KIRAN PANDAY

And so the blessed break for blessings is finally here. As foretold by all and sundry, nothing extraordinary has transpired these last couple of weeks, and we heave a sigh of relief as we tramp back high on the heady fumes of traffic, having braved the New Road masses, to singularly reticent news bulletins.

Despite the endless speculation, the UML-led government is still intact, the UML itself is still intact, and there are signs Girija babu has accepted these realities for now. Even the historic people's revolt appears to be on the backburner, but if it catches us by surprise, rest assured it will be televised.

Dasain is here! So much has changed these past two decades ? we've moved from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy to state-at-war to republic to absolute chaos and we're still not done ? but for Dasain, the song remains the same. Perhaps not quite the same. Commercialism is rife, but the festival itself is a way away from being reduced to High Street Christmas. Come Dasain, the Valley itself will empty of thousands of johnny-come-latelys, who will make their joyful way back to home and hearth, mirroring a similar stream of holidayers from India, Malaysia, the Gulf and the West.

Whatever the naysayers bang on about, Dasain remains a quintessentially Nepali festival. Whether you choose to celebrate it or not, when you see the kites flutter in the vigorous seasonal winds, when you see determined-looking family units trooping around your neighbourhood with huge plasters of tika on their foreheads, when you hear the shouts of 'maarra!' from the kauda parlours, for an instant at least, one hopes we'll all remember our connections with this great festival, Bada Dasain, forget our differences and think of them as the diversity that could still make us a great nation.

Dasain is here. Enjoy the eye of the storm while it swirls around us. Who knows, we may even bring something out of it to sustain us through the rest of the year and beyond, if we are wise enough and brave enough to withstand those winds of change that threaten to blow us off course.

It's been a long year. You (and we) deserve a break. Season's greets to all.