journalist for several publications around Kathmandu, and is currently freelancing while pursuing his degree. Apart from reading and writing, Prajesh 

loves to dabble in photography and graphic design. He spoke to Prizma Ghimire about his affection for books and their makers. Excerpts:

 

Are you a regular at any library?

I rarely go to the library and buy most of my books, but even in bookstores, there are a plethora of books that I have no way of getting my hands on. I love graphic novels like Lost at Sea by Bryan Lee O’Malley or more popular ones like V for Vendetta or Watchmen. These are books that I haven’t found in Nepal and would want to see more of on the shelves of bookstores and libraries around town.

Do you have a favourite writer as such?

There isn’t any single writer I can pick out, per se, but I do enjoy the works of Arundhati Roy, Oscar Wilde and Haruki Murakami. But I’ve also been traipsing into the world of graphic novels for a while now, and my favourites therein would be Bryan Lee O’Malley, the author of the Scott Pilgrim series, Frank Miller, and Jeph Loeb. Marjane Satrapi, who wrote Perspepolis, is another graphic novelist I admire. 

What books would you say have influenced you particularly?

That would be Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood; it’s had a deep impact on my way of thinking and my writing. A favourite to this day, Murakami’s style has influenced me in more ways than I care to admit. I also love Never Let Me Go by Kazu Ishiguro, for the way it’s able to put you in the characters’ skin and allow you to feel what they’re feeling. That’s an extremely difficult task for any writer, but Ishiguro manages it just fine. 

What’s the longest you’ve gone without reading?

I’m actually reading a lot less than I normally 

would because of the kind of hectic schedule I have in 

college. Classes go on 

from eight till four, and most of the time after class is spent 

on projects too. So there 

is almost no time to read or write. Which is sad, because I love reading. Not taking up a book for so long is a little bit isolating, like there’s a whole world out there that I can’t explore. 

Where did you most enjoy reading?

When I was still in Nepal and had to commute to work every day, that’s the time I would read, while travelling to and from work. Since I live on the outskirts of the city, and it would take me quite a while to get to the office on the microbus, it gave me the perfect opportunity to bury my head in a book. 

What do you write about? When did you first start?

I’ve been writing since 

probably the time I was in grade four. My teachers at St Xavier’s School were really supportive of my writing and would give me detailed feedback on anything I produced. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten more experimental with my writing, so I’ve moved on from fiction to trying out flash or micro-fiction. 

If you could read or write in a foreign language, which would it be? J

Japanese because Murakami writes in Japanese and also because I love manga (and anime). The language and script seem so cryptic and alien to anything that I’m 

comfortable with. Also, Japanese culture intrigues me immensely. 

A book that you didn’t expect to like, but did?

Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaardner. I’d tried reading it once before and I got so bored that I just gave it up. But coming back to it, I enjoyed it quite a lot and most of my basic philosophical knowledge comes from the lessons exchanged between Sophie and Alberto. 

Why do you think reading and writing is important? 

For me, most of what I 

know of this world and how I understand reality comes from the books and the papers that I’ve read. Like how Roy’s God of Small Things showed me the human side to India’s numerous social problems or like how Gaarder taught me about philosophy. We create an image of reality based on what we know and how we experience things. This constructed reality becomes a lot more magical and expansive if we choose to look beyond what we see and experience. 

Reading and writing create that portal for me, to peek through the looking glass at what isn’t and understand what is.