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Birth: 2 July 1929, Bara
Death: 17 December 2021, Kathmandu

Playwright Prachanda Malla, who recently passed away at the age of 92, was one of the pioneers of theater in Nepal, who dedicated his life to boosting the local theater scene.

Growing up in Barewa, Bara, Malla always had a little theater artist in him. He used to spend hours in front of the mirror repeating dialogues to later showcase before his friends and family. A part of him knew that this was his calling even if, at that time, there were not many viable ‘jobs’ in this sector.

The artist in him started to truly blossom when in 1952, the 23-year-old Malla found himself performing in front of the great dramatist Bal Krishna Sama. He got to play three characters in Sama’s ‘Amar Singh’. Sama inspired him to keep moving forward; perhaps that was the reason he held Sama’s handwritten notebooks close to his heart all his life.

The same year, under Sama’s influence, Malla’s journey as a playwright also began. His first play was a simplified version of Sama’s ‘Amar Singh’ for a yearly program for the Royal Nepal Army headquarters. Sama soon became his first audience and a father figure in the literary world.

Also read: Dr Rajesh Pradhanang obituary: A socially responsible homeopathic doctor 

His pen then started writing what have since become some of the greatest historical plays. In 1961, his play ‘Nitriyabhinaya’ was first published in Gorkhapatra, followed by other works in different newspapers and literary magazines. Recognizing his contribution to Nepali drama, in 1964 he was appointed drama and music specialist at the department of drama and music, Royal Nepal Academy.

His work took him to Moscow where he trained on scholarship at the State Institute of Theater, Moscow, in 1966. When he returned, he infused Nepali theater with new enthusiasm. He was soon promoted as chief drama and music manager in the academy’s department of drama and music.

His first book on the history of Nepali theater ‘Nepali Rangmanch’ was published in 1980. Some of his other well-known works are ‘Tilganga’ (a collection of historical short plays), ‘Tathanga’, ‘Balbhadra Kunwar', ‘Kantipur ko Rangmanch', ‘Bhatriprem’ and ‘Paschatap’. In 2010, Malla resigned from the academy and was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the Nepal Academy of Music and Drama.

In his life dedicated to acting, writing, and directing, Malla found his niche in direction, which he considered the most challenging among the three. So he directed over 300 plays in his lifetime for programs for the army, police, schools, colleges, and other organizations.

Malla had been suffering from respiratory problems when he passed away on 17 December 2021 at Civil Hospital, New Baneshwor. He is survived by his wife and a daughter.

Awards:

‘Indra Rajyalaxmi Pragya Puraskar’ (1991)
Aarohan Samman (1990) 
Sarwanaam Samman (1991)
Bal Krishna Sama Samman (2001)

Birth: 25 October 1967, Kathmandu 
Death: 12 December 2021, Lalitpur 

For Dr Rajesh Pradhanang, his father, Dr Krishna Bhakta Pradhanang, a homeopathic doctor, was a role model whose footsteps he wanted to follow on.

But this was not the only reason the son wanted to pursue homeopathy. Even though the homeopathic system of medicine had been used in Nepal for at least a century, it had not gained much traction due to the lack of physicians. So, Pradhanang took it as a challenge to establish homeopathy as a respectable profession in Nepal.

As soon as he completed his Intermediate of Science degree from Amrit Science College in 1987, Pradhanang went to India and joined a Diploma in Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery course at Pratap Chandra Memorial Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital.

In the same year, he returned to Nepal with a certificate and started a private clinic. This he did on October 29, the birthday of his teacher, Dr DJ Sutarwala. He also started a free homeopathic dispensary at Thai Kirti Monastery, Kirtipur. 

In 2005, Pradhanang established the Buddha Maitreya Soul Therapy Center in Thamel, which treats maladies with light and music. The treatment is a combination of spiritual and medical healing—the first of its kind in Nepal.

Also read: Dr. Subash Lohani obituary: A spiritual neurosurgeon 

He organized numerous free health and wellness camps in rural areas of Nepal to establish a positive perception about homeopathy and to help people benefit from medical and spiritual practices. Pradhanang was also keen to work in the field of child psychology. He thought children, the future of the nation, should be healthy if the country is to progress.

During the 2015 earthquake, he managed shelter and food for many affected people with the help of different Buddhist institutions and schools.

To spread awareness about the benefits of homeopathy, he also started to write health columns in newspapers, magazines, and run TV shows. Pradhanang’s work has appeared in over two dozen media outlets over the past two decades. Every few years, he used to get an invite from the International Council for Homeopathy to help organize its world conference and to prepare a homeopathic book.

Recognizing his contribution, Nepal Cancer Relief Society and Nepal Orthopedic Hospital had even awarded him.

A couple of weeks ago, Pradhanang and his wife tested positive for Covid-19. They had developed severe symptoms and were rushed to hospital. His wife got discharged after successfully defeating the virus a few days later, but he succumbed. The 54-year-old is survived by his wife, a daughter, and a son.

Birth: 1982, Jhapa
Death: 23 October 2021, Tokha

Dr Subash Lohani dedicated his life to learning about the human body, biologically and spiritually. As a surgeon, he saved people’s lives, and as a wanderer, explored human consciousness. 

Born in a remote village in Jhapa district, Lohani grew up traveling to different places with his father. Perhaps this is why he had a sensitive heart that was fascinated by everything he saw in the world around him. 

After studying biology at St Xavier’s College, he joined the Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, and finished his MBBS in 2007. In his time at the medical school, he met Dr Upendra Devkota, the man who pioneered neurosurgery in Nepal, and an inspired Lohani was determined to follow in his footsteps. 

His dedication took Lohani to world-renowned institutions such as Harvard and All India Institute of Medical Sciences. In 2010, he received a fellowship to train at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Children Hospital, and Harvard Medical School. Later, he was chosen a neurosurgery research fellow there. 

Also read: Ram Prasad Banjade obituary: The popular Maoist leader 

At AIIMS, he pursued his MS in general surgery, which he completed in 2016. He later completed his neurosurgery Mch (Magister of Chirurgiae) from Kathmandu University, and started working at the Upendra Devkota Memorial Neuro Hospital, Bansbari, Kathmandu first as a neurosurgery medical officer and later as neurosurgery registrar.

He was also a spiritual person who used to meditate and contemplate the universe and the human mind. His mind loved traveling, riding on cosmic waves of consciousness, as he used to say, questioning the physiological state of humanity's existence. He believed his life would be incomplete without his spiritual adventures. Humans are like bees in a beehive, Lohani used to wonder, and our consciousness is being traded like honey.

He described himself as a centrist who believed in the cyclical nature of the human mind and the ever-changing nature of social behavior. Lohani also had an immense love for nature. He loved studying trees, and he used to celebrate different occasions in his life by planting a tree. He also loved singing to the tunes of harmonium and the piano. 

A young man with so much light still left in his life, Lohani left this world too soon. Police say he had tested positive for Covid-19 only a week ago before he was found unconscious in his house. Later, investigators found he had overdosed on anaesthetics. He was only 39 when he passed away. He is survived by his wife and his little daughter. 

Birth: 2 March 1977, Arghakhanchi 
Death: 23 November 2021, Rupandehi

During the Maoist insurgency (1996-2006), almost every commander of the party was given a nom de guerre to hide their identity. Ram Prasad Banjade, a man who always wanted to fight autocracy, thus became Comrade Tankamani.

Comrade Tankamani was not overtly involved in the rebel army but rather became a part of its secret missions, many of which are yet to be revealed. Party leaders, even Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda), have talked fawningly about the secret missions led by Tankamani. Those who knew him described him as creative and brilliant.

On the political front, Comrade Tankamani worked as the central representative and the Rupandehi district in charge of CPN (Maoist Center). Previously, he was in the party’s politburo. He is also one of the founding secretaries-general of ANNISU (Revolutionary), the party’s student wing.

In his home town of Butwal, Tankamani was synonymous with ‘Maoists’. He was an ideology-driven character who believed in simple living. Apart from his party members and friends, he was loved by his political opponents and the people of Rupandehi due to his down-to-earth nature. Every day, he used to go to the house of financially weak folks asking if they needed any help. Rather than give them money, he used to provide them opportunities to train and to acquire skills so that they could land decent jobs.

Also read: Janak Lal Vaidya obituary: The first PhD in Nepal Bhasa kavya 

Even though he was one of the top contributors to the party, he had of late been excluded from the central committee, but that didn’t bother him. Rather, he started working tirelessly for the breakaway party’s expansion after the dissolution of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP).

A few months ago, Tankamani established an organization, Sahid Smriti Pratisthan, which was working on a project to build a garden and park in Rupandehi. 

On November 22, he attended a meeting of party members who were either injured or disabled during the Maoist insurgency, in Dang, to assure them that the party and the government would look after them. While returning to Butwal, his motorbike was hit by a bus.

He was rushed to the nearby hospital. He was pronounced dead on November 23. He is survived by a wife, a daughter, and a son.

ANNISU (R), Rupandehi district committee, has vowed to take up Tankamani’s park project, and install his statue there.