Mountains Painted with Turmeric
Since its publication in the late 1950s, Mountains Painted with Turmeric has struck a chord in the hearts of hundreds of thousands of Nepali readers. Set in the hills of far eastern Nepal, the novel offers readers a window into the lives of the people by depicting in subtle detail the stark realities of village life.

Carefully translated from the original text, Mountains Painted with Turmeric tells the story of a peasant farmer named Dhané (which means, ironically, "wealthy one") who is struggling to provide for his wife and son and arrange the marriage of his beautiful younger sister. Unable to keep up with the financial demands of the "big men" who control his village, Dhané and his family suffer one calamity after another, and a series of quarrels with fellow villagers forces them into exile.

In haunting prose, Lil Bahadur Chettri portrays the dukha, or suffering and sorrow, endured by ordinary peasants; the exploitation of the poor by the rich and powerful; and the social conservatism that twists a community into punishing a woman for being the victim of a crime. Chettri describes the impoverishment, dispossession, and banishment of Dhané's family to expose profound divisions between those who prosper and those who are slowly stripped of their meager possessions. Yet he also conveys the warmth and intimacy of village society, from which Dhané and his family are ultimately excluded.
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Mountains Painted with Turmeric
Since its publication in the late 1950s, Mountains Painted with Turmeric has struck a chord in the hearts of hundreds of thousands of Nepali readers. Set in the hills of far eastern Nepal, the novel offers readers a window into the lives of the people by depicting in subtle detail the stark realities of village life.

Carefully translated from the original text, Mountains Painted with Turmeric tells the story of a peasant farmer named Dhané (which means, ironically, "wealthy one") who is struggling to provide for his wife and son and arrange the marriage of his beautiful younger sister. Unable to keep up with the financial demands of the "big men" who control his village, Dhané and his family suffer one calamity after another, and a series of quarrels with fellow villagers forces them into exile.

In haunting prose, Lil Bahadur Chettri portrays the dukha, or suffering and sorrow, endured by ordinary peasants; the exploitation of the poor by the rich and powerful; and the social conservatism that twists a community into punishing a woman for being the victim of a crime. Chettri describes the impoverishment, dispossession, and banishment of Dhané's family to expose profound divisions between those who prosper and those who are slowly stripped of their meager possessions. Yet he also conveys the warmth and intimacy of village society, from which Dhané and his family are ultimately excluded.
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Mountains Painted with Turmeric

Mountains Painted with Turmeric

Mountains Painted with Turmeric

Mountains Painted with Turmeric

Hardcover(New Edition)

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Overview

Since its publication in the late 1950s, Mountains Painted with Turmeric has struck a chord in the hearts of hundreds of thousands of Nepali readers. Set in the hills of far eastern Nepal, the novel offers readers a window into the lives of the people by depicting in subtle detail the stark realities of village life.

Carefully translated from the original text, Mountains Painted with Turmeric tells the story of a peasant farmer named Dhané (which means, ironically, "wealthy one") who is struggling to provide for his wife and son and arrange the marriage of his beautiful younger sister. Unable to keep up with the financial demands of the "big men" who control his village, Dhané and his family suffer one calamity after another, and a series of quarrels with fellow villagers forces them into exile.

In haunting prose, Lil Bahadur Chettri portrays the dukha, or suffering and sorrow, endured by ordinary peasants; the exploitation of the poor by the rich and powerful; and the social conservatism that twists a community into punishing a woman for being the victim of a crime. Chettri describes the impoverishment, dispossession, and banishment of Dhané's family to expose profound divisions between those who prosper and those who are slowly stripped of their meager possessions. Yet he also conveys the warmth and intimacy of village society, from which Dhané and his family are ultimately excluded.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780231143561
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication date: 12/07/2007
Edition description: New Edition
Pages: 152
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 7.00(h) x (d)
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Lil Bahadur Chettri is an Indian Nepali who lives in the state of Assam in northeast India. He is the author of two additional novels, The Unfulfilled and On the Banks of the Brahmaputra.Michael J. Hutt is professor of Nepali and Himalayan Studies in the Department of the Languages and Cultures of South Asia at the School of African and Oriental Studies in London. He is the author of Modern Literary Nepali: An Introductory Reader and Unbecoming Citizens: Culture, Nationhood, and the Flight of Refugees from Bhutan.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Mountains Painted with Turmeric
Afterword: Nepali Critics and Basain
Notes
Bibliography

What People are Saying About This

Ann Hunkins

This is a moving story, depicting in wonderfully rich detail the round of village life: the daily farm work and chores, the gossip chain, the weekly market, the limited opportunities, the rapacious rich preying on the poor, and women's particular vulnerabilities. Reading this story could contribute to understanding why poor villagers would join the Maoist cause.

Ann Hunkins, poet and translator

Manjushree Thapa

Michael J. Hutt's contribution as a translator and critic of Nepali literature has been invaluable. With Mountains Painted with Turmeric, he brings to light an iconic Nepali novel: the story of sheltered villagers faced with a harsh, changing world. Hutt's rendition is sensitive and skilled. Through this translation he shares with us his deep empathy for and fine understanding of Nepali reality.

Manjushree Thapa, author of Tilled Earth and Forget Kathmandu: An Elegy for Democracy

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