The daura suruwal tailors of Bhedasingh, Kathmandu, are very busy these days. They are so overloaded with work that they can't even take on any new orders. They claim they have never been this busy, and yet the orders continue to flow in. While it is natural for demand for daura suruwal to increase during the festive season, this year it is for quite a different reason: Darjeeling.

Surging Nepali nationalism in Darjeeling has led to mass protests in which Indians of Nepali origin don the traditional daura suruwal and gunyo cholo from 22 October to 22 November to press their demand for a separate state, Gorkhaland.

Once Darjeeling and eastern Nepal could no longer meet the rising demand, Kathmandu's tailors stepped in. Along with daura-suruwal, the demand for gunyo-cholo has also increased. Niranjan Joshi, proprietor of Puja Store, says he has already sent out 600 pairs of gunyo cholo to Darjeeling. The traditional Nepali topi is also equally in demand.Sagarmatha Daura Suruwal Centre alone has sold 600 topis. Its proprietor, Naresh Kasti, says: "This is possibly the highest sales we've had in the seven generations that we've been in business. It's truly unimaginable."

Three weeks ago, about 10 tailoring centres each dispatched about 500 pairs of daura-suruwal, and are now sending another batch of 500 pairs of daura suruwal by the first week of October. Similarly, about 10,000 bhadgaule and dhaka topi have already reached Darjeeling. There is even a demand for khukuris from Nepal.

However, back home in Nepal, demand for daura suruwal is falling. Even ministers have discarded the national dress.