finally, a time of insanity ends. no more rides to bessie, no more chandu and no more anna's...its been a bloody long year, and at the end of it all, there was a collective sense of relief. probably, that stemmed from the fact that april was the cruellest month-empty corridors and labs, a few of us who worshipped the airconditioning, and chennai was getting unbearable by the day.
anyway, i am back in nepal for a few days before joining work. there is a new buzz that definitely can be felt around here - it is the buzz of a new government. however, when i look at nepal from the eyes of an outsider, there hasnt been much that has changed. rather, the roads have deteriorated, the electricity supply is short, kathmandu faces traffic problems increasingly, and the heights - pokhara's traffic has become a snarl during rush hours.
i speak to different people about it. everyone has a different view of the problems. but one thing that emerges is the pessimism. one friend tells me, even if the economy is not growing, banks are increasingly growing profitable. which is not untrue. in pokhara, i see new banks that have emerged in the last 12 months. and these are just banks - i am excluding the hundreds of finance companies like the one which has made its headquarters next door to mine.
nepal is going through a very exciting time. the challenge and the prospect of a new system of governance looms over everyone. rumours abound - the king will enter into a deal with the maoists, there is a huge difference of opinion between the Maoist leaders and so forth. everyone is politically interested - a little like the south of india, where sycophancy takes to new heights. hopefully, and thankfully, a similar nepotic culture hasn't emerged here, although our great revolutionary Prachanda is showing signs of deifying himself.
randomly, i choose to take a ride through pokhara. i discover new lanes and newer stores. i spoke about the traffic jam earlier; it was extremely surprising and a bit funny. development chooses different ways to show itself, and one of it is a traffic jam. i see newer cars, more two wheelers, and worse roads.
nepal hopefully will emerge from all of this, unscathed and better. we are a resilient lot; however, we are also an indifferent lot.