At eighty-one, he feels strongly about the past. It shows in the way he talks passionately about his life, his involvement in the political movement that overthrew Rana rule, and its outcome. His interest in writing was inspired by the adverse political conditions of the country. Diamond Shumshere Rana’s Basanti, which covers the period during the Rana regime, is among the first serious novels published in Nepal.

He talks with pride as he reminisces about Basanti. His face glows, his eyes sparkle, and his enthusiasm is overwhelming. He knows no other source that has given him as much satisfaction in his entire writing career. This is because Diamond Shumshere is not only a writer at heart, he is a promoter of freedom who fought to gain Nepal’s independence from oppressive rule. The main reason why he wrote Basanti was to displease the Ranas. It was an allusion to a rulership that was hindering the development of Nepal.

What is so intriguing about Diamond Shumshere’s life is his background: he was born to a privileged Rana family. His grandfather was Sher Shumshere Jung Bahadur Rana, a governor of Palpa, a hill resort in Nepal. His father Buddha Shumshere Jung Bahadur Rana was a colonel in the Royal Nepal Army.

He says: “In 1914, during the first great war, my grandfather went to India to assist the British. He stayed there for six years and learned the English language. When he returned to Nepal, which was towards the end of the First World War, he took up a position as governor of Palpa again and, during that time, I was born. My grandfather was taken up by the English language and thus named me Diamond Shumshere Jung Bahadur Rana. My parents wondered what ‘diamond’ meant, and when my grandfather explained it was a hira, they became very pleased. Afterwards, my grandfather was stationed in Kathmandu and we lived in Thapathali for five years. Then, at the age of five, we moved to Kupondol where I have lived all the past years. While living in Kupondol, I attended Patan School. When I was ten years old, my father became the governor of Birgunj where there were no schools so I had a private tutor. He was a Bengali from Calcutta and taught me English literature. Back then, people used to say that he was the first Indian professor to be in Nepal. We studied Shakespeare most of all.

“Around the time I had to give my School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examinations, I was commissioned as a captain in the Royal Nepal Army and my grandfather received the governorship of Hanuman Nagar. So I spent five years there. When I came back to Kathmandu to sit for my SLC exams, the Second World War broke out. I also found that the subject I had studied was not accepted for the SLC exams. They did not cover the subject. Because of the war, I could not visit India as an army officer and this limited my chances of giving my SLC exams there. My family sent me to Mau Military School, an institution in India for military training. Other than this, I have received no formal education.”

By the time Diamond Shumshere returned to Nepal, the political situation in the country had reached a critical point. A movement was growing in opposition to the Ranas. The people, along with the Nepali Congress Party, were working for a democratic rulership for the Himalayan kingdom. His Majesty King Tribhuwan Bir Bikram Shah Dev, in protest against the government, had left the country for India and the Ranas officially announced that His Royal Highness Prince Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah, who was an infant, was the King of Nepal.

Slowly, Diamond Shumshere joined hands with another faction in the Rana rulership system. This group opposed the government. They believed that His Majesty King Tribhuwan Bir Bikram Shah Dev was the rightful ruler and should return to Nepal. Diamond Shumshere was requested to lead a rally to support this cause. He wanted to resign from the army in order to participate in the rally. Before he could join the rally, he was arrested and taken to Singha Durbar and court-martialled. He was given a death sentence, either to be shot r hung.

“Before this incident, I had 2,200 copies of Basanti published. I had to do everything on my own because the Ranas had strictly prohibited the publication of books which did not come under their jurisdiction. I knew that asking for support from others would mean jeopardizing their safety and publishers in Nepal could not risk their business for me. So I went to India alone and got Basanti printed. I returned to Nepal and tried to sell the book but, at that time, no one was interested in literature. Despite its cheap price, Rs. 2 per book, no one would buy it. In Darjeeling, however, I managed to sell 300 copies at 50 paisa per copy. Anyhow, I gave the books away to anyone who came by. Even then, they would not look at it. I think it took 20 to 25 years to distribute Basanti.

“I also published a satirical article in Sharada magazine in which I explained that an autocratic rulership is run by men like Hitler. I wanted to prove to the Ranas that they belonged to Hitler’s category.

“The writer, Bhi Gendra Shumshere, also had to abide by the publishing rules and regulations of the Ranas. When he published his work, he spelt his name backwards. Arjun Shumshere, who wrote Birakat Hirdaya, “Saddened Heart”, did not publish his book under his real name. I think I was the only writer at that time that published work in my own name. Because I had resolved to give up my family attachments and cared the least about my bodily welfare. Whatever career prospects I had in the army would not materialize. I had forsaken my own society in the belief that I was following the truth.”

Diamond Shumshere will always remember the time he was imprisoned. He knew from the beginning of his revolt against the Ranarchy that he was creating his own death trap. Today, he is glad that he remained firmly resolved. “I did not expect anyone to help me out of this situation. Martyrs like Shukraraj Shastri, Dharma Bhakta, and Ganga Lal were hung or shot and nobody protested. To think that someone would speak out for me was foolish. I calmly accepted my fate to die within 15 days, one month or six months.

“In life, however, circumstances are created which are most unpredictable. I say this now because I have experienced it. On the same night of my arrest, a revolt took place in Kathmandu. People were rioting and bullets were flying in every direction. The noise was deafening. I was inside my cell overcome by emotion. All this time, I had fought for this moment to occur; I felt elevated beyond words. I believed that my literary and political efforts had not gone in vain.

“The whole situation reached a climax when I found out that 45 generals along with their army supporters had come to the durbar and were demanding my release. They concluded that if I wasn’t freed, they would resign from the Royal Nepal Army. Then I realized that, besides me, there were many others who also wanted a democratic Nepal, who wanted the leadership of His Majesty King Tribhuwan Bir Bikram Shah Dev. These people were related to me, they were my shalas, jethans, jyais, and sasuras. The then ruling Ranas were left with no choice. If the 45 generals resigned with their people, there would be no army to support the Rana government. In the end, I believe, three factors brought about the fall of the Rana regime: they were the absence of the rightful monarchy, political pressure from India, and most importantly, the possible resignation of 45 Rana Generals from the Royal Nepal Army.

“I think that, without my imprisonment, events would probably not have reached this final stage. I am not claiming full responsibility for what happened, but I do think that without my arrest no one would have been under pressure to make such a decision. After a long struggle for freedom, democracy was declared in Nepal or I wouldn’t be talking like this right now.

“Afterwards, the Ranas and Nepali Congress together established a new government. My career in the Royal Nepal Army was finished. Mohan Shumshere Rana was prime minister then and the leader of the army. He did not wish to take me back because of my participation in their government’s overthrow and my support of the Rakshyadal Army, which belonged to the Congress. I was jobless, thinking about what to do, when another political crisis arose. The two armies were going to fight each other. I was summoned to the Narayanhiti Palace and informed about the event. The then government said to me, ‘Try to settle the dispute in whatever way you think is best,’ and I replied, ‘I can solve the problem if I am in full command of the situation.’ I asked for a vehicle, two to three soldiers, and seven hundred thousand rupees. With these three things, I called both armies together. I told them I had been legally provided with the authority to negotiate between the two parties.

“I said to them, ‘The Rana rulership is over. No matter how much we fight for it, that period will never come back. We have fully embraced democracy and we are now constitutionally a democratic country.’ During the Rana regime, 12,000 soldiers were in the Royal Nepal Army. Their selection took place through a system of hereditary army officers. For example, a general’s son would automatically be promoted to a captain, his other son a lieutenant; whether they were disabled or unfit, it didn’t really matter. I wanted to change all this. I wanted a democratic army where officers were selected and promoted on the basis of their qualifications.

“In the process of building a capable army, the number of 12,000 soldiers was reduced to 7,000. Many of the officers who had to leave the army were related to me. I couldn’t think about their welfare, their families, if I was to uphold democratic values. I told them that whatever step I was taking right then was in the best interests of the nation and its future citizens. Afterwards, I resigned from the Royal Nepal Army because I knew I would not be able to bear the plight of my relatives while I was being promoted. With my own eyes, I saw many of them barely making ends meet. They couldn’t get employment elsewhere because in those days jobs were scarce, not like now. Despite His Majesty King Tribhuwan Bir Bikram Shah Dev’s request that I carry on with my army career, I stuck to my decision and retired in 1954.

A new phase entered Diamond Shumshere’s life. He became the president of the Lalitpur District Committee and held the position for thirty years. (He was re-elected three times.) He led an active political life as a member of the Nepali Congress Party from 1954 to 1987 and as a member of the Patan Development Board from 1968 to 1970.

He went to jail nine times during the movement for a multiparty system. The last time was from 1960 to 1966 when he spent six years in prison for holding free elections in the Nepali Congress Party. During his imprisonment, he wrote Seto Bagh, a historical novel about the Rana era. He has written the book drawing on his family’s experiences–what his grandfather, grandmother, father, or mother used to tell him.

“There were two hundred of us in prison. Most of us would write. The former prime ministers Girija Prasad Koirala and Man Mohan Adhikari and Tarangi Prasad Koirala–political leaders–were in jail too. By the time I was released from jail, word had spread among the literary circle that Diamond Shumshere had written a great book. Before I could think about what I wanted to do with it, Sajha Publishers approached me and told me that they would be very interested in printing Seto Bagh. They insisted on it despite my refusal. 200 copies of Seto Bagh were published in 1970.

“A press regulation existed during this period. Once a book was printed, it had to be approved by the magistrate and then only distributed for sale. But this rule was impractical because the magistrate’s office did not have enough space to keep all the printed copies of a book. So they made their own rules. They would sign and stamp the approval form without looking at the new book. In my case, the magistrate wanted to see and read the book because of its publicity. He sent someone to get a copy from the press. Unfortunately, everything had sold out. Seto Bagh had aroused the curiosity of the public before it was even published! Copies were being sold for Rs. 60 to 70 in the black market. The actual rate of the book was Rs. 15 only.

“After one or two days, I visited Sajha. To my astonishment, I saw people with injured heads and broken arms. They said, ‘Hajur, please don’t write a book like this again. Look, my head is injured.’ Another said, ‘My hand is broken.’ I found out that after the magistrate received news that the book was not available in Sajha, he ordered his men to bring a copy by whatever means possible.”

Diamond Shumshere’s other novels are Satprayash, Pratibaddha, Anita, and Dhan Ko Dharha. In 1994, he received the Bharati Kharel Award for his literary efforts. His most glorious moment, however, was leading the Nepali Delegation at the PEN International Writers’ Conference to Portugal after the popular movement that restored democracy to Nepal in 1990. He concludes: “I was part of the protest demonstration of writers during this period. In a way, I was reliving my experience with the Rana regime and I felt I had found myself again."