Oii, you guys, just look at the present state of affairs in our country- it's pathetic, to put it mildly. The country is on the brink of collapse, and unless a miracle happens, which i doubt very much, the odds are stacked agaist us. I think we are very close to a huge national disaster, the likes of which we have never been through before. Political leaders and multi-party democracy has failed us miserably in the last 14 or so years we have had the misfortune to experiment with. Their biggest failure yet has been the rise of the maoists, the ruthless lunatics, who now rule the roost in most districts of Nepal. They have wreaked havoc across the country. Maoist atrocities have crossed all boundaries. They are even more ruthless than Iraqi etremists. They have driven people out of thier homes for no reason whatsoever, destroyed precious infrastuctres which we can ill afford, closed down thousands of schools and colleges in many parts of the country jeopardizing the future of hundreds of thousands of students, forcibly closed down many large businesses which are the biggest taxpayers/employers, indiscriminately butchered people etc etc...you name it. Guys, it's pretty grim back home here. Who would have thought 14 years ago that it would come to this pass. Besides, I see no light at the end of the tunnel so to speak. Things can only get worse but not better, as I see it. There is absolutely no HOPE (I lay stress on this word) of a better future for Nepal. In retrospect, things were not too bad during the King's rule. Ok, the King wasn't perfect but then life wasn't as hard as it is now. But then again, these political leaders aren't exactly saints themselves, are they? There were some shortcomings during the King's rule, no denying that, but they pale into insignificane compared to the severity of the catastrope the country is in today. So many things that we took for granted in those days are now a luxury. Except for press freedom, there wasn't much to complain about, but again, the media of today pandering to the whims of political parties is hardly an improvement. Take the TIA episode for example, it was blown out of proportion by the media. As I said before it was hardly a news material. The media should have left alone Girija's tantrums and his ego which is bigger than Mt Everest. Whereas the 12 Nepali hostages in Iraq got little if no attention at all when they were being held by thier captors. Talk about priorities. I also put the blame of the maoist insurgency on Girija because when the problem first surfaced he just shrugged it off as a minor irritant and said that it would just fade away if nobody paid attention to the outfit. If he would have nipped the bud in time, the country would not have been in such a perilious situation today. I also find it highly distressing that the political parties and the people in general do not have the guts to protest against the maoist atrocities. They are friggin shit scared of the maosits, so all they do is thow incessant abuse at the King. How can you blame the King when he hasn't run the government for the last fourteen years? They know they have failed us, and they are simply trying to divert the blame to the King. How indisgeneous is that? Why won't these political parties protest against corrupt leaders like chiranjivi wagle and the likes who have been proven guilty by the CIAA and the court? Ofcourse, because he is one of thier own kind.