Sarad Pradhan
Three decades ago, when I started my career in journalism, I had never imaged that it would be so easy to write an article without surfing the pages of the books in library. What proved me wrong was the emergence of the social media which has narrowed down the wall created by geographical boundaries. In early nineties, writers and poets had to wait for months to get their article or poem published. It was a matter of rejoice to see their write up in the newspapers and magazines. As an editor of Op-ed Page of the Kathmandu Post in early nineties, I experienced and encountered a number incidence where writers literary begged us to get their article printed. But now everything has changed, thanks to social media. Now, what made me so surprised is that the reach of social media is more than a mainstream media and the response it gets is faster than traditional media.
Over the last few years, we have seen so many writers and poets coming up in Nepali writing. Every week, now and then, I attend at least two or three book launches in Kathmandu. Perhaps, the scenario is almost same in Darjeeling, Sikkim, Assam and Siliguri. Proliferation of Nepali writing in such an extend is the result of influence of social media. Unlike the writers of previous generation, not everyone today has enough patience to wait for publication. There is a myriad of platforms that allow them to publish their articles or poems online. In fact, the terror of rejection of article becomes a nightmare of the past. We can publish whatever we like whether it is of low standard or against the popular norms of literary writing. The void that social media has created in quality control of literary works now becomes a debatable issue. Despite its lapses, social media allows so many budding writers in Nepali to build their literary career in writing. Understandably, social media is a platform for the writers to test their writing ability in subtle way. It provides quick response and that gives enough opportunity to correct themselves. Now even seasoned writers are vying for the space in the social media believing that it is the quickest way to get name and fame. One of the reasons why social media becoming the voice of emerging writers is that there is no censorship in social media which makes the writers to express their feeling freely without any hindrance. In fact, social media unleashes the creativity hidden inside as against the traditional media where there is high chance of rejection if editor doesn’t understand the feeling and style of writing. In traditional media, editor has the right to reject the poems and articles. That’s why I believe the Tilbikram Nembang also known as Bairagi Kainla, Indra Bahadur Rai and Ishwor Ballav started Tesro Ayam (Third Dimension) magazine back in 1963 in Darjeeling to introduce Ayamik Andolan( Dimensional Movement). Through this magazine, they provoked the existing writing in poem and story through new style that was akin to cubism in the West. It was possible because of their own means of publication. Later, their poems and stories were expected widely across Darjeeling. Unlike in sixties, now we don’t need to start our own magazine to express our new ideas, and the credit goes to social media. The germination of new ideas is necessary to enrich literature. Social media is not judgmental as welcomes all kind of writings adding different flavours in literature.
In fact, social media has clamped down the barrier created by the hegemony of the Western World, as it often rejects the idea and writing of our part of the world claiming that it is substandard and doesn’t meet the requirement set by the West. Social media’s reach is far more than established media like CNN and BBC, and it is more effective than traditional media which has become cumbersome and time-consuming. Nepali literature, for say, is now more available in social media than in printed format. Young generation seldom bother to get their write up printed because of pervasive nature of social media. However, there is a dark-side of the social media as well. Unlike printed media, the chance of losing data or post is very high due to hacking or shut down of site. Therefore, although we prefer to publish our articles or poems in social media, it is equally important to print it for our future reference. Once we lose it, retrieving them is a herculean task, almost next to impossible for ordinary folks like us. Before embarking our literary journey in social media, it is imperative to learn the basic rules of social media. It is a boon for those who know the bright side of social media and a bane for those who misuse it. However, I suggest that once we get the platform from social media, we need to switch in to traditional media to sustain our creativity eventually.
( Mr. Pradhan is a writer and journalist based in Kathmandu, Nepal)
