English Edition of Madan Puraskar winner Khalangama Hamala released

As a continuity to present Nepali best sellers to the English readers, nepa~laya has released the English edition of the Madan Puraskar winner, Khalangama Hamala. The English edition has been titled – JUMLA – A Nurse’s Story.

War has multiple stories with different view point. Stories are differently accounted and told differently by people who face it, live with it and witness it. Radha Paudel’s Madan Puraskar winner, Khalangama Hamala presented war from a different perspective.

In her memoir, Health worker, Radha Poudel, recalls the deadly night in Khalanga, Julma.
Author, Radha Paudel is a nurse who had left her government job as a nurse in her hometown Chitwan to join the Safe Motherhood Programme. Jumla was her first posting with the new job. She had to be based in Khalanga, Jumla and work in the field of Karnali’s social and health issues. The war in Jumla has been amongst the unforgettable experience for her. She writes in her book. “There were people everywhere, from my house to the CDO office. The Maoist troupe was visible all over. A group would proceed and another would follow. All we could hear were gunshots and explosions. The gun sparks were all we could see.”

Even after her job with the safe motherhood programme ended in Jumla, Radha decided to stay back to serve the Jumli women. Her dedication to the social sector has won her numerous awards including ‘Woman Peacemaker -2012’ from University of San Diego and ‘N- peace Award 2012’ given by UNDP.

The book goes beyond the war narratives and touches human and personal life in depth. Another line from Radha’s book testifies it:
“Due to complication with the umbilical cord, the patient was suffering from excessive bleeding. In such case, medication is required to contract the womb so that bleeding is controlled. Transfusing blood can be helpful as well. But, neither did we have blood stock, nor an operating theater. Neither did we have injections, nor medicines. I even tired to source it from private drug stores, but they didn’t have stock as well. The only option was to send the patient to Surkhet or Nepalgunj. But, the kin to the patient did not have money.”
Radha’s book – Khalangama Hamala was released at Nepalaya on 23rd May 2013 and went on to receive the year’s most prestigious literary award, Madan Puraskar.

“I am indebted to all the readers for accepting my book with such love and appreciation.” Said Radha. “With this English edition, I hope the story of Karnali will reach more readers beyond the Nepali readership.” She added.

Author Radha Poudel released the book in Jumla by presenting a copy of the book to the Jumla based Karnali Community Resource Library.

Jumla: A Nurse’s Story is now available in leading book stores.