Profile Writing: Ghanashyam Khadka

- Rupa Mainali

 

“Mainstream media has been a congee/Nepalese stew eaten by a sick person.”

- Ghanashyam Khadka

Ghanashyam Khadka is an author and a human rights journalist from Nepal. He is currently working as a senior sub editor at Kantipur Media Group. 

Early life and Education

Ghanashyam Khadka, born on 29 Falgun, 2037 B.S., is from Dadhikot, Bhaktapur. He was a fun loving and jolly type as a child, he is still the same now. His childhood days were filled with boundless energy, whether in the case of scaling trees to touch the sky or turning backyards into kingdoms of imagination.

He recalls his school days which were equally thrilling. He used to and still tries to stay away from numbers and statistics. He finds writings and arts much more fascinating than all those mathematical formulae which he says he never has to apply in his life. Family gatherings are a highlight, where he used to be the life of the party. His funny jokes and poems brought joy and laughter to everyone around. 

Ghanashyam Khadka was always a choosy person when it was about his education or academic life. He preferred subjective courses rather than objective ones. He has done masters’ in sociology. His academic prowess and dedication set the stage for a remarkable career.

Professional Journey

The inquisitive nature and passion for storytelling became evident early on. So, after he passed his SLC, his closed one suggested that he should apply for a job in Radio Sagarmatha where he was asked to write a community report on his village. He began his journalism career from that day with the support of Ghamraj Luitel and Durga Karki. He also worked as a district reporter in Tanahun. 

Later, his journey as a journalist surged after he met Yuvraj Ghimire, the former editor-in-chief of Kantipur Daily and The Kathmandu Post. Khadka started writing a weekly column in Kantipur daily before he began his career as a journalist there. He was one of the highest paid stringers of that time.

Not only that, Khadka has 2-3 years of experience of writing on the Nepalese people working in Qatar.  He was also an editor of ‘Kosheli' at that time. Not only that, Ghanashyam Khadka was the president of the Human Rights Journalists’ Association of Nepal (HURJA) in 2021.

 

Major achievements

Khadka considers his transformation from a front page scribe and a scoop writer to a mindful journalist as his major achievement. He believes in a saying of Lord Buddha:

“Desire or expectations is the key to sorrow.” 

So putting all the academic and professional achievements aside, he is more focused on mindful living. He has been getting busier with his truth telling and mindful campaigns which he considers his greatest achievements.

Khadka (at the center on a black and white dress) on a mindful campaign at Dhangadi, Kailali.

Impact and influence

Khadka’s influence extends beyond his written work. As a mentor and peace practitioner for his classmates, professors and other enthusiasts of peace of mind, he has been instrumental in shaping the next generation of media professionals. He shares his satisfaction:

 

“My insomniac professors fell asleep during my meditation sessions.”

His campaigns and seminars on mindful living are highly sought after, reflecting his commitment to upholding his learning journey while he was in the UK. He has been highly influenced by the “give and take” culture of the people of the UK. He has understood how good listeners can be benefitted. 

Being a President of the Human Rights Journalists’ Association, he had successfully conducted training programs for journalists in collaboration with UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). His main motive to do so was to make sure that journalism should be carried out in a more humanistic way. 

While saying so, he is concerned about the journalism. He does not want to see it dying. Moreover, he regrets that his writings had affected the life of people in a negative way which is why he is now more involved in mindful living and he prefers to impact life of people in a better way as far as he can.

Personal Philosophy

Khadka believes that journalism is not just a profession but a calling. His personal philosophy centers on the power of truth and the role of the media in shaping the society. He wholeheartedly accepts a saying by Mark Twain:

“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”

Khadka shares a moment of his life where he was hit differently. He was then in the UK. He was asked by one of his classmate from Zambia:

“Do you know about "chau"?

“No.”

After a few more conversations, Khadka realized that his classmate was asking about “Chaupadi Pratha”. He answered:

“Oh! It’s nothing. It is practiced in some remote areas of far-western region of our country.”

After this, what he heard changed his way of thinking from that moment onwards and he says he will not forget it. Actually, he got the line as his life-time lesson:

“In the lofty halls of privilege, the cries of the suffering often become faint whispers.”

This moment shook him. He acknowledged about his past actions that might have impacted others’ lives. He recalls, maybe, this was one of the reasons he was no more interested in writing front page news or any scoop or any writings that may impact the life of others in a negative way. He, then, started to focus more on mindful journalism. 

Khadka, being a hodophile, is fond of exposing himself in nature. He explores several places without any pre-plans. He gets lost into the forests for hours and hours sometimes. 

Awards and Recognition

Khadka, human rights correspondent of the Kathmandu Post’s sister publication Kantipur Daily has been awarded with:

• Ganesh- Ujjwan Memorial Journalism Award (July 10, 2015)

• Chevening Scholarships (2016/17)

• Best Human Rights Journalism Award (2016)

Ganesh- Ujjwan Memorial Journalism Award

Khadka had been felicitated with Ganesh-Ujjwan Memorial Journalism Award. This award is given by Ganesh-Ujjwan Memorial Trust annually to three journalists who write in the field of law and human rights. So, Khadka was also honoured with a purse of Rs 11,111.

Chevening Scholarship

Ghanashyam Khadka is one of the winners of 2016/17 Chevening scholarships. That year 13 Nepali applicants were awarded the UK Government’s prestigious scholarships for a master’s degree in various UK universities. Khadka studied LLM (Master of Laws) in International and European Human Rights at University of Leeds. 

Khadka taking a selfie before heading to the UK.

Khadka had a funny as well as an awkward situation while he was studying aboard:

"I cooked rice in a pressure cooker for the first time. There was no provision of cooking rice in a pressure cooker in the UK. So, one of my friends who was already there had asked me to bring pressure cooker. 

Of course, I was always like a brat brought up in a patriarchal society. I had no any clue how to cook not even rice. I dared to cook with all my experience gained by the observation of my mother's cooking method but I had never counted the whistle blow. After the first whistle blow, everyone, I mean, those who were in the kitchen and others in the hostel ran away. 

They said, "It's a bomb." 

After my explaination they returned to the hostel but warned me not to cook in pressure cooker. They were so furious at me. That day I had rice and dal ( you can imagine dal cooked for just one whistle blow). For a few days I was not allowed to cook. I was fed up eating outside and I desperately craved for rice and dal. Then, after several requests they permitted me to cook again. I shared rice and dal with them. Now whenever I have conversation with them, they say that they still miss dal-bhat made in that pressure cooker."

Khadka as an author

Ghanashyam Khadka is equally active in his journalism career and in writing books. He has written more than 10 books till now. Some of which are: “Nirvana”, “Putaliko Ghar”, “Nyayako Awasaan”, “Durbarko Dukhanta”. “Ananda Samhita” is his latest book based on the issue of human suffering, their root causes and most importantly, it explores the methods to minimize the sufferings and guides the readers to achieve long-term happiness.

Khadka is known for his novel Nirvana, a fictional story based on the theme of the quest, urge, and spirit of joy. He shares an interesting part that inspired him to write this book: 

“I thought, I can change the world. Maybe, this is the same case in every youth. They have a lot of grudges and energy and I was not an exception. But later, I realized that creating troubles in others’ lives by writing sensational and bitterly true stories is not going to provide me with any level of satisfaction. I think I created a lot of mess in so many people’s lives. So, I came up with an idea of writing something influential. I decided to scribe a motivational fictional book. That’s how “Nirvana” got published and after a lot of requests and demands of such books, I thought of writing a nonfiction workbook or a guide book for mindful living. So, I came up with “Ananda Samhita".

He added, "The sequel to Nirvana is on the way."

His quest for writing does not end here. He is busy translating his books in other languages. He has already come up with the English version of his book, Nirvana. He is getting a good response from his books which he considers an inspiration to continue his writing journey.

Khadka is always focused on transformation. He engages himself in several peace campaigns. Not only that, his latest writings seem to be centered on peace and mindful living. In addition to that, climate justice and human justice is another major theme of his recent writing pieces.

He is utilizing all those approaches he learnt while he was studying aboard. He has learnt about the techniques to conduct campaigns in a better approach. After all, life itself is a good book and it never fails to teach lessons.