This is an open letter send by a journalist in Nepal who is currently in hiding. It is the first piece of communication from the totally cut-off Nepal. His identity has been kept secret since it's a highly sensitive issue. Dear friends and well-wishers, I am using email after three days, currently under cover in Nepal. As all the telephone lines, Internet and other communication facilities have been cut off, we are experiencing the Stone Age in the 21st century. This has been a complete hell for journalists. We are not allowed to talk to anyone. Political leaders are either under house arrest or have been detained. There are Armymen patrolling the streets. Even if there is an emergency situation in a house, there is no way of communicating with others. In the eyes of a foreign journalist, everything would seem calm and normal on the streets. But the weight of the undercurrent is unfathomable. Ours is one of the biggest media houses in Nepal. Since the king addressed the nation on Tuesday morning, dictatorial rule has been imposed on media as well. The Army officers scan all the contents before it goes to the printing or on air. I won't be able to check emails for the next several days or may be months. So don't reply. Our life is in threat and an eerie silence lingers in every corner of Nepal. Speaking anything against the monarch or the rulers is directly inviting death, or arrest, nothing less. I hope my friends outside Nepal help us in this hour of difficulty. Please circulate this email among your friends' circle, and please try to exert pressure on your government to bail my country out of the trouble and hardships we are going through. Thank you.