Is Nepal a foolish state? Certainly not. Is Nepal a state of foolish? NO.

Nepal is a country that is surrounded by two superpowers, India and China. As per our esteemed analysts, China is our ally and India eyes on our land and sovereignty. When Nepal is enveloped by India on its three sides of the rectangular borders, the jagged Himalayan range in the Chinese side does not do much for the Nepalese integrity, albeit we hear the Chinese commitment to our well being despite Nepal supporting the Tibetan refugees. Bhutan has seen better days. Only that hundreds of thousands of Bhutan born Nepalese were compelled to abscond the tyranny, physical and mental, of the Bhutanese government. I hear thousands of Nepalese being mistreated in the states of Assam, Nagaland and Mizoram, and similar numbers fleeing to avoid any further persecution by their Indian counterparts.  It is a good thing that most of them have been granted refuge in Europe and the US, despite being housed in the dilapidated refugee camp in squalid conditions, in Nepal.

The question is, Is Nepal a Foolish State? All the furors aside, all the politics aside, Nepal is not a foolish state. Mr. Mehta, your analysis is in depth and mind altering if anything, but it is just not right that Nepal is a foolish state. It is just an impoverished state. It is a land of limited or virtually no resources. Would I be foolish if I were poor?

The crown and monarchy has been a pillar to the sovereignty of Nepal, not to Nepalese people. The panchayat system, then criticized for its illogical anti democratic parameters is today widely hailed by people to be more secure and convenient than the new found, twice restored democracy. As someone said, it is in its infant stage and more or less in transition. My point is how long does it take a person to know of its impacts when there are live examples throughout the world. The ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia and many African countries were not patriotic, they were more political. Our Maoist counterparts should have studied the efficacy of Maoism in today's world, before announcing their goal and ways of achieving it.

 Communism is a failed system, and the history has proved it over the time. Russia is not a foolish state, it is a failed state. Bolsheviks did the right thing by deposing and massacring the Tsars, only to push the country to a crevasse where it still writhes in the aftermath of the violent communism. Stalin, if anything, annihilated millions of Jews, and so did Hitler. However, Hitler and Stalin is not the issue here. The issue is collectiveness and individual despondency. The despots in the WWII era were more inclined towards their personal hatred, rather than principal. I bet, Marx and Lenin did not propound communism for the people to suffer.

Fidel Castro is a very capable man, still fighting the death and opposing the US and pretty much the rest of the world. But was it a good thing for Cuba? I meet many Cubans who are only proud of their hand-rolled Cuban cigars rather than their country. I hope we do not want to be proud of only our Khukuri and Mt Everest, if not the country.

Some of the aforementioned narratives are beside the point, but it inherently links to our belief system and lack of passion to collectively partake the challenge of addressing and reforming our belief system.

I would say, Nepal is a failed state on the grounds of political unrest and lack of opportunity for the citizens. Other than that, Nepal is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Without pretense and without a need to.

We can only but learn from Laloo Prasad Yadav. Despite being ousted from his CM chair over $300 million fodder scam, he resurrected the Indian Railways from its ashes and turned it about to be one of the most profitable government institutions. He did so without cutting down on the services and manpower, but addressing the loopholes and inefficient portals with ingenuity and a very limited resources. Turns out that it does not take an Ivy League educated professional to turnaround the sinking ship. Just a common man, with determination and co-operation.  A common man, like us. Like you and me.