Sarbagya Kafle

Sarbagya Kafle

Rhetoric, Writing, Literature

Blog posts

2025

2024

2023

South Asia Meets the USA

less than 1 minute read

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This working timeline showcases exchange of ideas, inspriation and solidarity between the South Asia and the United States.

Brown Africa by Aahuti

2 minute read

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Brown Africa by Aahuti
(This poem was first published in Nepali as “Gahungoro Africa” in Mulaykan magazine in 2051 B.S. and also includied as the opening section in Aahuti’s 2010 A.D. book Nepalma Varna Vyavastha ra Varga-Sangharsha)

Vidydabhusana’s Introduction to Gotama’s Nyaya Sutra

3 minute read

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In his introduction to The Nyaya Sutras of Gotama (1913), Satisa Chandra Vidyabhusana discusses the etymological meaning of Naya sutra, its authorship, and its strained reception in the vedic tradition of scriptural authority. He finds that Panini, famous Sanskrit grammarian from 350 BC, explained the term “Nyaya” as a derivative of the root “i” meaning “gam” or “to go.” In this sense, Vidyabhusana points, “‘Nyaya’ as signifying logic is etymologically identitcal with ‘nigama’ the conclusion of a syllogism” (I). He finds that Panini, famous Sanskrit grammarian from 350 BC, explained the term “Nyaya” as a derivative of the root “i” meaning “gam” or “to go.” In this sense, Vidyabhusana points, “‘Nyaya’ as signifying logic is etymologically identitcal with ‘nigama’ the conclusion of a syllogism” (i). Bhivusana pointa that, though Naya is the earliest work in Nyaya philosophy, the concept of logic has been referred to Sanskrit tradition by the terms like

Ambedkar and Du Bois

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South Asians celebrate B. R. Ambedkar’s birthday, April 14, as equity day to pay tribute to his unmatched contribution to uplift and inspire the dalits in India and beyond. On this occasion, I want to look into an instance of transnational understanding and solidarity Ambedkar and Du Bois tried to forge between the USA and South Asia to fight race and caste discrimiation. In 1946, Ambedkar wrote a letter to W. E.B. Du Bois poiting out similarity between the US Racism and Indian casteism.

Public and Cunterpublic

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Warner opens his introduction to his 2002 book Publics and Counterpublics by referring to publics as “queer creatures” who have become unavoidable in the “social landscape” as if they are “pavement” (7). In our increasingly “media-saturated forms of life” the texts and artifacts are, in one way or the other, “intrinsically oriented to publics,” and people’s “attention is everywhere solicited by artifacts that say, before anything else, Hello, public!” (7). Though individuals do not recognize all the members of a society, they forge a sense of relationship and participation to “addressable social entities” based on common sense or imagination. Therefore, as Warner puts, Publics are “a kind of [practical] fiction, that has taken on life, and very potent life at that.” Warner’s notion of public as imaginary construct is in line with what Benedict Anderson’s says of nation as “imagined communities.” The idea of public and counterpublic is fundamental to understand the nature of rhetorical circulation in our media and social media saturated digital town squares.

2018

Socio-economy of food

6 minute read

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I remember the day when I was just 10 and was in the nearby pasture with my friends, mostly from Tamang family, herding our cows. Niraj, one of my friends, shouted with joy as if he spotted a hidden treasure behind a bush. It was the serendipitous gems of creamy white puffy balls of countless mushroom studded on the green ground. He started plucking them up and filling the fold of his t-shirt end. I followed him and filled mine with those soft balls. Elated, I was anticipating a fresh delicious mushroom dish for the dinner. On the way home with my cows, one of my neighboring aunts inquired about the big bulging end of my shirt. With a sense of pride, I showed her the content and expected a compliment. Her frown and remark—“How dare you bring mushroom being a kid of Brahmin?” made me crestfallen.