Discussions over, those participants who wanted to contribute to tea-kitty, Nepali rupeesten each, did so and went their separate ways - contented, and perhaps, enlightened. Mostof them will come back for another Mangalbare - the discussion every Tuesday at Chautari.Topics for discussion vary. From property rights for women to the lack of trust laws inNepal, from the predicament of people of the Nepal Terai to the status of women in Vedicliterature, and from the threat to democracy to the vibrancy of the press--any topic that isof interest to anyone, which means anything, can be taken up for discussion at Chautari.The procedure is simple. The program for the month is fixed in advance, and circulatedthrough e-mail, photocopies and word-of-mouth. The main speaker - the pundit in Chautari-speak - presents his views for about half-an-hour. After that, it is a free-for-all. Anyone witha view can be an expert commentator or an interrogator. Questions and comments flow forone-and-half hours. Sometimes it can go on even longer. This is the Chautari then - an informal platform for a free flow of ideas.By its very nature, Chautari has no hierarchy. As one of Chautariýs convenors Pratyoush Onta asserts, ýChautari disagrees with the tradition of an elite speaking from the pulpit toan audience of lesser mortals listening respectfully. It is a forum for dialogue, or even poly-logue, if such a thing is possible.ýThat, in essence, is the mission statement of sorts - formally not declared, but uni-versally accepted by all those who frequent Chautari. Here, Doctors of Philosophy and learn-ers for life are equally patient in observing the many splendours of truth. ýI am right, youare also right. I may be wrong, so could you. Let us think, listen, speak and re-think. Let ustogether develop a culture of communicationý. Deceptively simple, exceedingly challenging, and one hell of a good time - this business of the exploration of the mind.It is this simplicity that has seen Chautari grow from its humble beginnings in October. 1991 when water-resources engineer Bikash Pandey, Norwegian engineer Odd Hoftun andhis Nepal-born political scientist son Martin initiated a fortnightly discussion forum onýDevelopment Philosophyý. When Martin died in a plane-crash in July 1992 on his way backto Nepal from Oxford where he was a student, Odd Hoftun made available a space for the discussion forum to continue. Since April 1995, it has come to be called Martin Chautari.Today, Chautari is run by its members - a committed mix of idealistic activists, jour-nalists, writers, commentators and students. Though Chautari itself continues to remainwithin the world of the word - spoken and written, its members have notched up remarkablesuccesses in social activism. Recently, it functioned as the focal point of a movement forthe emancipation of bonded agriculture labour in the western part of the country. Earlier,Chautari members spearheaded the campaign to oust diesel three-wheelers from theKathmandu Valley and succeeded where better funded NGOs and INGOs had failed to makea dent. On several controversial issues, Chautari is the first place where non-conformistideas are expressed and discussed.After a decade of its lively existence, Chautari is engaged in reassessing itself at themoment. In an internal document floated for discussion, Ashutosh observes without hesitation, ýChautariýs flagship program - Mangalbare - is both a success and an anomalyý. Agrees Pratyoush Onta, ýEven though it is exceedingly successful on its own, its failure to replicateitself in Kathmandu as well as elsewhere in Nepal needs serious attentioný. Though such retrospection is commendable, the charitable view could be that it is indeed lonely at thetop. The kind of commitment required to run such a stimulating forum of discussion is notvery common everywhere. It is even less so in a society like Nepal where intellectuals donot consider themselves ýlearnersý, but take themselves very seriously as interpreters ofdivine wisdom. But Chautari has ignited a change. The ideas propounded by Chautari - of tolerance,respect for the other, and the freedom of thought and speech without the fear of ridicule -remain with whoever comes into contact with it. How many institutions can claim to haveinitiated a culture, and then sustained it for over a decade, by sticking to their undeclaredmission? Call it modesty, but success seems to sit lightly on the members of Chautari. They laugh and call it the reward of a job well done for its own sake. It is this nonchalance thatmakes Chautari what it is - a live chat-room. Forget its Internet versions for now. In a coun-try of twenty three million people, Nepal only has about three hundred thousand phone lines,fifty thousand computers, and less than thirty thousand Internet connections. Face-to-face encounters are still the most effective channel of communication, and for that, chautaris are still relevant, even important. Chautari keeps the Socratic tradition alive in a city that is increasingly acquiring the impersonality of a metropolis without fully acquiring its urbanity. This in itself is somethingto celebrate.