Climbing the Tragedy with Sarubhakta’s The Peak

ASHOK THAPA

October 3, 2020

Chulee (The Peak) is a philosophical novella-length work and is probably one-and-the-only mountaineering fiction written by a Nepali mainstream author.

Sarubhakta, who was born in the beautiful Pokhara city of Nepal, is a well-known name in Nepali literature. He writes poems, fiction, and plays that have contributing roles in modern Nepali literature. His bestselling works include Pagalbasti (1991), Taruni Kheti (1996), Samaya Trasadi (2001), Chulee (2003), and Pratigandha (2019).

Sarubkakta’s Pagalbasti won the Madan Puraskar in 1991. This is one of the most prestigious awards given to the best works in Nepali literature. Sarubhakta writes under the trend of human philosophy, existence, and nature. The nature connected to the culture, geography, and environment of Nepal.

Translated by Subhash Ghimire as ‘The Peak’ (2012), Chulee deals with the theme of natural and naturalism. Also included in the Nepali curriculum for the Tribhuvan University students, Chulee is the story of a mountain climber, who has one goal of reaching the top of the mountain, no matter what obstacles he will have to encounter on his way.

The entire novel presents the climber’s struggles and activities in a subtle way. Climbing Everest is not only exciting but also risky. The climber is greatly confident even though he is worried about possible complications in his journey. He thinks that the journey to the mountain is always a lonely journey. Succeed! This is his one goal when he starts his journey.

Amidst snowflakes, struggles, and avalanches, the climber finally reaches to the top of the Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain. Soon he starts to descend the peak thinking that the summit is not the place to stay longer. The climber thinks descending is more challenging than to ascend the Everest.

Most people don’t crash into failure, they crash into success, he thinks as he continues his journey back to the camp. As he descends from the base slowly and carefully, the atmosphere starts worsening when he reaches a little lower. Unable to face mother nature’s fury, the climber dies and the novel ends in a tragedy.

Chulee or ‘The Peak’ is a philosophical novella-length work and is probably one-and-the-only mountaineering fiction written by a Nepali mainstream author. There are some powerful philosophical and surrealistic lines in the novel. “Life is a beautiful poem of risks,” “Thorns pierce others but do not pierce themselves,” “Everything freezes in the mountains, but the heart does not,” “Life without a purpose is death,” “Death is not a purpose,” and “Life is all about playing hide and seek with accidents.” The novel presents many struggles with nature for survival.

Overall, the story of people’s lives, sorrow, and struggles living in the mountain regions have been presented in a minimal way in the novel. “Strength comes from struggle,” the novel seems to be saying.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE STORIES ON WRITING & PUBLISHING.