VB, bashing can turn ugly, so i refrain. if that last paragraph is meant for me, the gender in my username is clearly specified, so it will be a little nicer to address a woman as 'she'. i mentioned my rural experience because the influence of governance does affect village life. through my personal experience of living there, and through observation, i feel that people there are a lot more aware educationally, socially, politically, and they do have a concern for the type of government we will have today. about your comments above, your first paragraph concerns Nepal's safety. yes, Nepal was a peaceful country then. the maoist insurgency led to this recent chaos. BUT, democracy is not the cause of maoist insurgency. your third paragraph, panchayat system was better than the absolute rule, i agree. but in no way is it comparable to democracy. yes, i did miss my class when they taught why Panchayat system was introduced in Nepal, i don't even remember what grade it was taught on. if you can briefly tell me what Panchayat system is, we can go further from there. "And guess what, it actually worked!" someone resumed to absolute rule immediately after, why? "My intentions are not to preach history here" mine neither :) "I would like to believe that peole who express their views in a topic like this know what they are saying and who they are speaking for.." me too :) "Democracy succeeds in a place where general people can think for themselves and the next generation in the realms of time. Nepal boasts a literacy rate of under 40%. In a country where people cast their votes based on whether the sun or the tree is important to them, how do you propose that democratic form of government will be a success story..." yes, and when will they start thinking on themselves? when there is awareness. if a Dalit is aware that his human and political rights have been trampled since ages, he will start fighting for it. democracy did change the socio-cultural setting of Nepal, it made people more aware of what they are and what they deserve. and for your information, if we don't act now, we never will, because Nepal is not going to turn into a mythical golden age all of a sudden where peace and prosperity will thrive, so that after 'some time' we can have democracy. and lastly, if you can cut off a lil on bashings, will save some space here :)