Girija Babu’s odyssey

He played out poetry in history without being close to the Muse.

The birth centenary of former prime minister and Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala alias Girija Babu (1924-2010) was marked on July 4, 2024. The centenary occasion evoked my memories and impressions about him. Though I never met him, I saw him at the momentous moments of history. This is a short visceral piece written mainly to mark Girija Babu's birth centenary. Since I am not a political scientist or knew him closely, I have not made attempts to analyse Girija Babu's politics and his sense of victory and loss in his life. His party has made some attempts towards that. I also edited a short text of an obituary sent to me shortly after his death by Sujata Koirala, whom I have met once.