Why Does the Bridge Exist?

by KESHAB SIGDEL

As my daughter rides on my back along the Dhobikhola,

like a victorious emperor she asks me everything that crosses her

mind. The only difference I discern is that the emperor could
measure his authority with his questions.

My daughter strives to give me a higher status than that of the

emperor, as if her father were the wisest and the most powerful

man in the world, as if her father possessed answers to
all the questions she could think of. What else then?
Like a princess on a jaunt, she makes a sedan chair
on her father’s shoulders and showers him with questions.

While crossing the bridge over the Dhobikhola
she asks, “Baba, why do we have this bridge here?”
“We need a bridge to go across the stream, my daughter,”
I reply. The answer doesn’t satisfy her. The Dhobikhola

suffocates in piles of rubbish thrown into it. A man in rags

continues sifting through the garbage for plastic bags and dogs

bark at him from garbage piles.

My daughter averts her gaze, and asks, “Can’t you cross the

stream without a bridge?”

Why would you need a bridge to cross a stream that doesn’t have water to fill

the ditches? I ask myself. I say, “These vehicles can’t go across

without a bridge.” I try to satisfy her. “This bridge separates

Babarmahal from Baneswor,” I explain.

“Baba, would not Babarmahal and Baneswor become one if not

for the bridge?” The question she asks shakes the foundations of

my belief.

—Does a bridge connect us or keep us apart?

—I keep contemplating the question.

Translated from Nepali by Khem K Aryal

(first published in Snow Jewel, Issue 6, 2015)

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प्राज्ञहरु आफैं राजनैतिक नेतृत्वको दास हुने बाटो रोजेका छन्

केशव सिग्देलसँगको युगबाणी सम्बाद प्रकाशित मिति: २०७५ फागुन १८ नेपाली साहित्यको वर्तमान अवस्थालाई कसरी मूल्याङ्कन गर्नु भएको छ? नेपाली साहित्यको सिर्जनशिल फाँटले व्यापकता पाउँदै गएको छ। समाजको विकाससँगै जुन नयाँ मुद्दाहरु हामीले पाएका छौं, त्यसले विषयवस्तुको व्यापकतामात्रै बढेको छैन, नेपाली लेखकहरुको विश्वसाहित्यसँगको अन्तरक्रिया पनि बढेको छ। कम्तिमा हिन्दी र अङ्ग्रेजीमा उपलब्ध विदेशी साहित्यको अध्ययनले हाम्रो लेखनलाई विषय र प्रस्तुतीको हिसाबले अझ सम्मुनत पार्दै पनि लगेको छ। लैङ्गिक समानता, पहिचान, विज्ञानप्रविधिको प्रभावजस्ता विषयहरुले नै लेखनको संरचनामा नविनता माग गरिरहेका हुन्छन्। र सचेत ढङ्गले नयाँ पुस्ताकोको हस्तक्षेप बढेको छ। पछिल्लो लेखनमा साधना कम भयो भन्ने आरोप पनि छ नि? त्यो स्वाभाविक छ। सबै लेखकहरु उत्तिकै गम्भिरतापूर्वक लेख्न सक्छन् भन्ने छ्रैन। सबै यसमा टिकिरहन्छन् भन्ने पनि छैन। अथवा टिकिरहे पनि राम्रा सिर्जना आइरहन्छन् भन्ने पनि होइन। तर साहित्यमा जुन सचेतताका साथ काम भइरहेको छ, त्यो सकारात्मक छ। साधना गर्नेहरुका सिर्जना दीर्घजिवी हुन्छन्। अरु केही समयपछि ह...

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