Nut-ji, Your puzzlement is justified. Allow me to post this reply. My comments were NOT directed at the book per se. I said I had not read the book, though I have read some (positive) reviews. My posting therefore was NOT a book review in itself. Nor were they directed at the author per se. I congratulated him -- in public here and in private via an email, and he remains a good friend. I am happy about his success. My comments here on Sajha were primarily to WONDER ALOUD and then propose three hypotheses as to what made the institution of Madan Puraskar Guthi to award the prize to a book that had just been published. [I am a firm believer in proposing a series of hypotheses as a great way to think further about any issue . . . to reach the truth faster, EVEN IF, over time, better evidence makes most or all of those proposed hypotheses invalid. How else would we know anything, if we don't start by first forming plausible hypotheses and start testing them out and letting the evidence guide us wherever it leads us?] In this open forum, Houston, above, has already added to our knowledge, saying that this is NOT the first-time that MPG has rewarded debut novels. Others have remarked that however much they enjoyed reading Palpasa Cafe, they did not think that it merited the prize. Some think that clever marketing helped the book win the prize. But others disagree, and say that the book richly deserved the award on its own merits. ALL THESE varied opinions, let me say, add up to legitimate and richer discussions about any work of literature -- good or bad. So, these public discussions serve as an outlet for us to care about literature. I request that my posting be seen in that spirit. ******** Yes, unlike the prize committe for Pulitzer (US) or Booker (UK), the MPG Prize judges are inexplicably anonymous in Nepal. What's more, we do not even know what OTHER books had been short-listed for consideration. Tellingly, there is NO news (as of now), no press releases, no brief citations about this year's prizes on the Web site of Madan Puraskar Pustkalaya. And the newspaper reports have gushed more about the 5000-plus sales figure of the book than about any statement from the Prize Committte. Sure, the answers to some of these concerns are probably out there already. But by sharing these concerns here on Sajha makes it easy to tap into the knowledge that's in the head of many other visitors, each oif whom might have additional bits of information . . . . all of which, when posted here, can add up to paint a fuller picture to address some of those concerns. ********************* Nut writes: "assuming that [Ashu's] being a columnist/journalist/social activist" Many people mistakenly assume that I am a full-time journalist and some kind of a social activist. I accept the compliments, but the truth remains somewhat different. Ever since I read management guru Peter Drucker's influential article on why it's important for each so-called 'knowledge-worker' to be ready for two to three different CAREERS in today's fast-changing world -where smart people 'peak' in their first career in their 30s and then get bored doing the same thing again and again for the rest of their lives, and -where people are living longer and longer . . . I have, following Drucker's prescriptions, consciously set out to have a primary career (things I do from nine to six, five days a week) while steadily developing, as serious hobbies, secondary and somewhat loose careers on the side. So far, journalism and social activism have remained serious hobbies . . . but it's something else that pays the bills and the loans for now. :-) Still, my experience is that the goodwill, the energy and the enthusiasm one generates from secondary careers, even if they are serious hobbies, spill over happily to raise the productivity in one's primary career. I see that Narayan Wagle, in his 30s, has also done something similar, but much more remarkably: He has also been a documentary film-maker and now a novelist too on top of being the editor of Nepal's largest daily. And that's great. I am sure there are countless other Nepalis doing something similar for themselves, at their own pace. oohi ashu