Haribhakta Katuwal was born in the Assamese hamlet of Bogibil in the Dibrugarh District of Indian State of Assam in year of 1935. Haribhakta Katuwal (HK) was the first kid born to his parents. Katuwa’s father was Bir Bahadur and Bishnu Maya was his mother.
HK completed his elementary education at Bogibil School and his senior education at George High School in Dibrugarh. He had to discontinue his studies during his graduating days due to financial issues in his family.
Haribhakta has been interested in literature, music, athletics, theatre, and painting since he was a youngster. He was multilingual, speaking Nepali, Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, English, and other languages.
He was unable to maintain a permanent work and was forced to leave one after the other. He was also sacked from his teaching position, according to reports. He started selling vegetables to make his basic ends meet. He lost a lot of money on this venture, so he decided to open a hotel. However, he was unable to manage this vocation well. He sold the hotel and went back to being unemployed.
HK used the pen name ‘Prabasi' when he first started writing poetry. People who lived in other countries were known as 'Prabasi,' which means'migrants.' King Mahendra was so delighted by his talent that he urged him to visit Nepal and continue his writing there. In 1967, Hong Kong accepted an invitation to visit Nepal. By that time, four of his works had already been published.
HK was hired as a magazine editor at the Royal Nepal Academy. However, he was fired from his position at Royal Nepal Academy for a various reasons. After a short tenure at 'Sajha Prakashan,' he went on to work for magazines such as 'Abhivyakti,' 'Rooprekha,' and others. HK was unable to remain in his previous position for an extended period of time. So, he got quite exhausted.
Some of the renowned books Haribhakta Katuwal wrote are :
- Samjhana(collection of songs)
- Bhatia Manchhe Bolna Khojchha
- Sudha (Short-epic)
- Purba Kiran (Collection of poems)
- Yo Zindagi Khai ke Zindagi (Collection of poems)
- Badanam Mera Yi Aankhaharoo (Collection of songs & poems)
- Aitihasik Kathasangraha ( Shared with other writers)
- Spastikaran
- Ma Mareko Chhaina (play).
He had also written essays, radio dramas, and children's stories in addition to these.
Haribhakta was an expert editor of newspapers and periodicals. Mukti, Himalaya, Pragya, Himani, Sangeet, Sarita, Banki, Abhivyakti, and Daali were among the literary journals he published.
In 1965, the Royal Nepal Academy awarded him the ‘Royal Nepal Academy Medal' and the ‘Letter of Honor' for his poetry “Aakashka Tara Ke Tara.” Similarly, for his poem "Yo Jindagi Khai Ke Jindagi," he was awarded a gold medal as the finest poet in the "Second Country-wide Poetry Festival" in 1967.
Finally, he returned back to Assam, his birthplace, nervous and depressed from Kathmandu with a broken heart. In the Indian state of Assam, such a great poet and lyricist died in 1980. With his death, Nepali language and literature lost a genius. He was the subject of a posthumous collection of memoirs.
