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The folks down in Sindhuli have the right idea. With no jobs going around, there was intense competition among the political parties to fill a vacancy at the district post office. The local party leaders started putting so much pressure on the post office chief that last week he announced a race, and whoever came first would get the job. Well, it's not an original idea, that is how the ancient kings of Gorkha were chosen by making potential candidates run a marathon at Liglig. Why not revive this grand tradition to also chose the next prime minister to replace BRB. That would rule out anyone whose name has the word 'Ram' in it.
Bunds are not what they used to be. There was a time when hartals were hardcore, nothing moved. There was no time limit, and even bicycles were not spared. These days there are all kinds of exceptions, and the rule of thumb seems to be "three wheels good, four wheels (and two) bad". Which is why aeroplanes fly unhindered, except if you are stranded in Dhangadi, rickshaws are allowed to ply, but cars and motorcycles are not. And these days bunds are strictly 9-5, probably because the hired goons demand overtime to burn tyres after office hours. Saturday, being a day of rest, is also exempt from bunds. How are we ever going to attain ethnic federalism if we are so lazy and lax about enforcing bunds?
Remember the fracas over the minister in the JN Khanal cabinet who had to step down after it was found out he was a free-Tibet activist and had three nationalities? Well, there may be a similar scandal over the appointment of one Ek Dhakal, the sole CA member from the Family Party. Yes, there is such a thing, if you don't believe me google him. This is the same Mr Ek-Dui-Tin who organised that controversial visit by the vice-prez Paramanand to go to South Korea on a junket sponsored by the Unification Church. Well, it turns out the new minister, who hasn't been assigned a portfolio till press time, is a Moonie himself. He is a follower of Sun Myung, not Ban Ki, and should be made Minister for Proselytisation Affairs.
One of the hardest questions the judges asked Miss Nepal contestants at the Annapurna Hotel during the recent pageant was: "What makes a person a genius?" It is a sign of the times that the lass who answered "You have to be indigenius" got the most applause.
It was bound to happen sooner or later. The Rautes want the forests of northern Chitwan declared Rauteland, the gold digging Sonahas want rivers to be declared their zone, Marwaris want a non-territorial Mewar state. Also, Nepali Sikhs do not want to be lumped with Madhesis. Why not declare Kopundole a Sikh Autonomous Province? And the people of Okharpauwa in Nuwakot which happens to lie in the future Tamsaling Province have refused to let KMC dump the Valley's garbage in its landfill site anymore, despite past agreements. They sent the entire stinking fleet of trash trucks back to the 'Newa Rajya' and said, "We don't want your do-do."
Queen Liz the Second invited a whole lot of kings, queens and emperors for her diamond jubilee lunch at Windsor Castle recently. All the world's monarchs were there, including ex-kings of Greece and Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. We have it on good authority that KingG waited till the last mom for the invite, which never came. Even the Crown Prince of Yugoslavia was invited though that country ceased to exist 10 years ago, and was a republic for 60 years before that. Ouch, that must have hurt.
