Yug Pathak is the author of a novel, Urgenko Ghoda, and of the recently-staged play, Yuma. He is also the recipient of the Kirat Academy Award 2068. In this interview with Timothy Aryal, Pathak talks about his love for plays and why we should all read. Excerpts:

What is your affinity with plays? Were you always a reader of plays?

Yes, everyone is fond of visual art today. I am not any different. I read plays, watch interviews of theatre directors and actors. I watch a lot of movies too. As a fiction writer, I need to closely observe the artworks going around. I visit different theatres in Kathmandu and talk with the artists involved in theatre activism. Moreover, I wrote and directed a play in my university days in TU.

Which plays/playwrights do you admire the most?

Unfortunately, we don’t have much of a heritage in theatre or in the genre of plays. So, as far as I have read, I admire authors like Shakespeare, Henrik Ibsen, Harold Pinter, etc. I appreciate Bijaya Malla too. I also hope Kumar Nagarkoti too will come up with more interesting plays. I like George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion, Brecht’s Galileo, etc.

Your favourite authors and books?

These days I am reading a lot of non-fiction. I love to read Mahesh Chandra Regmi’s books like A Study in Nepali Economic History, Thatched Huts and Stucco Palace. Currently, I am reading Indian historian Romila Thapar. Her books like The Past as Present  and Interpreting Early India are very useful for understanding how to approach history. KP Malla is a writer who is missed by many readers. His books Road to Nowhere and From Literature to Culture are wonderful reads. Don’t miss Dr Devendra Raj Panday’s book Nepal’s Failed Development. Jhalak Subedi’s book British Samrajya ka Mohara, Aahuti’s Nepalma Barna Byawastha ra Barga Sangharsa are good non-fiction books in Nepali language.

How did you first come to love books?

I grew up in a village in Jhapa. I saw no literary activities in my childhood but I was inspired by my primary teacher, Dasharath Pradhan, to write poems. And my mother used to read books available at home. My brother used to bring books like Parijat’s Shirish Ko Phool, Diamond Shumsher’s Seto Bagh, Basanti and books by Modanath Prashrit. I picked up my reading habit with those books.

Later on, I started reading Gorky, Chekhov, Tolstoy, etc, in Hindi translations. While I was studying science in intermediate level, I started reading Karl Marx and Engels. With them I turned into a diligent reader.

What is your favourite genre?

Now, non-fiction is my favourite genre; though I don’t skip reading poems, novels and newspaper articles either.

Why do you read?

I think reading is a human compulsion. By saying so, I am trying to pull attention to the fact that many people don’t have the opportunity to read.

Reading is not about understanding the world only; it’s more about undoing the old-knowledge and reshaping a new one. That’s why reading is about revolting against the old idea and changing the knowledge-world. So, reading is always a tribute to human civilisation that demands renewal and rebirth all the time. I would advise everybody to read. Read a lot. Fiction, non-fiction, whatever.

How have books affected your life?

Books have cultivated the writer in me. That’s enough credit, right? What more? Books have made me rebellious, courageous and helped me stand up against the mafia of old, rotten ideas.

Are you currently working on a book? What is it about?

I am working on a non-fiction book right now. Next  in line is a novel. In this still unnamed non-fiction book, I am trying to critically deal with different ideas with which we live as a Nepali citizen.