The Fearsome One has always been aware of his looks and is careful what he wears. A sketch of him with a Stalin moustache and a blue turtleneck was the only image of the man available for many years while he was underground. Now, it looks like he is making up for lost time. We can't get away from his awesome visage; posters of Mr Grey Shirt are splattered on victory gates from Jomsom to Jocchen, and then there are the interviews on Pawankali and l'Espresso.
To the Italian, Mr Dahal gave a long-winded interview in which he made his oft-repeated pledge to turn Nepal "into Switzerland" in the next 20 years. Which of course immediately brought to mind Comrade Krishna Prasad Bhattarai saying he'd turn Nepal "into Singapore" within a decade.
And we now know he shares Kim Jong Il\'s passion for movies. While the Dear Leader is known to watch pirated DVDs spirited over from Dalian, our own Awe-inspired Leader told the obsequious Italian interviewer that his favourite movie is Spartacus. To a flirtatious Pawankali, he admitted watching the fillum Rang de Basanti.
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Pretty media savvy, if you ask the Ass. Ex-extremists injecting a human face by subjecting themselves to extended and unpredictable interviews. And it looks like the comrades don't have to wear grey shirts after all. "You can wear want you want, I am not going to say you have to wear this or that," the guerrilla commander told Pawankali as she batted her eye lashes at him. For those of you who didn't watch what happened next, it may be wise to skip to the next paragraph. Pawankali gushed about how handsome Badal is. Comrade Supremo twitched, but didn't say anything. So when is Badal appearing on Pawankali?.....
Despite the peace deal, Dr Bhattarai apparently feels he still needs protection, even from Buddhist monks and grieving conservationists. Arriving to do his chief guestly duties at a memorial service for Harka Gurung at a monastery in Boudha on Friday, BB was flanked by two cadre, each carrying a rucksack with the barrel of a gun sticking out the top. Reports are that neither bag was equipped with a UN-approved sensor. It seems he also brought more along than just the weapon-toting two. As he got up to leave, there was a sudden flurry as over half the hall made a noisy exit. Something tells us they weren't just your run-of-the-mill memorial attendees.
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In the latest issue of the aptly-named army publication Sainik, one sainik was quoted as saying that the food at the barracks has suddenly got much better that he doesn't want to go peacekeeping in Congo anymore. Amazing how fast things have changed in the army in just a few months. The food is better, of course, because the officers now have to eat in the mess like everyone else. And not to be left too far behind, the Army Officers' Wives Association has just been renamed the Army Wives' Association. Guess the Rana-haired ladies will have to hobnob with proles from now on......
If you didn't already know, the People's Liberation Army is now on both sides of the Nangpa La. After the shooting dead of a nun on the Cho Oyu flank last month, the PLA blew out China's plan to take the Olympic torch to the top of Chomolungma. Meanwhile, the PLA on our side has been active collecting revolutionary tax from trekkers headed up to Namche. A 16-year-old with a walkie talkie is ready to call in armed reinforcement if anyone refuses to pay Rs 100 a day at Phakding.The extortion is now becoming an extraction as far as tourists to Nepal are concerned. In addition to the $35 visa fee, they have to pay to see Bhaktapur, Patan, and Swayambhu; then there\'s the $15 to enter Sagarmtha National Park, a two percent NTB tax on every meal and hotel bill, Rs 1,700 in airport tax, plus the Maoist tax on trekkers at Monjo and Jagat. On top of all this, TAAN now has its own trekker tariff. But lodge-owners in Namche have it even worse. After paying all the Maoists this Tihar, they also had to pay civil servants fat sums in deusi money.
