Rachna Books announces the publication of their latest book ‘Mauli’.

KalimNews, Kalimpong, 4 July 2023: Mauli, written by Late Badrinarayan Pradhan is translated into English. Originally written  in Nepali, the English translation has been done by Anmole Prasad and published by Rachna Books. 

It follows the story of Malati Ghimeray, educated in Loreto Convent in the early 1940’s when India is still under the British Raj and the second World War is raging elsewhere. Once back home, she immerses herself in the warm embrace of an extended family she hardly remembers, rediscovers the bliss of pastoral Nepali life and language in dances and festivals, markets and fairs. But she also encounters, endures and overcomes adversity, loss and impuissance as a woman in the great upheavals of the fifties, the first birth pangs of modern Nepal. Meanwhile, across the border posts, unshackled from two centuries of English rule, a newborn India is only just finding its feet.

Mauli is an account of her journey, first as a girl and then as a woman, set against a transnational ferment and the ironies of a rapidly decolonising world.

Badrinarayan Pradhan was born in 1927 and worked as a teacher for most of his life. He is best known for his Nepali translation of Maxim Gorky’s Mother. He was an educationist, a writer, a political thinker and a committed Marxist who served as a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) for the Communist Party of India (Marxist) between the years 1984 and 1986 until ill health forced him to retire. He lived in a remote settlement in the Dooars where he dedicated his life to transforming Bagrakote High School of which he was the Headmaster until his retirement. He was the author of numerous monographs, memoirs and stories including Bhumari, Sangat, Kehi Samjhanaharu, Chyakhung Diary 1958 and a Nepali translation of Fa Hien’s Record of Buddhist Countries. He died in 2010.

Mauli’s translator and cover artist Anmole Prasad lives in Kalimpong. He is a lawer by profession. He translates the works of Nepali authors and poets to English, including Indrabahadur Rai, Bhim Nidhi Tiwari, Rajendra Bhandari and Bhupi Sherchan. 

The book also carries an extensive introduction “The Borders that Cross Us: Fault-lines and the Case of Badrinarayan Pradhan’s Mauli” by Prem Poddar. He is currently Vice-Chancellor of Darjeeling Hills University. He works mainly on postcolonial theory, literatures and histories with a special interest in the transcultural, borders and passports. His next book is China in India: Himalayan Kalimpong. He lives, when work allows, between London and Kalimpong.

The cover was designed by Manohar Rai. 

“The release of Mauli’s could not have been timelier,” says publisher Raman Shresta. “When I first heard about Mauli’s story from Mr Anmole Prasad, I knew this book had to be brought to a wider audience. The translation was almost ready. We were both excited about the idea of having this thought provoking novel - a modern classic from our region, in English. This book has been, by far, the fastest manuscript-to-published title from Rachna Books!” he adds.

Speaking about the book, Prajwal Parajuly, in his endorsement says, “A joy from start to end, Mauli is as important a book now as it was when first published three decades before. Mauli’s struggle to find a place within tradition and modernity is bound to trigger healthy discourse on national identity, ethnicity, and feminism.”

Mauli is available at most independent bookshops in the region, in select bookstores across India, and online at www.rachnabooks.com (Price Rs.499/-)