Backs to history Manjushree Thapa's new book on Nepal is timely in understanding the turmoil in the realm C. Raja Mohan It is not often that one finds a book in the subcontinent on contemporary politics that is at once informed by an intense political passion, a strong historical sense, a profound insight into the inner dynamics of a nation and is yet accessible to all. That is precisely what Manjushree Thapa has achieved in her remarkable tract on the unfolding tragedy in Nepal. Thapa, who has already made a name for herself with her first novel The Tutor of History, has now set a higher standard for those who are animated by the unending turbulence in South Asia. That the book has come out barely weeks before King Gyanendra's political coup in Nepal last Monday is a tribute to that rare sense of timing few authors are granted. Nepal is a country most people love to travel to; but know little about, especially its people. But in fact, the enchanting mountains and cultural religiosity of Nepal have tended to mask profound social turmoil that has gripped the nation for more than a decade and a half. Thapa's elegiac prose tells us about Nepal's soaring hopes for democracy since the early 1990s and its collapse amidst the recent regicide, the rise of Maoist extremism and the fractious politics of its elite. In recent memory, no one has come up with a better narrative on Nepal than Thapa. As someone deeply committed to the democratic transformation of her nation, Thapa is not weighed down by pessimism even amidst the crashing political structures in Nepal nor the great concentration of suffering in such a short period. She is determined to ?reimagine Nepal?, while foretelling the death of its most recent dalliance with democracy. Thapa believes ?a revolution is underway in Nepal. Not the Maoist revolution, but the democratic revolution that began back in 1940s.? She insists that democratic rule can ultimately triumph in Nepal despite the failed experiments launched in 1950 and 1990. She argues that the re-established democracy must be more than symbolic and embrace the variety of social movements that have risen in Nepal. She hopes that ?later, looking back, it will be possible to decipher some pattern to what no feels like a clutter of regrettable events. Maybe later, we will be able to look back upon our times and say, 'that was what it was like in the thick of the revolution.? It is this optimism that helps Thapa see through the extraordinary developments in her country. As she weaves the history of Nepal into an account of recent developments in Nepal, Thapa reminds us she is not a professional historian. But she brings to the book what most historians don't-a rare understanding of a process under way. And unlike most activists for a cause, Thapa does not tire us with anxious polemics. She makes us understand the complexity and nuance of Nepali history. As India gets inevitably drawn into the internal politics of Nepal in the coming months and years, Thapa's book is a must-read for all concerned Indian citizens. For whatever happens, the Indian state can never forget the centrality of Kathmandu in its own security, in the widest sense. But the Indian elite knows so little about Nepal-either its history or its current turbulence. Thapa would be remembered for giving India and the world a better of sense of Nepal's extraordinary story. The reviewer is professor of South Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi URL: http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=81770