Chuden Kabimo is in Kathmandu to receive this year’s Madan Puraskar prize for his novel, **उरमाल (Urmaal)**. The novel is set among the tea plantations and their workers in northeast India’s Dooar plains.
The award ceremony was postponed due to Nepal’s violent Gen Z protests, and Kabimo’s trip had to overcome highways and bridges destroyed by this week’s heavy rains in the Darjeeling hills and across the border in Nepal.
Kabimo’s previous work, **फातसुङ (Faatsung)**, was the story of the Gorkhaland Movement in Darjeeling 30 years ago. It is told through fictionalized characters and their friendships, their love for the land, and revolution. *Song of the Soil* is its English translation by Ajit Baral, published in 2021. There are also Hindi and Bengali translations available.
### About the Gorkhaland Movement
The Gorkhaland Movement sought to create a separate state for Nepali-speaking Indians of West Bengal. There is plenty of violence, arson, and young death depicted in the book, along with a poignant contemplation on the 8-9 September Gen Z protests in Nepal.
The plot is structured as a story within a story, within a story. It begins when the narrator receives the tragic news that his childhood friend Ripden was killed in a landslide. He returns to Malbung, the place where he was born, and reminisces about their school days and Ripden’s rebellious spirit. Ripden encouraged the narrator to skip school and led him on adventures.
He recalls villagers who sold their farms for alcohol and dedicated teachers who helped them dream of better lives. Ripden lived with his uncle after his mother died when he was four, and his father disappeared during the Movement. Later, Ripden hears that his father is dead, prompting him to run away to a village called Lolay. There, the pair meet Nasim, who is involved in the Gorkhaland Movement as a child soldier.
### The Author’s Background and Themes
Chuden Kabimo belongs to the Lepcha community, a people fiercely proud of their identity, homeland, history, and myths. He weaves together the characters’ stories, detailing their motivation to rebel. One leader of the Movement declares, *“I may give up my life, I may give up my soul. But Gorkhaland, I will have anyhow.”*
This is the story of all revolutions—where young, idealistic people join with the best of intentions, but the reality often betrays their hopes. The spirit of revolution can mobilize even those reluctant to be involved, yet they can still be casualties, much like the violence witnessed outside Nepal’s Parliament last month.
Some characters dream of personal success through the movement—imagining a day when even pigs can eat rice and every house has a swimming pool. Others cope with alcohol and memories of past, present, or potential lovers.
### Style and Storytelling
Ajit Baral’s translation uses short, crisp sentences that make the 200-page novel move along quickly. The sparse language allows the story to unfold naturally, with the writer receding into the background. Kabimo condenses love stories into brief chapters or even just a few paragraphs, keeping the revolution’s story central.
Characters sometimes appear briefly, only to be killed off quickly. As in all revolutions, factions fight among themselves, against communists, or against the police. Readers unfamiliar with Gorkhaland may find it difficult to keep track, mirroring the real confusion of a society in turmoil.
Kabimo often begins chapters with philosophical statements such as, *“History is written by those who stumble in life,”* which resonates more in Nepali, with some meaning lost in translation.
### Reflection on Recent Events
With the recent protests in Nepal in mind, there is a sense of relief that the fires of rebellion there burned out quickly. But in *Song of the Soil*, the revolution is never-ending—with villages and families living in terror and deprivation. The longer insurrections last, the more people die, and internal divisions make it easier to subvert the original revolutionary goals.
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## Interview with Chuden Kabimo
*Winner of this year’s Madan Puraskar literary prize for the book Urmaal*
**Nepali Times:** Your journalism about the Gorkhaland Movement inspired your earlier novel, *Faatsung*. What was your process in learning about tea plantation workers for *Urmaal*?
**Chuden Kabimo:** I had been reporting on the second Gorkhaland movement, so writing *Faatsung* was easier. For *Urmaal*, I lived with the tea plantation community. I started work six months after *Faatsung* was published. I headed to the Dooars intending to write about child marriage in the community. As I talked to locals and workers, the need to tell the story of *Urmaal* pulled me in.
I often thought I had enough material, but then I wanted to add more elements, which kept me going back for five years it took to complete the book.
**Nepali Times:** How does all that information you gather develop into a storyline and characters?
**Kabimo:** When I start, I don’t know how the plot will begin or end. I talk to many people from different backgrounds. Each person introduces me to others I should speak to. I listen to their stories, and as they start to fit together, the plot emerges. My characters come from this process.
For a single character, I combine stories from many people—maybe ten or twelve. It’s rarely possible to base a character on just one individual. I start where I want, and as I keep writing, the story slowly takes shape. Interestingly, I wrote what became the last chapter of *Urmaal* first.
**Nepali Times:** What about your actual writing process?
**Kabimo:** I wake up early, then go cycling or play football. Afterwards, I sit at my computer for sometimes two hours. Sometimes I write only two lines in that time; other times five hundred words. I don’t set a word count for myself because I’m a slow writer, but I strongly believe in writing daily.
When you don’t write daily, especially for a novel, you lose connection to the story. I make sure I’m always connected to it, so I think about it even when I’m on the bus.
**Nepali Times:** What does winning the Madan Puraskar mean to you?
**Kabimo:** Madan Puraskar is the biggest prize in Nepali literature, so it’s a great source of pride. When I wrote my first book, I hadn’t thought about winning prizes. With *Faatsung*, I was thinking about Kalimpong and Darjeeling more than awards.
*Faatsung* made me recognized, and a lot of people in Nepal liked it. Outdoing *Faatsung* was a challenge when I wrote *Urmaal*. When the book got good reviews, I didn’t expect it to win the Madan Puraskar. I was reading at home in Siliguri when I got the news.
For other awards, like the JCB, I was contacted beforehand and asked not to reveal it. But with Madan Puraskar, it was the opposite—there was a unique happiness. It’s great motivation to work on my third novel. Perhaps it will be about Sikkim, moving away from Gorkhaland.
**Nepali Times:** How does it feel being recognized in Nepal?
**Kabimo:** Six years ago, readers in Nepal didn’t know who I was. I was new to Nepal, and Nepal was new to me. I grew up in rural Kalimpong with only the radio for entertainment. On the radio, we listened to Nepali programs, which developed my emotional attachment to the country.
I came to Kathmandu for the first time for *Faatsung*, and it was fun seeing the places I had heard about on the radio. The journey since then—the love readers have shown for the book and now the prize—has been very meaningful.
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Chuden Kabimo’s work offers a powerful window into the lived realities of the Gorkhaland Movement and the struggles of tea plantation workers, weaving revolution, identity, and the human cost of conflict into compelling narratives that resonate deeply with readers across borders.
https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/revolution-song