Jeevan Sangharsh (Life Struggle): Story of Birthplace, Workplace and Ancestral-place

Kathmandu / Apr 04: Jeevan Sangharsh (Life Struggle) is a book by Kumar Karki based on his life and experience. He has included stories of Burma, Thailand and Nepal in the book. How Nepalese entered Burma? How they migrated to Burma? How their livelihood started? How they preserved Nepali getup, language and culture for hundreds of years. Why they were so close and affectionate to Nepal and Nepalese society? How Nepalese-origin Burmese conserved Nepalese culture despite not coming to Nepal ever? Answer to these uncountable questions can be found in this book. There are approximately 300 thousand Nepalese-origin people in Burma now. But since many Nepalese are migrating out of Burma, the number may have decreased. There are around 100 thousand Nepalese too in Thailand.

Burma and Thailand are two countries active in preserving Nepalese language and culture. These two countries have seen Nepalese migrating since World War II. The book also covers the contributions by Nepalese-origin people and their organizations towards preserving Nepalese identity.

The book has been divided into four sections — the first section contains stories of how Nepalese started to live Burma; the second section has stories of struggle at Thailand as a migrant worker. The third section covers organizational efforts of Nepalese in Thailand and the final section contains materials of contributions and collaborations of Thai Nepali Association after the Nepal earthquake. The final section also contains the stories of success in his business.

Primarily written by Kumar Karki, it has been edited by media-person Ramesh Khadka. The book is believed to contribute to rejuvenate Nepali language, culture and civilization in Burma and Thailand. It has already been released in Burma and Thailand. The book is published by Media Service Nepal.

The revenue collected from the book will be used for social work. In today’s program, some amount from the sale of the book, contribution by Kumar Karki family and Thai Nepali Association worth NRs. 5 lakhs will be handed-over to Dhurmus-Suntali Foundation.

Nepali-origin people in Burma and Thailand regard Nepal as their ancestral land. Karki has regarded Burma as birthplace, Thailand as workplace and Nepal as ancestral land in his book Jeevan Sangharsh. To sum up, the story is not only of Kumar Karki; it is the story of thousands of Nepali-origin people in Burma and Thailand. It carries the stories of sorrow, emotions, happiness and patriotism of Nepali-origin people in the two countries. Though not formally a citizen of Nepal, the Nepali-origin people in Burma and Thailand have been closely attached to Nepal and Nepalese society.