Half-Closed Eyes of Buddha and the Slowly Sinking Sun by Shankar Lamichhane Summary and Question Answer

 Half-Closed Eyes of Buddha and the Slowly Sinking Sun by Shankar Lamichhane Summary and Question Answer

Summary

This story written by the most famous Nepali short story writer Shankar Lamichhane was published in ‘Himalayan Voices: An Introduction to Nepali Literature in 1991. It is written in the stream of consciousness technique which is beyond the convention. Instead of having action and events, it describes the feelings of two main characters of the story: the tourist and tourist guide. Its setting is Kathmandu Valley that integrates the religious and cultural value with its natural beauty.

There are two narrators in the story i.e. a tourist and a tourist guide. The tourist seems to be fond of the natural beauty of Nepal. She admires its religious tolerance and cultural integration. She adores the generosity of the Easterner that many things have been given to the west.  However, it is ironical that she says being a foreigner she is the expert at the history of Nepal and can even teach Nepalese guide about it. The half-closed eyes of the Buddha refers to peaceful environment and its reflection in the setting sun symbolizes natural beauty of Nepal that the tourist wants to admire.

On the other hand, the guide wants to show the sorrow among the beautiful land and the instances of poverty among the rich culture. This is also an attack to the bookish wits who think themselves an expert without actually experiencing the reality. He may also want to tell the tourist that is an opportunity to the Westerners to bring the smiles back to these sufferers and make the East more prosperous in every aspect.

The story expresses the feelings of a Western tourist visiting The Kathmandu Valley and a Nepal tourist guide. It begins with the Western tourist describing the panorama of the green valley. She likes the scent of the mountain and the peaceful atmosphere here as she grew up among the plains and the sea. She feels welcome by the half-closed eyes of the Buddha.

The tourist says The Easterners have given them the religion and the Puranas, images of brass and ornaments of ivory, manuscripts of palm leaves and inscriptions on copperplate as well as a civilization and its wisdom. She has read many books about Nepal and can teach its history even to the guide.

She says it has the cultural and religious diversity and the Nepali soil has enabled them to flourish together. She also talks about different kinds of food like momo. She remembers an old woman telling the story of Birkuti to her grandson while smoking hookah. 

She adores the smiling faces of Nepalese people to welcome them. She compares it with the time after her successful labour and being with her father, and many more. Finally she talks about the magical eyes and expresses her desire to see the pleasant light of sunset reflected in the eyes of the buddha, unforgettable eyes.

The second part of the story deals with the feeling of the guide. She begins with the history of Chobhar hill, the cleft made by Manjushri with the sword to outflow the water. He talks about Adinath to give living example of Nepalese tolerance and coexistence.

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Then he takes the tourist to a house where she can find the pulse of reality. He wanted to show her one of his maker’s strangest forms of creation. It is a child whose body is completely paralyzed by polio. He can’t do any physical activities. He compares the gaze of the child with samyak gaze. He explains it as the capacity found only in an Easterner: the capacity for remaining speechless, inactive, powerless and immobile and yet to survive without complain.

The guide lies to the child’s parents and tells them she is a doctor. So they think her as their eldest child coming for the remedy of the brother. They become delighted. There is intimacy, kindliness and gratitude in their eyes. He also shows the child’s sister whose body functions properly. She can do different activities as per her age. They can see the gleamed light in the child’s eyes when his mother scolds his sister. He surely wants to say it is fun to do mischievous activities that he can’t. They learn with the experience.  The guide concludes that the eyes that the tourist see welcome her and they hide the end of life. They are just as beautiful as the setting sun’s reflection in the eyes of the Buddha. 

Understanding the Text

Answer the following questions.

1. How does the tourist describe his initial impression of the Kathmandu valley? 

Ans: According to the tourist, the scene of the Kathmandu Valley is panoramic. It is green valley with geometric fields, its earthen houses of red, yellow and white has added a beauty. The scent of soil and mountains is in the air and there is an age-old peacefulness in the atmosphere.

2. According to the tourist, why is the West indebted to the East? 

Ans: According to the tourist, The West is indebted to the East as the East has given the West the Puranas, images of brass and ornaments of ivory, manuscripts of palm leaves, inscriptions on copperplate, humanity and civilization.

3. How does the tourist interpret the gaze of the monks and nuns?

Ans: The tourist interprets the gaze of the monks and nuns as the samyak gaze that openly invisible. The samyak gaze is perception, pure and without contamination; a sight that perceives everything in its true form.

4. Why do the tourists think Nepali people are wonderful and exceptional? 

Ans: As the Nepali people are, so does the tourist find. He thinks that they live in a house like a temple, but they are unaware of its beauty and its enchantment. The houses look so normal from outside but they have multifarious ornamentations and styles, carved with wooden images, with the flowing music of a chisel.

5. What are the different kinds of communities in the Kathmandu valley and how do they co-exist with each other? 

Ans: The Kathmandu valley comprise of innumerable communities with different cultures. Aryans, non-Aryans, Hindus, Buddhists all came and obtained a rebirth there. Social and cultural harmony co-exist there. The story writer thinks, it is because of the effect of the soil that enabled all these races to flourish there.

6. What does the tourist feel about the temple of Adinath? 

Ans: Adinath is another name of Lord Shiva. In the courtyard, there is a shrine of Shiva, many images of Lord Buddha, and many prayers wheels on which ’Om Mani Padme Hum’ is inscribed. The tourist feels it as a living example of Nepalese tolerance and coexistence. Children play happily there. They are unconcerned by the variety of their gods, religions and philosophies.

7. Why does the guide take the tourist to the remote village? 

Ans: The guide wants to show the rural life of the people living in the village. He takes the tourist to the remote village to meet a completely paralyzed child of a poor family to show him the pulse of reality. 

8. What does the innocent village couple think of the doctor?

Ans: The guide lies the poor couple the tourist being a doctor. The poor show him their respect and think him of their eldest son who has brought a remedy to the child’s life from the seven seas for his brother.

9. What are the differences between the paralyzed child and his sister? 

Ans: The child is immovable and motionless except his eyes. He neither can move, crawl nor play. But his siter is full of physical motion. Her whole body functions properly. She can speak, crawl and play. 

10. Why does the guide show the instances of poverty to the tourist? 

Ans: As Nepalese people are religiously, culturally diversified, their way of living and thinking is also different. Although they different, they show their tolerance and respect co-existence of each other. The guide, in my opinion, shows the instances of poverty to the tourist that living within a diversity is the true meaning of living. He wants to show the dark aspect of the country’s diversity. 

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Reference to the Text

1. Which narrative technique is used by the author to tell the story? How is this story different from other stories you have read?

Ans: The story writer has used the stream of conscious techniques to write the story. It is a narrative technique that shows the mental flow of actions and events but actually no actions and events are presented in the story. This story is different from other types of stories because of the presentation of the events and dialogues. But in this type of stories the readers can only see the monologues of the characters. The story is different from conventional stories. In this story the two characters only think but they lack actions. We find presentation of natural flow of the characters in a monologue. 

2. How is the author able to integrate two fragments of the narration into a unified whole? 

Ans: The story “half Closed Eyes of Buddha and the Slowly Sinking Sun” shows the differences between the way of people’s feelings, life of the East and the West. The writer shows the diversity and, in the midst of diversity, there is tolerance and coexistence among the people. The writer tries to integrate two fragments, the East and the West, into a unified form by connecting with the instances of the eyes and associating them with two different worlds. The writer shows the activities of the people they perform for their livelihood and how they suffer most from traditional thoughts and behaviours. By connecting the thoughts of the East and West, the story writer forwards a message that one should visualize things deeply through their deeper eyes and understand the real meaning of the situation. 

3. The author brings some historical and legendary references in the story. Collect these references and show their significance in the story.

Ans:  The author brings some historical and legendary references in the story. They are as follows. 

- The reference of Manjushri and his strike at Chobhar with his mighty sword to flow the water out of the Kathmandu Valley shows his contribution in helping people of that time to habitat them.

 - The reference of Puranas, images of brass and ornaments of ivory, manuscripts of palm leaves, inscriptions on copperplate signifies the richness of cultures, traditions, religions and arts and crafts of the past.

- The reference of the eyes of shaven headed monks and nuns indicates the Samyak gaze which means the perception, pure and without contamination; sight that perceives everything in its true form.

- Similarly, the reference of the Princess Bhrikuti and King Anshuvarma reflects the historical connection among the neighbouring countries. 

- The temple of Adinath reflects the living example of Nepalese tolerance and coexistence.

- The reflection of the sunset light in the eyes of Lord Buddha signifies Nepal as the land of peace and beauty. 

d. The author talks about the eyes in many places: the eyes of the shaven monks and nuns, eyes in the window and door panels, the eyes of the Himalayas, the eyes of the paralyzed boy, the eyes of the welcoming villagers and above all the half-closed eyes of the Buddha. Explain how all the instances of eyes contribute to the overall unity of the story.

Ans: In this story, the author talks about different eyes in many places like the eyes of shaven monks and nuns, the eyes of carved lattice windows, the eyes painted on the door panels, the eyes on the stupas, the eyes of the people, the eyes of the Himalayas, the eyes of the paralyzed child, the eyes of the welcoming villagers and the eyes of Lord Buddha in the statue. The mentioning of the eyes indicate that it is a land of eyes, mainly the land guarded by the eyes of Lord Buddha that metaphorically indicates the land of peace and beauty. In the eyes of Lord Buddha, one can find equality, and Samyak gaze that means purity. As the pure and beautiful eyes of Lord Buddha indicate purity and equality, the Nepalese people are bias less to any culture and tradition, religious faith and castes. 

About the Author:

Tanka Bhattarai is a Second class Secondary Level English teacher currently teaching at Shahid Smriti Secondary School, Dharan, Sunsari. He is also an MToT of Education Training Centre, Koshi Province.