Peter J. Karthak
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Peter John Karthak (12 December 1943—16 April 2020) was a Nepalese writer, musician and journalist. He wrote two novels, several poems and short stories and edited and wrote for multiple newspapers in his life. He is best known for his
Sajha Puraskar Sajha Puraskar () is a literary award given by Sajha Publications. It is presented annually to the best book published by Sajha Publication. History It was established in 1967 and the first award was given to Bhupi Sherchan for his book '' ...
–winning novel, '' Pratyek Thau: Pratyek Manchhe.''


Early life and education

He was born on 12 December 1943 in
Shillong Shillong (, ) is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India. It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in India, 330th most populous city ...
,
Meghalaya Meghalaya (; "the abode of clouds") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeast India. Its capital is Shillong. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the Assam: the United Khasi Hills an ...
(then
Assam Province Assam Province was a province of British India, created in 1912 by the partition of the Eastern Bengal and Assam Province. Its capital was in Shillong. The Assam territory was first separated from Bengal in 1874 as the 'North-East Frontier' ...
), India in a Christian Lepcha family. In the midst of World War II, his family left for
Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...
. Karthak grew up in Darjeeling. He was brought up and educated initially at Peshok Tea Estate and Nor Busti, in Darjeeling. He then studied at Turnbill High School from 1956 and attended St Joseph’s College, North Point, both in Darjeeling. He moved to
Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...
in 1965. He was granted a naturalised citizenship certificate by the-then His Majesty’s Government of Nepal. He received an MA degree in English from
Tribhuvan University Tribhuvan University (TU; ) is a public university located in Kirtipur, Kathmandu Valley, Kathmandu, Nepal. Established in 1959, TU is the oldest and the largest university in Nepal. It offers 1,000 undergraduate and 500 postgraduate programs a ...
. He learnt music from
Amber Gurung Shree Amber Gurung () (26 February 1938 – 7 June 2016) was a Nepalese composer, singer, and lyricist. He composed Nepal's national anthem, "Sayaun Thunga Phulka". Early life Amber Gurung was born in Darjeeling, India, where his father and ...
, the composer of Nepali national anthem.


Musical career

He was the lead guitarist of a band called '' The Hillians'' in Darjeeling. The band was formed in 1961 and was the first western band from the region. The name of the band was proposed by his friend Choden Tshering Bhutia. The band played at the coronation of
Palden Thondup Namgyal Palden Thondup Namgyal ( Sikkimese: ; Wylie: ''dpal-ldan don-grub rnam-rgyal''; 23 May 1923 – 29 January 1982) was the 12th and last Chogyal (king) of the Kingdom of Sikkim. Biography Palden thondup Namgyal was born on 23 May 1923 at the ...
, the last
Chogyal The Chogyal ("Dharma Kings", ) were the monarchs of the former Kingdom of Sikkim, which belonged to the Namgyal dynasty, . The Chogyal was the absolute monarch of Sikkim from 1642 to 1973, and the constitutional monarch from 1973 to 1975, wh ...
(king) of
Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...
, in 1965 and was dubbed as "The Beatles of Sikkim". ''The Hillians'' disbanded around 1966/67. He also played guitar for famous singer like
Gopal Yonzon Gopal Yonzon, also spelled Gopal Yonjan, (26 August 1943 – 20 May 1997) was a Nepali lyricist, singer, and composer. He was known for his patriotic Nepali songs. His voice range allowed him to sing songs of every genre of Nepalese music. He b ...
, Tara Devi and
Narayan Gopal Narayan Gopal Gurubacharya () (4 October 1939 – 5 December 1990), known professionally as Narayan Gopal and N. Gopal was a popular singer and composer of Nepali music. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons in Nepal, he is refe ...
. He retired from his music part of life in 1990.


Journalism career

He taught at Patan College and the Pulchowk Central Campus initially. He also taught at a private-sector university in Bangkok, and finally, at
Kathmandu University Kathmandu University (KU) () is an autonomous university in Nepal. It is the third oldest university in Nepal, located in Dhulikhel of Kavrepalanchok District, about east of Kathmandu. It was established in 1991 with the motto "Quality Educat ...
in Kathmandu. He was with the founding editorial team at ''
The Himalayan Times ''The Himalayan Times'' is an English-language broadsheet newspaper published and distributed daily in Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the ...
'', in 2000 and '' The Kathmandu Post/ City Post'', from 2002 to 2008. He worked as the copy chief for ''The Week,
Republica Republica are an English alternative rock band formed in 1994. They reached the height of their popularity from 1996 to 1999. The band went on hiatus in 2001 and reunited in 2008. The Republica sound was described by the band as " technopop p ...
'' for six years. He retired in 2015 after the
2015 Nepal earthquake The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed 8,962 people and injured 21,952 across the countries of Nepal, India, China and Bangladesh. It occurred at on Saturday 25 April 2015, with a magnitude of Moment magni ...
.


Literary career

His first poem ''Apocalypse: Rankhe Bhoot Haru'' was published in '' Ruprekha'' magazine in 1971. He co-authored Manas, an anthology of poetry with poets Abhi Subedi and Ramesh Shrestha in 1977. He published two novels in his lifetime. His first novel '' Pratyek Thau: Pratyek Manchhe'' was published in 1978.
Shankar Lamichhane Shankar Lamichhane (; 1928 – 1976) was a Nepalese essayist and short–story writer. He is best known for his Madan Puraskar–winning essay collection '' Abstract Chintan Pyaj''. Early life He was born on 17 March 1928 (5 Chaitra 1984 BS) ...
wrote the preface for his novel. He translated the novel into English himself as ''Every Place, Every Person'' in 2004''.'' He published his second novel in English titled ''Kathmandruids: Monomyths & Meanymyths'' in 2018. He also wrote a book about Nepali musicians - ''Nepal's Music Makers: Between the Dales of Darjeeling and the Vales of Kathmandu'' in 2018.


Awards

He won the prestigious
Sajha Puraskar Sajha Puraskar () is a literary award given by Sajha Publications. It is presented annually to the best book published by Sajha Publication. History It was established in 1967 and the first award was given to Bhupi Sherchan for his book '' ...
for his debut novel ''Pratyek Thau Pratyek Manche'' in 1978 (2034 BS).


Personal life

He died on 16 April 2020, at around 5:30am at the age of 77 in Nepal Cancer Hospital, Lalitpur. His final rites were performed at Pashupati temple. He is survived by his wife, Ranjana Prajapati and two sons.


See also

* Abhi Subedi *
Indra Bahadur Rai Indra Bahadur Rai (3 February 1927 – 6 March 2018) was an Indian Nepali language writer and literary critic from Darjeeling, India. He wrote multiple essays, short stories, novels and criticism in his lifetime. ''Kheer'' and ''Raat Bhari Huri ...
*
Lil Bahadur Chettri Lil Bahadur Chettri (, 1 March 1933 – 13 March 2025) was an Indian writer in the Nepali language from Assam, who was a recipient of Sahitya Academy Award for his book ''Brahmaputrako Chheu Chhau''. His other book ''Basain'' is a story of poor ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karthak, Peter J. Nepali-language writers from India 20th-century Nepalese male writers English-language writers from Nepal 1943 births 2020 deaths People from Shillong Musicians from Darjeeling Sajha Puraskar winners Nepalese journalists 20th-century Nepalese musicians Lepcha people