Rukma Shumsher, along with his team, was doing OK until the Royal Palace propped up Kishore Bahadur Singh as its rep in the sports arena. For better or worse, Rukma -- despite his being a snob at times -- enjoys international contacts, has the requisite polish and charm, and can boast of having access to business networks to raise money to increase the profile of our athletes. The company he is associated with -- Dabur Nepal -- recently joined forces with five other Nepal-based private business houses to pay for the expenses of Sangina Vaidya, Nepal's FIRST-ever bona fide, qualified Olympic-caliber athlete. This was the first time ever that Nepali business houses CAME TOGETHER to fund one athelete's training expenses. Kishore Bdr. Singh and his cohorts, on the other hand, have neither an access to money nor an access to ideas. They just have an access to Palace's blessing and an access to brute force. My impression is that just Panchayat used sports (remember Sharad Chandra Shah and his goondas?) as a vehicle to further its own propaganda, the Palace these days is may well be trying to sports for purposes only it knows best. In the process, sadly, the losers have been us all -- the athletes, the Nepali 'darshak' and even Nepal's international prestige. oohi ashu