Taranath Sharma () popular name Tana Sarma (23 June 1934 – 15 February 2022) was a litterateur of Nepal, recognized as travel writer, essayist and

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

. Sharma authored over 112 books in

Nepali language Nepali (; , ), or ''Gorkhali'' is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Himalayas region of South Asia. It is the official and most widely spoken Languages of Nepal, language of Nepal, where it also serves as a ''lingua fr ...

.Man of his words
The Himalayan Times He contributed to Nepali Literature for over five decades.
Kantipur Daily

Early life and education

Sharma was born on 23 June 1934 in Barbote Ilam as the first child of Mr. Prajapati Upadhyay a social reformer. Quitting the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

education he continued his studies in the English school that was established by his father. He completed his school level studies at St Joseph's,

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 ...

. Sharma got PhD in Linguistics from the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

in the US.

Literary career

While studying for a BA in

Banaras Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

, Sharma initiated the 'Jharro Nepali' a literature movement with his friends. He wrote his first work, ''Ojhel Parda'', in 1966 inside jail while he was imprisoned for criticizing late

King Mahendra Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (; 11 June 1920 – 31 January 1972) was King of Nepal from 13 March 1955 until his death in 1972. He led the 1960 Nepal coup d'état, 1960 coup d'état, in which he dismissed the government, jailed other political ...

's poem. His travelogue entitled '' Belaet Tira Baralida'' meaning Ramblings in and around Britain, which he wrote while he was doing his Post Graduate Diploma with English as second language in the

University College of North Wales Bangor University () is a public research university in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. It was established by Royal Charter in 1885 as the University College of North Wales (UCNW; ), and in 1893 became one of the founding institutions of the federal ...

won the popular 'Madan Puraskar' award for the year 1969. Sharma served as the editor in chief of

The Rising Nepal ''The Rising Nepal'' is a Nepalese government-owned daily newspaper published by the Gorkhapatra Sansthan. It is a major English-language daily in Nepal. It is a sister publication of the Nepali-language '' Gorkhapatra'', the oldest national dai ...

English daily for some years after the restoration of democracy in Nepal. He even served at Nobel Academy Secondary School as the school principal for many years. He has great contribution in Nepali education and literature.

Awards

Sharma received various awards like the

Madan Puraskar The Madan Puraskar () is a literary honor in Nepal which Madan Puraskar Guthi confers annually for an outstanding book in the Nepali language published within the calendar year. It is considered as the most prestigious literature award in Nepal. ...

Award 1969 for '' Belaet Tira Baralida'' travelogue, the Saajha Award 1972 for Sama Ra Samaka Kriti''' critic, and the Aadi kabi Bhanubhakta award 2013.

Personal life and death

Sharma was married and had two sons. He died at his home in Kathmandu on 15 February 2022, at the age of 87. He suffered from dementia, diabetes, high blood pressure and other heart problems prior to his death.

Bibliography

*'' Belaet Tira Baralida'' () *''Jharro Nepali''

References