An Elegy for Democracy - Forget Kathmanu By Manjushree Thapa. I have just read this book. It costs Rs 350. In this book, author examines what has gone wrong and why in Nepali politics. She starts with an account of the Narayanhiti massacre and its aftermath, and goes back to give some flavour of Nepali history and of course, of the present struggle for 'true' democracy. A paragraph from this book runs like this: '...........A revolution is underway in Nepal. Not the Maoists revolution, but the democratic revolution that began back in the 1940s. The unfinished revolution brought us two short lived democracies in 1950 and 1990. And now, if only the extremes right and the extreme left can be disarmed and brought into the political centre, we would re-establish democracy again, a democracy that doesn't look like a democracy, but that acts like one as well, that doesn't fight off but instead embraces the current women's rights and Dalits movements, movements for local rights over batural resources, labour movements...........Whereas in the earlier spell of democracy, Nepalis were asked to be content with a few freedoms (assembly, speech), we now want social and economic equality as well. Which is simply to say, we want democracy................' Though this book is a collectable item, I am happy to lend this to friends of Shaja and pass on to other interested friends. I am based in England but I am happy to post it to anywhere in the world. If interested, please let me know. Kusum