Girish Giri’s debut book, Birgunj: Mero Sahar Ko Katha, was launched at an event organised at the Nepal Academy, Kamaladi, on Friday.

The book was unveiled by the author’s mother, whom he credited with instilling in him a deep-seated attachment with Birgunj, his home city. The unveiling was followed by a conversation between Giri and Surendra Chaudhary, a long-serving Nepali Congress leader from Parsa, which was facilitated by senior journalist and editor Narayan Wagle.

Giri, who himself is a journalist, began his career as a local stringer in Birgunj, before working in several media houses in Kathmandu. Speaking about the conception of the book, Giri said, “I was in Birgunj reporting about the recent Tarai unrest and the unofficial blockade. At the time, I was startled by the vitriol being directed at Birgunj, most of which had been misconstrued.”

It was in this backdrop that Giri began penning in earnest a memoir about the city he grew up in. “The book doesn’t have any agendas, nor does it take a polarising stance on the current events. What it does instead is try to demystify the city for people all over Nepal,” he added. The book recants Birgunj’s history, demographics and current situation through the eyes of ordinary citizens, who according to the author are “merely trying to get by themselves”.

The book has been published by nepa~laya and will be hitting stores nationwide starting on March 12.