A mother and child at a village in Nepal’s Gandaki Province. In Weena Pun’s novel, the protagonist Kanchhi encounters taboos and restrictions placed on women in Nepali society, while resisting them in small and big ways.
A mother and child at a village in Nepal’s Gandaki Province. In Weena Pun’s novel, the protagonist Kanchhi encounters taboos and restrictions placed on women in Nepali society, while resisting them in small and big ways.IMAGO / VWPics
Podcast

Weena Pun on the invisibility of women in Nepal’s society and literature: Southasia Review of Books podcast #15

A conversation with the Nepali-born writer on her debut novel ‘Kanchhi’, and capturing the realities of women’s lives in rural Nepal
The Editors

Published on: 

Welcome to the Southasia Review of Books Podcast from Himal Southasian, where we speak to celebrated authors and emerging literary voices from across Southasia. In this episode, Shwetha Srikanthan speaks to Weena Pun about her new debut novel Kanchhi (Hachett India, September 2024).

In Torikhola in the western midhills of Nepal, Kanchhi, the only daughter of her single mother, is at odds with the rules and customs of her hamlet and opposes the shame imposed on her ambitions and curiosity. One November morning she leaves home, and that is the last anybody sees of her. A decade later, Maiju still prays for her daughter’s return.

This heart-wrenching coming-of-age story follows Kanchhi and her mother negotiating life and societal pressures in rural Nepal. And as much as the book looks closely at women’s place in Nepali society, it also captures the realities of life in the hamlet Kanchhi is from, and the socio-political reasons for Kanchhi’s disappearance. 

This episode is now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Youtube.

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Episode notes:

Kanchhi by Weena Pun (Hachett India, September 2024)

Swaying with the ainselu - Weena Pun (Himal Southasian, September 2011)

Lahure laments: What songs say of Nepali migrant culture - Weena Pun (Himal Southasian, June 2016)

Words and warriors: Nepali women slam poets write on their lives and times - Puja Sen (Himal Southasian, September 2016)

Girls in the war - Manjushree Thapa (Himal Southasian, June 2003)

Southasia Review of Books podcast #02: Smriti Ravindra on exploring the Madhesi identity in the literary imagination of Nepal (Himal Southasian, March 2024)

Podcast interview with Kathmandu-based author Shradha Ghale on her debut novel The Wayward Daughter (Himal Southasian, December 2018)

literature
Nepal
gender
Women
Himal Southasian
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