Anamol Mani Paudel was born and raised in Nepal, Asia. Paudel has a strong connection to his culture, writing stories and poems in his mother language, Napalese. His culture and experiences are the main influences of his writing pieces. One piece in particular, “Test-Tube Baby and My Beloved”, is heavily based upon the culture of Nepalese society. Aside from writing, Paudel enjoys travelling, visiting United States of America, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri-Lanka and China. Paudel has been a member of the Writers’ Guild of Alberta for four years, becoming a member in 2015. Paudel continues to be an active member of the WGA.
Cultural Background and it’s Influences on Writing
QUESTION – How has your culture influenced your writing?
ANSWER- Every culture has its own unique, social values and beliefs. I also embrace those unique social beliefs and values which directly or indirectly influence me and my writing.
I was born in a very remote and unprivileged village. I grew up and did my schooling in an urban setting where I saw several social, political and cultural changes over the time. The characters in my stories and poems could also be seen going through the similar experiences.
I wrote a story titled “Test-Tube Baby and My Beloved” after the first successful birth of a Test-tube baby in Nepal. In that story, I have tried to imagine how test-tube baby culture could affect the social concepts towards marriage. My characters are educated, some of them are university professors, but none of them go beyond the Nepalese socio-cultural principle.
I also wrote a story about “Marriage Bureau” business in Nepal, where they operate like dating websites. In that story, I have highlighted about how virtual world is squeezing us and our social values and emotion. Both of my stories are popular in Nepal. But, for the outside world, the plot, characters and their dialogues might look funny and hard to believe. Probably, I should say, that is cultural influence.
My latest book, “19 Number”, is the story of the Nepalese educational system basically how they are teaching English language in the remote village of Nepal. And also the story mentioned that the differences of teaching learning process compare with a developed country.
So I can say, in every story my characters are based on Nepalese socio-cultural settings and they are heavily influenced by it.
Q- What genre of writing do you do and what are some specific pieces?
A- I mainly write stories and poems. My “Test-Tube Baby and My Beloved” are one of the focuses story in Nepal which is based on the development of technology and how it is killing our emotion, human relation and kindness in Nepalese society. My ” Karnesan and Dhuwan”, which makes the readers realize that the ultimate truth is death, “Lost Blue handkerchief”, ” As It Is”, ” 19 Number” are popular among the readers. Likewise, the poems ” Last Day of Shrwan”, ” Against Love” and ” December Cold” are also liked by the readers.
Q- Do you speak any other languages? if so, how do they influence your writing style?
A- Apart from my mother language, Nepalese, I am fluent in Hindi and English. I can read and write some other local ethnic languages that are spoken in Nepal.
I mostly write in Nepali language. I should say, language doesn’t have direct influence in my writing.