As a musician and poet, Durga Lal Shrestha stood tall. In the struggle against the Panchayat system, he gave Nepali literature and music some of the most powerful and moving verse and songs.
That same people’s poet passed away Sunday night at his residence in Budhanilkantha, at the age of 93. Though his ancestral home was in Thamel, he had in recent years been living at his son Suman’s residence in Budhanilkantha.
He had been ill for the past five years. Continuously engaged in literary creation for the past six decades, Shrestha wrote poetry, songs, and other literary forms both in Nepal Bhasa and in Nepali.
Two decades ago, the Nepal Bhasa Parishad honoured him with the title of “Janakavi” (people’s poet). More than a dozen of his works have been published in Nepal Bhasa.
He gave the world many timeless, moving, and internationally admired songs. His song “Jhe Masini” (“We Are Not Dead Yet”) is considered one of the most powerful songs of the Nepal Bhasa movement. Among his most popular songs is “Phoolko Aankhama, Phoolai Sansar“, composed by Nhyoo Bajracharya and sung by Ani Choying Dolma.
The song appears on the album Moments of Bliss, for which Shrestha wrote all the lyrics. This particular song has found admirers well beyond Nepali-speaking audiences. Its universal appeal, warmth, emotional depth, and spiritual sensibility are what make it so striking; its power lies chiefly in the profound life philosophy embedded within Durgalal’s simple words.
For Hari Bansha Acharya’s film 15 Gatey, Shrestha wrote a song, Sayathari Baja Eutai Taal, which tells about the diversity of Nepal.
Hari Bansha has also sung two of Durgalal’s Nepal Bhasa songs. Durgalal’s son Suman and Hari Bansha are also close friends and well-wishers of one another.
The two also collaborated on establishing Model Hospital in Bagbazar. Hari Bansha recalled knowing Durga Lal for 40 years and described him as someone with a genuinely poetic mind to be around.
The defining feature of Durga Lal Shrestha’s songs, poems, and other literary works is his ability to express deep philosophy and human emotion through simple language. His creative work can be understood through a few key characteristics.
Deep philosophy and human sensitivity
His songs and poems carry little weight of difficult vocabulary. He presents profound life philosophy in language easily understood by ordinary readers and listeners.
Love, compassion, coexistence, peace, hope, and a positive outlook form important foundations of his creative work. Many of his writings carry the idea that a person’s perspective on the world shapes their experience of it.
His work is not limited to love or beauty alone; his writing is also sensitive to social inequality, injustice, poverty, human suffering, and societal contradictions.
Since Shrestha was fundamentally a poet, his songs carry a strong poetic quality. The rhythm, feeling, symbolism, and imagery of his words connect naturally with music, which is why his songs feel like poetry when read and like music when heard.
He used flowers, thorns, the world, nature, and everyday objects as symbols carrying broad human meaning. Expressing deep philosophy through simple imagery was one of his most significant creative strengths.
