Noted littérateur Indra Bahadur Rai passed away in Darjeeling, India on Tuesday. He was 90. Rai had been ill for quite some time, especially after the death of his wife Mayadevi last August.

Born in 1928, Rai was active in the field of Nepali literature for more than 75 years, authoring critically acclaimed books such as Bipana Katipaya and Aaja Ramita Chha. One of the most prominent and best known writers in Nepali language, Rai had penned thirteen books, spanning the genres of short fiction, memoir, literary criticism and drama. There’s a Carnival Today is an English translation of his acclaimed novel Aaja Ramita Chha by writer Manjushree Thapa.