MOVING MOUNTAINS

The mountains moved last Saturday. During my childhood my Nimbu Didi used to say mother earth shrugs once in a while when the sin of us humans gets too hard to bear. She knew a thing or two about mountains moving having experienced the "Nabbe Saal ko Bhuinchalo', the quake that devastated Kathmandu and the neighbouring areas in 1934 A.D.

Mountains moved upwards by perhaps as much as a meter experts say, making Mt. Everest even taller. The world took notice in an unprecedented outpouring of grief and sympathy. The world assisted the needy by supplying essentials in giant aircrafts our only international airport had never seen before. The world has pledged to restore our monuments to their former glory.

Nepalese youth in the thousands have mobilised themselves to aid the unfortunate, save the dying, rescue those trapped in the rubble that was once a village, a town, a city. Brave men have ventured to areas where lady fortune fears to tread.

Nepal's residing gods might have lost their physical housing but their presence is pushing us all to rebuild, restore and resurrect an ancient land where time always stands still. This will pass. Faith is moving mountains here.

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THE FIRST SON

T he child was just 2 years old when his father Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana received an invitation from the East India Company to visit England in 1850 A.D. Her Majesty Queen Victoria would be receiving him at court! The household was in a frenzy preparing for this arduous journey. Palpable excitement was in the air. The delegation had to be finalized, supplies and rations to be ordered, modes of transportation to be chartered, decorations and gifts to be sorted out to offer to the gracious hosts, et all. No ruler from the sub-continent had been invited by the Company until this instance. Too, dire premonition was weighing heavily on the newly blessed "Rana" family despite the auspicious date of travel charted by court astrologers and birth-chart diviners. Would the young thirty-four year prime minister and de facto ruler return safely after crossing the black waters? "What would happen to the young child if he didn't?" lamented his pregnant mother Nanda Ku...

RANI MAHAL, THE STORY OF ITS MAKER

PROLOGUE Rani Mahal Palpa The first time I ever saw this historical edifice thirty five years ago, she was in ruins and looked like an old hag during the winter of her life, simply waiting for her eventual demise. I was then on my way further west on a week-long trek from Tansen to Tamghas in Gulmi District. Thirty five years later, I found myself at the same spot once again, this time out there on purpose. I had seen pictures of the building with a coat of new paint before and I wanted to see how much change had been made by the Nepal Government’s Department of Archeology. Yes, the outer façade still looked brand new with fresh paints, which to me personally was a bit too gaudy. But when I walked through the inside of the building and saw nothing but empty rooms without even a single piece of furniture, my enthusiasm took a nose dive . And when I entered one room where there was a fireplace with the floor in front of the hearth still looking as black as charcoal, I ...

THE SATI WIVES OF JUNG BAHADUR, MAHARAJAH OF NEPAL

I f only the Tudor King Henry VIII of England was as lucky as Jung Bahadur Rana, he would have had male heirs aplenty and he would not have had to behead a few of his queens in the hope of his next one presenting him with an heir. All the Maharanis would live together at Hampton Court Palace in seeming harmony at least until the death of the Maharajah . If England had the tradition of Sati, who among Henry's wives would have had the macabre honour of being buried alive with him? Would her be Catherine of Aragon his first queen? Or Anne Boleyn? Or the fair Jane Seymour, his favorite queen who gave him his only male heir, had she not died in her postnatal illness? Maharajah Jung Bahadur Rana had many wives because he did not have the Catholic Church to worry about. He had at least a dozen sons and innumerable daughters from at least 13 recorded wives. He married some for love, others for political alliances with various noble hous...

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