By Shant Shrestha
People’s Review columnist and veteran academician Narayan Prasad Mishra has recently published a new book, Nepal: Between Beauty and Struggle. The book has been brought to the market by Adroit Publishers, a prominent publishing house based in India.
The book is a curated collection of 76 deeply personal and reflective essays selected from more than 250 articles originally published in People’s Review, as well as ECS Magazine, Republica, and The Rising Nepal.
Drawing on eight decades of lived experience as a citizen, educator, and pioneer of Nepal’s library movement, Mishra presents a candid portrait of the nation. Beyond the familiar postcard images of towering mountains and sacred temples, the book offers an honest critique of Nepal’s social problems, cultural heritage, political decline, pervasive corruption, and institutional shortcomings.
“This book is not the work of a historian or politician, but of a witness to Nepal’s journey through time—someone who has seen the country rise with hope and fall into despair,” Mishra writes in the preface.
Through these essays, he attempts to portray Nepal as it truly is—not merely through its breathtaking landscapes, but also through the moral and social complexities that define the nation.
The publication was made possible through the collaboration of Madhab Maharjan of Mandala Book Point in Kathmandu and Akhil Sharma of Adroit Publishers. The book features a thought-provoking foreword by Robert Palmer, preliminary formatting by the author’s granddaughter Asha Adhikari, and visual contributions from Betty Woodsend, who provided many of the photographs used throughout the book.
Born in Bhaktapur in 1944, Narayan Prasad Mishra is a pioneer of modern library science in Nepal. He was the first Nepali to earn a master’s degree in library science from India. His late wife, Shanti Mishra, was the first Nepali to obtain a master’s degree in library science from the United States. Together, they dedicated decades to modernising Nepal’s academic and library infrastructure.
Shanti Mishra served as the first Chief Librarian of the Tribhuvan University Central Library and was also a renowned author. Narayan Mishra later served as the Prashasak (Chief Administrative Officer) of Tribhuvan University before opting for early retirement because of the increasing politicisation of public institutions.
He currently resides in Indianapolis, USA, with his daughter and continues to write prolifically on Nepali society, governance, and culture.
Nepal: Between Beauty and Struggle is currently available at major bookshops across India and Nepal, including Mandala Book Point in Kantipath, Kathmandu, and online through Amazon India. Worldwide distribution through Amazon is expected to begin shortly.
Interested readers can find the book at the following link:
https://www.amazon.in/Between-Beauty-Struggle-Narayan-Prasad/dp/9348292838
https://www.amazon.in/Between-Beauty-Struggle-Narayan-Prasad/dp/9348292838?dplnkId=4dda6e32-d543-4a9e-8bd2-baa1235161df&nodl=1
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