A few weeks ago on our family Facebook group, an uncle shared this essay on my grandfather Prem Raj Mulmi. The essay, published in the Pokhara weekly Paryavechhak on 26 February 1996 (14 Falgun 2052), was written by Mukund Sharan Upadhyay.
I never knew my grandfather; he died seven years before I was born. So it was fascinating to read about a man many in my family continue to talk about. I knew about his political affiliations with the Nepali Congress and his participation in the 1950 Nepali democratic movement, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn he, too, dabbled in the letters. He wrote poetry, but I am yet to seen one. As the author of this piece says, “The magazines in which his works were published are out of print, and little is known about his other works.”
I’ve translated the essay so that in my own little way the story of a man who sounds like he would be someone I’d like to have a drink with in the evenings can reach a wider audience. Stories cross mountains and oceans through translations, and as a writer/editor who writes in English, I feel that too little is translated not just across borders, but within borders too.
Apart from the scans of the original article, which were provided by Pramod Raj Mulmi, the other images are embedded from the Facebook group of amateur photo-historian Sunil Ulak, whose massive archive of more than 50,000 historical images from Nepal is unparalleled.
“The city of Pokhara seems to have forgotten Prem Raj Mulmi. He used to write poetry in Nepali and Nepal bhasa, and would deeply encourage others to read and write too. He was born to Harsha Bahadur (errata: his name was Harsha Kumar) and Hem Kumari in 1919 CE (1976 BS) on the day of Guru Purnima (13 July) in Pokhara.
Harsha Kumar was from Patan, and settled in Pokhara in 1903 CE (1960 BS) looking to trade in the new town (the Mulmis of Pokhara believe it was Harsha Kumar’s father, Ashamaru Mulmi, who came to Pokhara from Patan. In Patan, the Mulmis’ clan goddess is Purnachandi temple). At the time, Pokhara’s main settlement lay on the stretch between Bindhyabasini temple and Nalamukh. Harsha Kumar planted his roots somewhere in the middle here (the Mulmis first settled in Ganesh Tole, a little south of Nalamukh). A Pradhan family from Thamel had been living in Nalamukh. Hem Kumari, who married Harsha Kumar, belonged to the family.
Prem Raj Mulmi did not get to study much. He had learnt a bit of Nepali and Sanskrit. Bhanubhakta’s Ramayana was popular in Pokhara at the time, but it wasn’t easy getting a copy. There were no bookshops at all. Harsha Kumar brought in two copies from Varanasi, and gave one to his friend Damodar Poudel. The other became Prem Raj’s education.
Several other Newar families had moved from the Kathmandu valley to Pokhara looking to trade and settle. They had brought in new dances, music and devotional songs along with them. Harsha Kumar was an enthusiastic participant in such matters, which deeply influenced his son. Prem Raj knew by heart the Bhagwati Stotra sung at Bindhyabasini temple and the shlokas meant to be sung at wedding processions. He was encouraged to try his hand at writing poetry in Nepali and Nepal bhasa. Initially he wrote them for himself, but as he travelled to Kathmandu, he thought he needed to get them published. A few of his Nepal bhasa works were published in magazines from Kathmandu. I have been informed that he had independently published a work, but I am yet to locate it. Once, on my way back to my village from India as a student, I had stayed at his place, where he heard out some of my poems.
As Prem Raj Mulmi grew older, his home became an intellectual centre for discussions around religion, language, literature and politics. He would call for newspapers and magazines from India, and the Gorkhapatra newspaper regularly arrived at home. Although by the time the issues reached Pokhara they would become old, they were welcomed nonetheless.
As involved as he was in intellectual and political matters, Prem Raj was also involved in social work. He was a founding member of the Pokhara Chamber of commerce, and contributed to the Rashtriya High School (Rashtriya Secondary School today), Prithvi Narayan College (today Campus), and the now defunct Adarsh library. According to Pokhara folklore, the first radio in town belonged to the Mulmis.
Although Mulmi was active in the 1950 revolution, he withdrew from political life after the 1960 imposition of Panchayat. One reason for this was the divided outlook among his friends – some of them supported King Mahendra’s coup while others opposed it. He was close to both groups. At the time, a weekly called Himdoot would be published from Pokhara. His close friends Pandit Muktinath Sharma and Shrikant Adhikari had published an article in it supporting the coup. A large group of folks supporting the coup would also gather at his home. But his friends who had been jailed subsequent to the coup had also been asking for his help. National leaders such as Bishwabandhu Thapa and Dr Tulsi Giri would also visit him. Perhaps it was for these reasons he decided to stay away from politics. His close friend and neighbour Amrit Prasad Sherchan also went through similar dilemmas.
Once, when both Pandit Muktinath Sharma and Prem Raj Mulmi met King Mahendra together, the gossip in Pokhara was that while Sharma only spoke about politics to the king, Mulmi spoke about culture. Nonetheless, as a believer in multiparty democracy, he supported such activists, who in turn regarded him as an ally.
Despite being an active part of Pokhara’s cultural and social consciousness, Prem Raj’s untimely death on 14 December 1976 (29 Marga 2033) resulted in the town losing one of its leading lights. More than two decades later, the politicians who visited him are no more. The magazines in which his works were published are also out of print, and little is known about his other works. It is now our responsibility to seek them out. A prize should be instituted in his name in the fields of language, literature and culture. We must not forget who he was, and we will be respecting his legacy by building a platform. The institutions he helped found – the Pokhara Chamber of Commerce, the Prithvi Narayan campus and the Rashtriya High School – still remain active, and his family continues to live in Pokhara. There are also several literary and cultural institutions in the city We must decide amongst ourselves how best to honour his legacy, because Prem Raj Mulmi is a figure Pokhara should never forget.“
Mountain High 
a great insight on the Mulmi family. a great read.
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