Introducing…
It only took three trips to Nepal before I had to concede that my love for the country and its people had become all-consuming. Visiting and volunteering for a few months each year was no longer sufficient. In June 2003 I left my old life in Australia and went to live and work in Nepal full time. I stayed an extremely eventful eight years – three in Kathmandu and five in Pokhara – and I loved (almost) every minute!
I’ve spent hours wandering Kathmandu’s unique and vibrant streets and Pokhara’s amazing countryside, all in sight of the most awesome Himalayas. I worked with drug injecting street kids, married a gorgeous Nepali man, and started my own non-government child welfare charity. We helped families and kids whose lives were ripped apart by the civil war, alcoholism, and domestic violence.
I know the life stories – many intensely sad – of every kid we helped. I’ve travelled from poor villages to even poorer villages and spoken with the so-called low castes, the poverty-stricken, the disenfranchised.
Along with many other expats living in Nepal at the time, I was deeply affected by the horror-stories coming from the civil war. The local media painted frightening pictures, and incident reports coming from both national and international organisations presented stark and often appalling updates on the atrocities committed by both sides.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world turned, and most people who heard of the situation in Nepal felt sympathy of course, but generally went on with their days.
I returned to Australia determined to write in a way that gave voice to those who had, and still were, suffering in Nepal. I wanted to highlight their stories, their struggles, and their triumphs. I wanted to bring to life the reports, facts, and statistics about the casualties of war, the endemic discrimination, the grinding poverty. I wanted the world to know that these reports all referenced real people, real lives, real trauma.
It has taken me nearly ten years, but I have finally finished book one. Set in Nepal during the conflict, Life is Sun & Shadow is the first of a series of four books. I can guarantee it won’t be ten years until the next book is finished!
The book is set in the past, but is a work of fiction, with fictional characters. The lives of the characters, their circumstances, and the events they live through are all based on the reality of life in a small rural village during Nepal’s civil war.
Click here to register your interest in receiving a published copy. If you haven’t already, click here to request my free e-Book, Adhiya Field, a short prequel to the Life is Sun & Shadow series.
NHManandhar
