The country is going through a process of rediscovering and restructuring itself. Over the last 60 years Nepalese have steadily become more aware of their rights and are going through what I consider to be an enlightenment period that every society goes through before it reaches a certain state of constancy and stability Such a period of enlightenment is often long, painful and can challenge the very fabric of a society and a nation. But it is inevitable in the history of all successful societies and ours is no exception. Power has been balanced in a very lopsided fashion in Nepal's history and what we are seeing now, in my opinion, are corrections to that balance of power such that it is more evenly distributed across the country and not centralized in Kathmandu. As for demands for an independent Madesh, I think it is a pipe dream. It wont happen. As for other strains of sub-nationalism like Limbuwan, a federal structure can address many of the needs of such aspirations, and is likely to when such a structure becomes reality - hopefully pretty soon. Lets get real here, Madesh belongs as much to the people who migrated there from the hills as it does to those who migrated from India, and only the deluded few would really believe there can be a viable thing called an independent Madesh. While there might be genuine feelings amongst some Madesis about an independent Madesh, such people seem to be in fewer number than those demanding more space to be themselves and live their lives the way they want and govern themselves. At this time, with where things stand, the idea of an independent Madesh appears to be little more than a bargaining tool for autonomy. Unfortunately, it seems to have scared too many people into thinking the sky is falling. We think of our selves at patriots yet we seem to have so little faith in the dreams of our fellow citizens if they want to do anything different from what we have been used to. We as a nation need to recognize the new reality of ethnic aspirations and embrace this change. If we chose not to, or for some reason are incapable of seeing this new reality, we have no one but ourselves to blame for our pain and anguish.