Selected Stories of Dev Kumari Thapa

Kabiraj Neupane

Presentation of fine observations of human concerns latent in every big and small incidents is the real creative power of Dev Kumari Thapa as an author. Her works, laden with deep feelings, stay in the readers' mind even long after they have been read. By dint of these qualities, she became a subject of deep faith for the senior generation of Nepali literature, especially for their bright authorial future, and was an orchid of great Kabiraj Neupane inspiration for her juniors.

Dinesh Shrestha

Throughout her life, her old-fashioned house located in the southern part of the town remained a prime center for literary and social activities. Until her death on 5 May 2011, she was like a Godmother for promising litterateurs. Although I do not recall my first meeting with this lady of intellectual humility, I visited her regularly since the early 1990s. Every time I met her, she looked calmed and composed, almost like in a state of ZEN. She was tender, sensitive and sophisticated. She embodied both inner and outer beauty with a poise and dignity. She was one of the most accomplished writers in Nepali.

Pramod Pradhan

At a time Nepali society was miles away from the light of education and awareness, the dedication and activeness Dev Kumari Thapa exhibited in the field of literature and social service was in itself a remarkable incident. Her stories present various vices and paradoxes of the Nepali society of her days in simple, lucid and moving language and style. She was adept in presenting the psychological trepidations, restlessness and longings of the hearts of her characters through an in-depth depiction of the psychology of children and women.

Kabiraj Neupane

Dev Kumari Thapa is a renowned litterateur, storywriter and socially reputed national personality. Everyone knows Sister Dev Kumari as an interesting, austere and loving personality, an observer of soft, hard and austere ways in her moral stance. This remained her identity till the last day of her life, beginning with the day of her exposure to the larger world. Though her heart was filled with compassion, she never manifested plight, helplessness and sorrow, and thus, Dev Kumari Thapa was a woman signature with indispensable form and conduct.

Dev Kumari Thapa, who was able to touch the hearts of the general Nepali readers through stories like Bhabishya Nirman, has 14 published books to her credit, including essays. Like her own personality and life that were neat and tidy, her works too are decent and respectful, and are based on the social realism of self-introspection and articulation of truth. Presentation of fine observations of human concerns latent in every big and small incidents is the real creative power of Dev Kumari Thapa as an author. Her works, laden with deep feelings, stay in the readers' mind even long after they have been read. By dint of these qualities, she became a subject of deep faith for the senior generation of Nepali literature, especially for their bright authorial future, and was an orchid of great inspiration for her juniors. Since her styles and comprehensions, by dint of their distinguished perfection, were beyond the reach of anyone's imitation and comprehension, we cannot claim who exactly is the perfect follower of the path Dev Kumari Thapa pioneered.