It's truly unfortunate that Prachanda will always be associated with the violent insurgency in Nepal, and some will -- understandably so -- never forgive him for that. That said, if one were to judge a person's leadership on that way one articulates one's thoughts -- whether one agrees with him or not -- I have came across many who came out very impressed with his talk at the Asia Society, both Nepalis and non-Nepalis.

Whether Prachanda follows up well on his words or not is and entirely different matter, and all we can do about that now is to wait and see. But I too was very impressed with his brief 3-minute address to the crowd at the dinner hosted by the Nepal Mission to the UN last night. Very short, but to-the-point, and matter-of-fact. Professionally articulated. I thought no longer would we have to be emabarrassed about Nepali leader's deliberations, like I always did with everyone else in the past. Good change here, but will that translate into a lasting positive change? Again, let's see.