Here's my Thursday bit:

It is about time Nepali ppl talked about Nepal as a country, not a 'Hindu rajya' or 'Prithvi Narayan Shah' ko desh. It is terai-Baashi ko country as much as it is mine. Where I come from in Nepal is irrelevant. It is all about having a voice. And it is always good to have a voice, and be vocal. If daura suruval etc identifies a Nepali person, then more than half the male population do not fall within this definition.

It is about building a new Nepal. And of course we have our own learning curves, which is undeniably steep at this point. Most of us are just learning to voice our identities. We are learning to demand attention, demand to be heard. Sometimes it gets violent. Other extreme could be an all out civil war which Nepal is best to avoid after emerging from a 10+ yr Maoist war.

Up until when I was in school, the country belonged to the King. After the palace massacre, peopel got rude but long overdue awakening - without a king most of us were used to, and one king replaced by another and by another (Dipendra - Gyanendra) we learned that king was as human as we were. But he was enjoying at the top, while we gleefully sang his praise.

Now everything is happening in a very short time, without enough space in between to allow for the various events (and their social / political) consequences to sink in to our collective deemag. Therefore it is not unusual for some (actually much) confusion to arise out of it. And here we are, demanding to be dignified citizens of our country, as equals, and most importantly, as who we are.

Tallo bargako uprising, SETAMAGURALI uprising, terai uprising, ... It is all a process. If you closely study history of any free country, you will see this happening. In the US, it happened a long time ago (actually it is still happening), it is happening in Nepal now.

Long way to go, but surely we will be there. No apologies.

_ax