Have Nepalis become too cynical to laugh? Ha-ha, that's a good one, chuckles Krishna Murari Gautam, who goes by his nom de guerre Chatyang Master (lighting flash). He is best known for his morning monologues on Radio Sagarmatha, and a fortnightly satire in verse on Himal Khabarpatrika. Many Nepalis don't know his real name, or that he is an agriculture economist. But they know his voice.

"I was buying fruits in Dakshinkali, and a couple of kids came up and said: aren't you Chatyang Master. It's amazing that they recognise someone's voice," says Gautam in his rapid-fire chatter.

While he is not making the nation laugh at itself, Gautam is helping boost farm productivity. His work has been so effective, the World Bank hired him to share his knowledge with farmers in China. USAID has sent him to India. After graduating from an Australian university, Gautam came back to Nepal to see if he could apply what he learnt. Besides his professional work, and hobby as "part-time comedian", Gautam is an activist who tries to change attitudes by setting a personal example. Some days you see him and a group of volunteers sweeping the premises of schools in Kathmandu Valley, or planning new ways to enhance the dignity of cremation rites.

Gautam is dead serious when he talks about Nepal and his absolute belief that this country can and will progress. "There are lots of Nepalis who are not corrupt," he says gesturing vigorously, "the majority are honest, hard-working people with integrity. But you don't hear about them because they are too busy getting work done."

As Chatyang Master, Gautam gets immediate feedback on his radio talk and this is his adrenalin. After poking fun at the sad state of the library at the Royal Nepal Academy, he got a call one day from Tulsi Bhattarai, the librarian, who said: "Come and see for yourself what it looks like now."

Chatyang Master thinks Nepalis have an innate capacity to laugh at absurdities. "As long as we can do that we will be ok," he says. "Humour is all about twisting the logic of things." Chatyang Master has resumed his popular radio talk after nearly six months, which is on air at 7:25 AM every Friday on Radio Sagarmatha 102.4 FM.