Revisiting Nepali History in Shankar Koirala’s Khairini Ghat

Abstract

In, Khairini Ghat, Koirala relates the story of poor and marginalized Majhi people who inhabited “Khairini Ghat,” a place near Koshi River in Ramechhap District. By setting and situating the novel at the marginalized place in the post Rana and early Panchyat time in Nepal, Koirala revisits the Nepali history. The official history of Nepal at the time failed to account for Majhis because they became the victim of rampant illiteracy, superstition, exploitation and unemployment in the aftermath of Rana rule. Thus, by narrating the forgotten stories of the Majhi people and their lifestyle, and presenting them beyond them ainstream political, economicand social scenario, Koirala confirms his affinity to the underprivileged people, which helps to reconstruct Nepali history at the time because the novel historicizes the people who existed on the margin of everyday history.