Thanks, Taat, for this rather sensational headline ;-), and thanks to a Sajha friend who sent me an email about this posting here.

No, I was NOT "manhandled by two thugs near [my] home".

What happened was this: 

On Friday, Oct 24, at 10:29 am, the vehicle I was riding on my way to office was pelted, from the back, with two big rocks by two guys on a motorcycle on the Koteswor-Balkumari stretch of the Ring Road. 

Those guys, whom I did not recognize, ran away. A part of the vehicle was smashed.

Needless to say, it was a frightening/unsettling experience.

Thankfully, the quick-thinking driver and I escaped all right.

A likely reason for the attack?

Let's just say that (as in most medium to large companies in Nepal), a significant chunk of the CEO's time goes into, believe it or not, dealing with members of ultra-radical trade unions who are far more interested in what their political masters tell them to do than in the laws of supply and demand. Most companies in Nepal have either shut down or are functioning well below capacity due to all sorts of trade union problems.

In my case, let's just say that some members of one such trade union and their political masters are not exactly thrilled with some of my work that's aimed at improving the financial health of the company.   

My "unpopular" works?

A. Letting go of more than 30 redundant staff with super-generous severance packages, and 

B. Daring to tell the leaders of the radical union what they should do to help the company earn money so that the jobs could be made secure for all employees. 

Oh well.

Such, such are the joys and the frustrations of running a company in our pyaro maatri.bhoomi. 

oohi

ashu