Betrayal and Redemption in Rajan Prasad Pokharel's Beyond the Life Lines

Abstract

Guna, a hill-bred Nepali youth runs away to Madhes, Biratnagar, leaving behind his ageing parents and young wife, Apsara, in the hilly hinterland in pursuit of easy life and material prosperity. His poverty makes him an easy prey to the lust of the landlord's daughter. He marries her being tempted with the girl's father's high post without knowledge of his first wife. He further degrades himself by abandoning his illiterate and innocent wife on the train across the Indian border. Fate and coincidence play a dominant role in the narrative and bring Guna and Apsara together after almost twenty-five years, and allows Guna to attain salvation from his vicious deed by dying in the arms of Apsara who appears larger than life by showing compassion and human sensibilities.