Response to Karmapa: You make some valid points. And I have no bone to pick with much of it. But I will like to take issue, if I may, with what appears to me as misplaced PC on your part. You?re absolutely right that some folks who will never see the inside of a recording studio are, nevertheless the most natural and gifted musicians/singers. Sometimes music and musicians that spend too much time in the mainstream do get jaded. Not only in Nepal but in most parts of the world, there are some keen and unheralded singers in the back alleys, trails, bayous, bush, etc. And this will always be the case. This is especially true in Nepali folk tradition where a lot of talented rural musicians have had little access to rites or resources of the music industry. Nepathya's hit bheda ko oon jasto was, after all, a song that Narayan wagle reportedly heard while trekking/traveling in upland Tamang country. But to jump from this standard ethno-musical premise to a casual dismissal of the popular music of common folk (mainstream) as somehow inauthentic seems, to me at least, a bit premature. While no great fan of all things contained in popular culture, I have respect for the fact that the construction of popular culture involves voluntary choices made by the masses in any society. My instinct is not to deride or belittle popular culture; only to analyze and dissect it. Just because ?Bheda ko Oon jasto? was taken from an original anonymous selo should not detract from the fact that Nepathya did really innovative and cool things to it. As a music lover there is place in my heart and ears for both versions! I'm picky. I definitely don't like all the stuff that the bands are putting out by way of remade originals. Agreed, there's a lot of half-baked band stuff out there in Nepal -- like here in the USA ? And I say as much in my piece, haina? (para 5). Also agree that ?most newcomers? lack requisite soul and musicianship. But what about those one time newcomers who hung around and became famous ? like Om Bikram, Nabin Bhatarai, Sharmila Bardewa, Mukti and Revival, Lochan Bhattarai, Bima Kumari Dura, Tirtha B. Gandharva, and many others who have deep talent, artistry by any standards? I?m sure you didn?t mean to indict them as routinely inferior to the street and trail singers you encounter in your travels. (If you do then I gotta find out where you make these exellent treks). I am sure you know bob Dylan, dolly parton, hank williams, Eric clapton, Beatles, stones, Presley, bonnie raitt, etc. played a lot of stuff that they heard from obscure artists, many of them poor Black southerners. BB king, muddy waters, chuck berry, stevie ray vaughan, buddy guy -- all great blues men -- recorded dozens of songs originally composed by anon. rural southern singer journeymen. But all the artists I mentioned above did develop their own sounds and no one I know has questioned their genius or contribution to American music. Similarly, folk artists like Kumar basnyat, Dharma R. thapa, PR Mahat, Bam B. Karki, hari Devi Koirala, Shiva Ale, Ganesh rasik and Hiranya Bhojpuri, kalyan Sherchan, Purna Nepali, madan singh Nepali, narayan Rayamajhi, padam bista, khadga garbuja, santosh resmi magar, amar birahi gurung, ram thapa, pravin gurung, etc.. have all borrowed liberally from anonymous rural artists ? many from damai and gaine musicians. Even so, each has made and makes unique contributions to the archive of contemporary Nepali folk. Yes, I agree that dohori in Nepal is coming close to becoming "Ekori". But good artists acknowledge this too, and so do most people who know the dohori tradition. People like narayan rayamajhi, amar birahi gurung, Bima Dura, and sharmila gurung have maintained the quality of their outputs amid massive commercialization of folk music in Nepal. If you go to a dohori bar in Kathmandu and ask the musicians to play you a ?chutka,? or a ?roila?, or a ?ghantu? or a ?sorathi? perhaps many can?t oblige in full. But a good many will play and sing you a darn good version of all the folk styles mentioned above. (This is based on personal experience). I like to focus on that ? full glass. Go to a New Delhi music bar and see how many music groups can reproduce a typical Indian folk song. My guess is that the vast majority can?t. I think the commercial trend in folk has great potential in Nepal. I trust the market and the common consumer?s vote by purchase to weed out the mediocre ones and reward the really talented ones. I know for a fact that many albums are recorded and released by individual ?शौखिन कलाकारहरु? who just want their names on an album cover. Since recording studios want the revenue they don?t reject such easy money. This is one reason why the annual musical output in Nepal contains about 70% chaff. But then there are also real gems. In folk, the gems I have encountered lately are: "Arun Upatyaka ka loksuseliharu parts 1 and 2," or Padam Bista's "Padam Bista ka lok geet" or Purna Nepali and Kalyan Sherchan's "hitko dautari", or some of the good ones by Bima K. Dura, Sharmila Gurung, Narayan rayamajhi (phul butte choli), PR mahat, Khim Gurung, santosh resmi magar, and the semi-paralyzed singer from myagdi Khadga garbuja etc.. In my judgment they defy the ?factory? trend you speak of. Your final populist postulate was that real music critics in Nepal are truck, bus and taxi drivers right? Ironically, the vast majority of these ?plyers? actually relish the slick packaged popular lok-dohori styles you deride earlier on in your comment. And I don?t blame them. For them and their customers, listening to Nepali folk seems to be more rewarding than listening to slick Indian filmi music. And these Nepali ?plyers? are not voting for 3rd rate dohori either, I hear. Their tastes are discerning and, from what I know, gravitate towards the best dohori and adhunik albums produced each year. How do you reconcile to the fact that the music critics of your choice go for precisely the types of music you dismiss as coming out a trend of ?factory production? and formula songs? Let?s certainly be choosy about what we listen to. But lets not throw away the baby with the bathwater by hastily characterizing contemporary Nepali as all or mostly gimmick. Thanks for reading, Anup