Shekar Kharel writes: "But what is intriguing now has nothing to do with Maila. It happens to concern the methodology of the commission. They did not go for a process in which they could ask the writers to produce their full resumes along with a list of their publications. The Committee selected the poems without knowing who the writers were." **** Give me a break. What's so intriguing with this sort of a 'blind' selection process, in which ONLY and ONLY what you submit validly is considered on its supposed merits or lack thereof and NOT on the basis of who you are, who your parents are, what your political ideology is and what you have done in the past? Since subjectivity and biases do play a big role in deciding what constitutes "art" (i.e. what constitutes great poetry, films, music, literature, etc), it's a widely used practice in the arts world to use some sort of 'blind process' to filter out any biases that judges may have when choosing a particular work of art or artist. Orchestras, for instance, have 'blind auditions' so that the judges are NOT influenced by the color or the gender of the muscician playing the instrument. In this case in Nepal, the judges did NOT know who wrote that poem when they first chose it among hundreds of other submitted poems to be the new national anthem. That was actually a good thing: the 'blind' selection thing. Now, do we all have to like the judges' choice? No. Besides, no poem satisfies everyone everywhere. But does the judges' choice have a validity regardless of what one thinks of Maila's once-upon-a-time dedication to King G? Yes. I mean, you can't form a national committee, give it the authority to do x y and z, and then start attacking it when it comes up with solutions you don't like. That's stupid. Many years ago, using a similar 'blind process' an undergraduate's design for a memorial-building was chosen over other designs submitted by world-class designers. That undergrad's name? Maya Lin (then at Yale) The design for the bulding she submitted anonymously? Vietnam Veterans Memorial ******** My sense is that some vocal sections of the Nepali Left is really pissed off that they could exercise ZERO influence in the selection of the national anthem. Since they can't attack the committee outright, they have to flex their muscles by indulging in assasinating Maila's character. That's a shame. My point: Accept the poem. Give up the controversy. Move on to weightier matters to strength the democracy. On a side note: I am amused that the old anthem had the work "prachanda" in it. This one has "gyan" in it. oohi ashu