Ganesh Lal Shrestha ( ne, गणेशलाल श्रेष्ठ) (July 1911 – 24 July 1985) was a Nepalese poet, musician and social worker. He wrote in Nepali,

Nepal Bhasa Newar (), or Newari and known officially in Nepal as Nepal Bhasa, is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Newar people, the indigenous inhabitants of Nepal Mandala, which consists of the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding regions in Nepa ...

and

Tamang The Tamang (; Devanagari: तामाङ; ''tāmāṅ'') are an Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group of Nepal. In Nepal Tamang/Moormi people constitute 5.6% of the Nepalese population at over 1.3 million in 2001, increasing to 1,539,830 as of the 2011 ...

languages. His songs denounced the social inequalities and autocratic political system of the day.

Trader and writer

Ganesh Lal was born in

Bhimphedi Bhimphedi ( ne, भीमफेदी), is a village located in the Bhimphedi Rural Municipality of Makwanpur District of Bagmati Province of Nepal. This village is known for its bazaar (marketplace). Bismuth ore is mined here. Etymology The wo ...

Makwanpur District Makwanpur District( ne, मकवानपुर जिल्ला; , a part of Bagmati Province, earlier a part of Narayani Zone, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Hetauda as its district headquarter, as well ...

to father Madhav Lal and mother Chandra Kumari Shrestha. His first wife Chandra Maya died in 1948, and he was married a second time in 1956 to Narayan Devi. Bhimphedi, located 35 km to the southwest of the Nepalese capital

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

, is a market town on the old trade route linking

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

. Ganesh Lal's family owned a store shop which sold general merchandise and cloth. Ganesh Lal looked after the shop and spent his free time composing songs. During festivals, he took part in stage performances and music recitals. Bhimphedi began to wither after the district headquarters was shifted to

Hetauda Hetauda ( ne, हेटौडा, ) is a sub-metropolitan city in the Makwanpur District of Bagmati Province in central Nepal. It is the administrative headquarters of the Makwanpur District and the capital of Bagmati Province as declared by m ...

. Subsequently, Ganesh Lal moved there and opened a cloth shop. He died in Hetauda. In 1999, a statue of Ganesh Lal was erected on the premises of Nepal Bhasa Khala in Hetauda.

Publications

* ''Mera Dui Pushpānjali'' ("My Two Offerings of Flowers") (1943), a collection of songs in Nepali. * ''Niphwa Swān'' ("Two Flowers") (1956), a collection of songs in Nepal Bhasa. * ''Lokanhwāgu Mye Munā'' ("A Collection of Popular Songs") (1999), a collection of songs in Nepal Bhasa.

Lyrics

A verse from one of his most famous Nepal Bhasa songs appears below. :धिक्कार जनम मिसायागु करम :मां बौ ख्वयेका: त्व:ता वनेगु :कतपिंथाय वयानं भ्वातिं जू थें जुयानं :जाय ख्वबि हायेका च्वनेगु :A curse to be born, the fate of woman :To leave one's parents weeping :To come to another's place and be like a maidservant :Even then to let tears fall on one's rice.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shrestha, Ganesh Lal 1911 births 1985 deaths People from Makwanpur District Newar-language writers Nepalese male poets Nepalese songwriters Newar-language singers 20th-century poets 20th-century Nepalese male singers Newar-language poets from Nepal Tamang-language poets from Nepal