Nepali communists have it both ways. A: Publicly, they get to preach the gospels of Marx and Mao and Satlin to the masses in a language that is too seductive to ignore. Nobody dares challenge them in public. That's because the Marxists are rabidly ideological and fiercely united in clusters. And they cling together to do anything to denounce those who disagree with them. [That's why they appear to break into factions and groups much more readily and viciously than non-communists]. B: Privately, they see no contradiction whatsoever when they send their own children to study and work in capitalist heartlands such as the US, the UK, Canada and Australia. In recent years, how many leftist netas have sent their kids to Russia, North Korea and Cuba? None, I would say. That aside, the janata too go off to work NOT in communist paradises . . . but in emerging pro-market economies such as those of Malaysia, Kuwait, Jordan and so on. That said, on a pragmatic note, to achieve anything political in Nepal, it's crucial to have working relations with communists. oohi ashu