Games of Thrones
Nepali Times ईspecial 13 October 2024
Hi there,
Sorry to wake you up from your Dasain slumber, but here I am with the weekly newsletter. Despite the fact that 15% of Nepal’s population is now living abroad, the Dasain Diaspora was marked by virtual tika and group videochats. I don’t know about the End of History, but this must signify the End of the Geography.
And those of you who were just getting into serious fun and games and were not looking forward to getting back to work, wait, there is Chhat and Tihar around the corner, with more holidays. Yay!
And all of next week, the political parties will be hosting tea parties. What this entails is that the doddering headmen who have led this country for the past 30 years will all sit on sofas on stage while their subjects line up to pay their respects and respectfully sip tea and munch samosas.
There is no doubt what everyone will be talking about: King G’s Dasain Dash to Bhutan last week. The Seven Party Alliance + Maoists (SPAM) engineered the end of the monarchy in 2008 with some help from the Congress-Left government in New Delhi. The Triumvirate is now spooked by the ghost of monarchy, and its possible resurrection.
A lot of sewage has flowed down the Bagmati since then, most importantly there has been regime change in Delhi, and the saffron brigade there is not averse to Nepal reincarnating as the world’s only Hindu monarchy.
King G received a crimson carpet welcome from arrival to departure at Paro last week. Nepal's Erstwhile Majesty met Bhutan's Meanwhile Majesty and we would have loved to be the fly on the wall at the Lingkana Palace, but are sure that the expulsion of 100,000 Lhotsampa did not come up.
Kingji also met his old classmate from St Joseph’s Darjeeling His Majesty King Jigme the Fourth (he of the four wives) and they could have shared notes about the experience of being ex-kings — one by vote of the Constituent Assembly and the other by voluntary abdication.
The timing of the visit of Nepal’s former king to a neighbouring kingdom has set tongues wagging at the queue to receive tika from ex-kingji at Maharajganj on Saturday (the line was much longer than at the Presidential Palace at nearby Shitall Niwas).
The Bhutan visit was significant because it comes at a time when rumours are rife that Gyanendra has come around to the belief that the only way to restore Nepal’s monarchy is to relinquish his claim to the throne, and skip one generation to get Paras Shah’s son, Hridayendra, to wear the Bird of Paradise Crown. Maybe there will be some help from the beleaguered Comrade Awesome whose Maoist party is a shadow of its former self.
Monarchists feel the time is ripe to take advantage of public disillusionment with SPAM to go back to the Baby King Formula 16 years after it was first mooted by Prime Minister G P Koirala, had adherents in New Delhi’s ‘twin-pillar strategy’, but was rejected by Gyanendra. If G Shah had accepted it then, Nepal may still be a monarchy. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.
Nepali Times skips another print edition on 18 October because the printers are taking a break, so the next hardcopy will land on your doorsteps on 25 October before Tihar.
In the meantime, the newsroom is not taking a break and has been posting fresh content on www.nepalitimes.com. Central Nepal is still reeling from the aftermath of the catastrophic floods of 27-28 September, and we bring you a highway map of Nepal with the routes that are still blocked or damaged (the BP Highway has been partially opened since that story came out).
Our reporters Shamshad Ahmad, Archana Darji and Dhanu Bishwakarma and photographers Gopen Rai and Suman Nepali bring on-the-ground reportage and videos from the worst-hit areas of the Rosi River basin, Lele Valley and Dhading. The reports show that official relief and response is still patchy with most of the rehabilitation work being left to local officials and private volunteers. For the most part, survivors are left to their own devices.
Until next week, enjoy the Balkhu, Baluwatar and Khumaltar Tea Parties where on display will be Nepal’s political status quo and sine qua non, not to mention the quid pro quo.
Kunda Dixit