Tika Vidhya Ashram, school named after my grandmother The school next door to our estate at Kiran Bhawan was for the children of ordinary folks in our neighbourhood whilst we, more privileged ones, were sent to English medium boarding schools in the Indian hill stations or, later, to Godavari in the south-east corner of the Kathmandu valley. When I was growing up, the school next door represented to me the "outside" world while I was "inside". I had to be careful whilst having any kind of intercourse with those kids and my minders constantly remained vigilant. A selected few, vetted by them for family fealty, would be allowed in to play with me. In the semi-feudal state Nepal was in when I was a kid this kind of selective inclusiveness was an every day affair. Tika Vidhya Ashram today The same school has been a subject of disgruntlement with us family members as the land that houses it at today's prices would be worth over a million United States...

General Kiran with tiger shot by Colt .45 Mr. James Stone was the project manager of Riblet Tramway Company that set up the Kathmandu - Hetauda Ropeway under U.S. Aid in 1959 A.D. Riblet took our estate Kiran Bhawan on rent for their personnel and Bill Stone, son of the manager, spent a few years of his childhood with his parents in Nepal. Bill discovered my blog and sent me this story my father General Kiran had written on his unique hunt, a copy of which he autographed and presented to Jim. It is a fascinating account and I was enraptured by it even though I was familiar with the story. By God's grace I still have the skin attached to the mounted head of the same tiger my father bagged with his Colt .45. Crayon Painting of General Kiran commemorating the unique tiger shoot.