The tale of a mad metropolis

On a breezy afternoon beneath the shade of a tree, I met prolific poet Yuyutsu RD Sharma. With a purple colored scarf wrapped on his shoulders, he maintained an air of dignity. Oscar Wilde once said, “To live is the rarest thing in the world” and Sharma is a prime example. Every hand gesture and range of facial expressions tell of a life that has been truly lived. As the sun slowly started to tumble down, Sharma candidly confessed about the place where he found his calling.

You were born in Punjab, what does Kathmandu mean to you?
Kathmandu is closer to me than anything else in the world. It’s where I found my element of being a writer and discovered who I am.

How long have you been living here?
More than 20 years. The first time I laid my eyes on the city, it was an old gradient with small tea shops and wine shops complete with hearths. It was an exciting little place where you could walk around but over the years, Kathmandu has turned into a shanty town.

Is there any fond memory that is attached with this place?
Well, I met my wife here. One unforgettable memory however was when I had just arrived, I saw a huge chariot being pulled by the crowd at Bhotahity. I could not believe my eyes. What a sight! I stood there an hour, enthralled by the commotion.

Which part of the city, you think, truly represents its spirit?
The lanes connecting Bhotahity, Indra Chowk and Asan; these streets are my favorite places. The smell of vegetables and the sight of remarkable wood crafts; also the secretly hidden wine shops and tea shops feel so thrilling. There is just so much of life there. Each and every corner springs a surprise.

How has the city inspired you in writing poems?
I found my calling as a poet while working as a teacher here. I quit teaching and started writing, my first foundation is rooted in these soils. My books called ‘Hunger of Our Huddled Huts’ and ‘Female Yeti’ was written here. Over the years, I moved forward to writing in the Himalayas but then Kathmandu again emerges in my creations, as a place opposed to Annapurna in terms of the serenity. Now, all of a sudden Kathmandu has turned into this mad metropolis.

From a poet’s point of view, what fascinating aspects does this city have to offer?
I enjoy walking around Kathmandu in winter and during holidays. When you are walking in a bustling street and all of a sudden you enter a courtyard, the sensation of a huge colossal silence is immeasurable. The very silence is beautiful.

You said, “Nepal is a nation born out of the breath of poet and translators.” Can you kindly elaborate?
Historically, Prithvi Narayan Shah unified small principalities based on Nepali language. Then, poet Bhanu Bhakta Acharya discovered Nepali language and gave it a formal shape by translating the Ramayana. If we did not have the Nepali language then we would not be a Nepali nation.

If that is so then what made you initiate Kathya Kayakalpa?
Kathya Kayakalpa was a literary movement that I launched with my friend, Sailendra Sakar. It was initiated because we felt, a change is necessary in the content of the Nepalese poems. If you go to any poetry reading in Kathmandu, you will feel the echoes of literary greats like Gopal Prasad Rimal, and Bhupi Sherchan. Yes, we need to present their concepts in better light but we also have to contemplate what other contents can be added. Hence, it was our attempt to change the landscape of Nepalese literature.

If you were to compare the poetry scene in Nepal to its counterparts abroad, what would you say?
Well, our nation’s poetry scenario is very special because everyone is a poet! Every week I receive a book of poetry by poets, who have invested their own money, property or their wife’s jewelry just to publish it. This is madness. Here, poetry is worshipped but poets are not. I feel, being a poet is like being a spiritual entity but materialistically there is nothing to achieve. Madness lies in the fact that in spite all of this, poets are continuing to write.

So, you would agree that Nepali poets are mad?
Shelley once said, “Poets begin our lives in sadness that’s why we end in death and madness.” They are mad in a very special way. It is an egoistic sublime because it has made our nation. It has made us who we are so, poetry is in the heart of Nepal.

If you were not in Kathmandu then where would you be?
When I was really small, I lived in the company of the Naga ascetics who wander all the time as they cannot stay in one place forever. I think they blessed me that I would travel all over the world. I think, I was destined to be here.

How do you escape Kathmandu’s regular grind?
I usually trek to Ghandruk, Ghorepani or Jomsom. A few years back, my mother passed away and I was very depressed. I had to flee away from the chaos so, I went trekking to Annapurnas. Somewhere up in Marpha, I met this old woman. She could hardly walk yet she came towards me and she wanted me to read her a letter from her son who was a Gurkha. It seemed like a strange play of fate, here I was grieving my mother’s death and I met a mother who wanted to know what happened to her son. I did not have the heart to tell her that her son has died. I feel there is no place where you can find complete peace.

How would you like to be remembered?
As a little poet from a little farthest end of the world. I would like that.