Deconstructing the “Ideology of ability”: Jhamak Ghimire’s A Flower in the Midst of Thorns

Abstract

Jhamak Ghimire is a Nepali writer having got birth in 1980, in the eastern suburb of Nepal, Dhankuta. She was born with the severe disability i.e. cerebral palsy which has robbed her of her motor controls of her arms, slurred her speech and limited her movement. She writes with her foot. She has published eight volumes of poetry, stories and essays and is a regular columnist in Kantipur newspaper. She has won many awards for her writings in literature. She has won Madan Puraskar, Nepal’s most prestigious literary prize in 2011, for her autobiographical novel Jeevan Kanda Ki Phool which is translated by Nagendra Sharma and Safal Sharma, in English as, A Flower in the Midst of Thorns. The article attempts to explore the challenges which Ghimire has to confront for deconstructing the “ideology of ability” through her novel. So, this article selects some excerpts from the book to show her subordination at multiple levels.