I wonder how the literary world would reward you for this herculean task ?”

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Pradhan recently celebrated the unveiling ceremony of his respected teacher a great sage swami Prabuddhananda in the precincts of Rajbhawan in Darjeeling, which was carried out with great pomp and splendour, followed by the launching of the book 'Prabuddha' a memoir on swamiji.

Swamiji was a social reformist, a prominent educationalist, and one of the makers of modern Darjeeling, to whom Pradhan has dedicated his article 'My master as I saw him'. Here, Pradhan  pours out his heart -  " I cherish a pleasant memory of those glorious five years of my  life with swamiji at Ashantully and Woodbine Villa. Every word he spoke turned out to be a divine message and every breath a prayer. His radiant smile, his kind and reassuring words dazzle as a guiding star and a perpetual fountain of inspiration for me and to him goes the singular distinction of being one of the makers of modern Darjeeling ; to that great teacher, friend and philosopher, I pay my  tribute. I miss you swamiji very much."

History repeats. The way Pradhan has expressed his deep gratitude and love for his guru, I would like to pour out my sentiments to this noble personality today whom I consider my friend, my teacher, my poet and my philosopher - "Pradhan Sir ! for me you stand as tall as an intellectual giant, as intelligent as Einstein, as poetic as Devkota, as philosophic as Socrates and as accomplished as the mountain Kanchanjungha !  Bless me so that I could absorb the divine nectar that exude from your enlightened personality, catch the rare sparks of wisdom that emanate from the abysmal depth of your scholastic achievement and seize that 'aura' which reflects from your dazzling brilliance. I bow down to thee as you have to Prabuddhaswami. Amen !!"