Haiku Kichaa, a collection of Haikus composed by late Shyam Sundar Sainju released

Amidst a function, Haiku Kichaa, a collection of Haikus composed by late Shyam Sundar Sainju (1939 – 2009) was released in Kathmandu on Saturday. Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Kalyan Shrestha was the chief guest of the event released it. On the occasion, he said that late Sainju had contributed extensively to Nepal Bhasa and Nepali literature. Around sixty-four years back himself and colleagues composed Haikus in Nepal Bhasa and Nepali both. That was legendary and landmark in South Asian history of literature. Likewise, he had contributed in establishing free verse poems as well in Nepal Bhasa.

On the occasion, litterateur Dr. Ananda Joshi elaborating late Sainju’s contributions and contemporary literature campaigns, said that the status of Nepal Bhasa literature was much developed, even better among South Asian countries.

The speakers including Haiku writer and president of Nepal Bhasa Haiku Society Suresh Pradhan, litterateur Mohan Duwal, Dr. Suman Tamrakar, Tuyu Puun and Late Sainju’s daughter Amita Laxmi Sainju Shrestha spoke on various aspects related to late Sainju, his literature contributions and others. They stressed need of state recognizing of late Sainju’s dedications and contributions. The state authorities also need to constitute a memorial trust to conduct research and publicize his works. The governments in all levels – Federal, Provincial and Local should allocate sizable funds. Likewise, language and cultural institutions also should consider on such aspects, they emphasized.

Haijin late Shyam Sundar Sainju was one of the pioneers of free verse poetry in Nepali language, former editor-in-chief of Gorkhapatra daily newspaper, Madhuparka, Muna Patrika.

A Haiku is a short, unrhymed poem that adheres to a specific three-line, seventeen-syllable format. The form originated in Japan, but today people across the globe read and write haiku in many different languages. Because of different languages’ unique syllabic and grammatical structures, haiku have slightly different formats from language to language. The main format we’re working with in this blog post is the English haiku format. 

Haiku is originated in Japan. Although the name haiku dates only to the nineteenth century, the form has existed for hundreds of years. Originally, haiku were known as hokku and were a component of a larger poetic form known as renga. Renga are lengthy, linked collaborative poems that typically have multiple authors. By the seventeenth century, poets had begun writing hokku as standalone pieces, and by the end of the nineteenth century, poet Masaoka Shiki was reforming the genre while working within it. One of his reforms was coining the term Haiku.

Unlike other poems, Haikus usually don’t rhyme.

Traditionally, haiku are about nature. One common theme explored by historical and modern haiku poets is seasonal changes. Often, a Haiku focuses on a single moment in time and, in many cases, juxtaposes two images. The Haiku poets and those who have deep knowledge on Haiku say that traditions norms of Haiku composition have been liberlised in the present days.  Haiku has been written in many languages including English, French, Hindi and others. (By R. P. Narayan)