CT, Glad that you have stopped bad-mouthing Pratyoush to focus on me now. Thanks. To recap, my sense of Chintan: - a smart man: who may appear to "sound" unreasonable at first, and who, because of his personality and asking-questions habit, is NOT going to be on anyone's "person I most want to be with on a desert island" list ... but an intriguing, interesting and stimulating public-spirited figure in Nepal nontheless. Think of -- this is a bit of exaggeration, but you will get the idea -- Chintan as some sort of a Nepali Ralph Nadar, if you will. And so: I firmly believe that the spirit of Nepali democracy would be much impoverished if there weren't many Chintans around. On a personal note, I enjoy my working relationship with Chintan, even when we disagree on many things. In days ahead, Nepal being Nepal, I am sure that Chintan and I will find ourselves on the opposite sides of many public issues . . . and when that happens, I look forward to working with him, telling him "Chintan, that's bullshit; let's get on with the work here, or "Chintan, OK, we can rethink it this way" . . . and ultimatley getting the work done with all the attendant frustrations, exasperations, and focused enjoyment. The point is to engage the guy .. . engage his first-rate intellect . . . engage his passion . . . and engage his genuine care for Nepal. The point is NOT to demonize him in a black-and-white manner. That's only going to ake matters worse for all. At the end of the day, I think that Chintan, being Chintan and with his crusading actuvism, keeps us all honest at the end of the day in his own way -- and, I, for one, appreciate that. Sure, telling this all to some Nepali engineers and bikasay karya-karta big whose jobs have been delayed or lost or put on hold or simply made difficult in part due to Chintan's activism is another matter altogether. If you disagree, so be it. Rahulvai: you said that you worked for Melamchi for three years. What is your name . . . so that I can find out for myself just what you did there. oohi ashu