Janak Raj Sapkota

A person with face covered with a white bandage is holding a passport with the name Men Bahadur Gurung — this cover image of the bookKahar: Baidesik Rojgarile Bitholido Samaj — makes it easy to understand what the book is all about. Divided into nine chapters, it is the reportage of problems and sufferings of Nepali migrant workers and their families.

As the first story in the book ‘Flight Number MH 170’ takes off, the readers fasten their seat belts — starting their journey with Kahar. And as it moves ahead, the books unravels stories of several people who have gone to foreign countries for employment. And on a deeper level, it unfolds the plight of migrant workers and their families in Nepal.

Be it the Tamang boy migrating to Qatar leaving behind his girlfriend, Santa Bahadur waiting for dead body at Tribhuvan International Airport or the plight of Giri Prasad, the book deals with heart-touching stories.

This book also narrates how women, despite the absence of men in family, are staying behind hoping for a happy life. It is also a narrative of the shattered dreams of several wives, fathers, and mothers. The book also talks about the lack of youth in Nepali villages, brain drain, extra-marital affairs, accidents people face in foreign lands, plight of migrant workers in foreign hospitals, human trafficking, government’s inability  to take timely action on issues related to foreign employment, et cetera.

The book seems to be more a reportage of a journalist on the aforementioned serious issues. It is similar to a diary in the sense that the dates of the occurrence of the events are mentioned in the footnotes. However, a brief explanation in the footnote would be helpful for people trying to get information about foreign employment.

The scanned copies of passports, death certificates, letters, photographs et cetera ensure readers that the stories presented aren’t fictional.

The language used to narrate the stories is simple. It is more direct and gives the impression of a journalistic writing. Had a little effort been made on the use of language, it would have made the readers feel for the sufferings and pains of the characters.

Interestingly, you will get to read some typical Nepali words in this book. There are more questions in the book and some of the phrases are repetitive. However, the book is able to bring forth the stories of different families whose family members have gone to foreign countries in search of a good job with high salary and a hope to live a better life.

A version of this article appears in print on September 04, 2016 of The Himalayan Times.

link : https://thehimalayantimes.com/art-culture/book-review/janakraj-sapkota-kahar-reportage-various-facets-foreign-employment/