THINKING WITH THE SLEEPLESS MOUNTAIN: HUMAN-MOUNTAIN RELATIONSHIP IN PARIJAT'S PAHÃDSÃGAI.

In its intention to explore how the mountain-human relationship has been reflected in the literatures from the Himalayan region, this article examines Parijat's Anido Pahads&gai (With the Sleepless Mountain) [ 1997 (1982)] to comprehend what the category "Himalayan" could mean besides its conventional objectified understanding as a background, or a field. It does so by using the concepts of Himalaya as "an affective signifier" (Sarkar 2023: 215) and Himalaya "from within" (Sarkar 2022: 20). The exploration also analyzes the need for a new epistemological framework to evolve from within, as urged by the concepts above, to appreciate literatures of/from the mountain, here Himalaya, so that the epistemic possibilities ofthe mountain could come to the fore. The emergence of the epistemic possibilities of Himalaya would contribute to the object-oriented turn in literary studies which can open up understandings in different modes of being. Hence the article, instead of reflecting on Parijat's immense contribution to Nepali literature, ponders on how far, as a writer from the Himalayan region, mountain consciousness gets reflected in her depiction of the humanmountain relationship which will be analyzed through the three women characters in the novel-Gorimaya, Chandrakanta and Suwani-characters who come from the hills of western and eastern Nepal to the Kathmandu Valley. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]