Dedicated to Nepal and the Nepalis

    Devendra Gautam A delirious mind is stuck in the intersection of time and space, as if it were a sapien caught in the midst of a ceaseless traffic that does not wait even for the god of death. Even as an overwhelmed cop tries to bring some semblance of order on the road at Sanobharyang, Nagarjun municipality, amid a cloud of emissions and dust, vehicles rush past, several of them with images of different deities and prayers wishing for divine protection for us all from harm — on and off the road. I have a close shave but what worth an ‘ordinary’ life is in this land of the free and the home of the brave? Nearby, a stream flows carrying mud and filth. It has been flowing for ages, with no authority having the ingenuity to harness the waters to build a micro-hydro, irrigation facilities or just a plain and simple mini water supply project. Downstream, a small temple dedicated to Vishwakarma, the chief engineer cum architect of the deities, stands with ironic majest...

  Devendra Gautam   I often wonder if this two-third majority government is more efficient than the Carnot’s engine How is it going, readers? Going great guns? Firing on all four cylinders, like our very own government?  At times, I wonder if this is a near two-third majority government or Carnot’s engine that has materialised, thanks to tremendous efforts from ingenious minds in the government and the vicinity.    How is it going…    I am pretty sure that gas cylinders are full and so are your stomachs. If someone claims that not all people are happy and well despite the government’s guiding principle, then he sure is a rank propagandist from the opposition camp who needs to be brought to justice as he is a serious threat to national well-being.    In my salad days in the 90s, the parliament used to be the place where vigorous intellectual debates used to take place on core national interests. No wonder, the house brimmin...

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  Devendra Gautam Where have we come from, and where are we headed, as an ancient country struggling to find its moorings as a young republic?  Before straining our eyes to peer into the future through the haze of an uncertain present, let’s try to look a bit into the past.  Scriptures tell us that Nepal has existed in all four eons — the Satyayug, Tretayug, Dwaparyug and the Kaliyug — under different names — the Satyavati, Tapobhubmi, Muktisopan and Nepalikapuri. They tell us that Devas, their adversaries and other divine beings descended on this sacred land for tapasya to absolve themselves of their sins and earn merit, along with different heavenly bodies.  At a certain period in Dwapar Yug, according to scriptures, the land full of precious jewels became a land of forests and fertile soil, as the looming Kaliyug began to show its true colours. Sounds more like fiction than history? Maybe, but then myths are a very important part of every ancient c...