By Aashish Mishra
Lalitpur, Mar. 20: How do you capture the 102 years of life as multidimensional and multifaceted as Satya Mohan Joshi’s in a few thousand hours? How do you convey the emotions, reflect the emotions and introduce people to a personality who has been in the public eye for more than half a century? The way journalist and writer Girish Giri did in his latest book ‘Satyamohan’ launched here on Friday.

The 380-page biography of the centenarian succeeds in capturing the essence of “the man greater than a man,” as Dr. Jyoti Tuladhar, expert on gender issues and social development, said at the launching at Patan Museum.

Dr. Satya Mohan Joshi, who has travelled to different places inside and outside the country, observed crucial moments in Nepal’s history and has directly been involved in many historic endeavours in his lifetime, complimented author Giri for the book which he said helped him partially realise his lifelong ambition of “understanding the me within me.”

Giri greatly loves and admires Joshi and that shines through in this work. His past relationship with the scholar has helped him bring out details that someone else may not have been able to and add life to the details we already knew. Biographies are often unfeeling external looks at the lives of extraordinary individuals but with ‘Satyamohan,’ Giri has delivered an immersive heartfelt ode to the icon who, among his many achievements, is also the only person in history to win the prestigious Madan Puraskar three times.

To borrow Dr. Tuladhar’s words once again, “the book is written by a third person wearing the cloak of a first person.
These words take on a whole new meaning when we find out that the book was prepared in less than six months. Bhupendra Khadka, chairman of Book Hill Publication, which published the book, shared on the occasion that he was honoured to have had the opportunity to publish the life story of a man who has experienced Rana, corona and everything in between.

Singer Amrit Gurung also expressed his reverence for Joshi and stated that his work in the documentation and preservation of folk culture served both as an inspiration and guidance for future generations.

Dil Bhusan Pathak, editor-in-chief of Kantipur Television, moderated the ceremony and shared anecdotes and titbits from the book.