Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Legend of late poet Dr.Harka bahadur Gurung

                                  "Late poet Dr.Harka bahadur Gurung"

Dr. Harka Bahadur Gurung (1939-2006), well known for his wide-ranging scholarship, died in a helicopter crash on September 23, 2006 in Taplejung District, Eastern Nepal. This small note on Dr. Harka Gurung basically focuses on two things: a) Background information on his family, education and services, and b) His scholarship and contributions to social sciences in Nepal.

Family Background and Academic Career:

Dr. Harka Gurung was born in Taranche, a small village in Lamjung in Central Nepal on February 5, 1939 in a soldier-cum priestly Gurung family. His grandfather used to work as Pachu priest. The snow peaks of Manasulu and Himalchuli loom large just 24 kilometres north of the village Taranche, and this village was situated on the left bank of the Marshyandi river. This natural landscape of birthplace not only developed in him a sense of "belongingness" to the location throughout his life but also opened up the path to becoming a good geographer in the future.

He was the fourth son of the family. He was popularly known as "Thula" (big) by his peers in Taranche as he was the first youngest son (Thula kancha) in the family. His father was a subedar (non-commissioned first class officer) in the British army in India. His two elder brothers also worked in the British army in India. So it was natural that he spent his childhood with his parents in Dehardun, India, with the children of army families.

He started learning the basic Buddhist Lamaistic education from his grandfather at home. He learnt Tamukui or Gurung kura at home and learn Nepali from his friends as the village was dominated by the Chhetri community. His formal schooling began in the Children School, Deharadun, at the age of nine and he finished high school from King George Military School, Jalandhar, in 1955. This military school provided him with the foundation of a good education including discipline, games and sports. It is interesting to note here that despite his education in the military school and the background of army families, he did not join in the Indian army. There could be two reasons for this: i) His short physical stature did not motivate him to join the army, and ii) His keen interest in pursuing higher studies.

From Deharadun, he came to Kathmandu and finished his Intermediate of Arts from Trichandra College in 1957. He went to Patna College, Patna (Bihar, India) to continue further education. A large number of Nepali students would go to Patna for a degree in higher education in those days as it was closer to Nepal and there was some level of understanding of higher education between the Government of Nepal and Patna University, Bihar, India. Gurung not only earned a first class first B.A (Hons.) degree from Patna College in 1959, but he was also popular in other extra curricular activities. He was the captain of football and hockey team and the General Secretary of the Nepali Students' Union. He also developed good skills in painting. While studying for his M.A. degree in geography from Patna University, he received a scholarship to study geography at the University of Edinburgh where he finished his Post graduate Diploma in 1961 and a Ph.D. degree in geography in 1965. His Ph.D. dissertation entitled, "The Valley of Pokhara: Prolegomena to a Regional Study" (Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh, July 1965) is to this day widely cited as a source to understanding the Pokhara valley.

He began his academic assignments as a Demonstrator at the University of Edinburgh (1963-64) and continued as a Research Fellow, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (1964-66). He served as a Lecturer in the Department of Geography, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu (1966-68) and Visiting Fellow, Population Institute, East West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii (1984-85). He served as a Member and the Vice Chairman in the National Planning Commission (1968-75); Minister of State for Education, Industry and Commerce (1975-77) and Minister of State for Tourism, and Public Works and Transport (1977-78). His last assignment was the Director of Asia and Pacific Development Centre, an intergovernmental organization based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1993-98). He joined New ERA, a non-governmental organization based in Kathmandu, in 1980, and continued his association with this institution till his death in September 2006.

No comments:

Post a Comment