CK Lal's "Worrying about Nepal in Paris" (#73) was excellent. I was honoured to meet him in Paris, and was impressed by the man's simplicity, sincerity, good humour and his distinctive way of presenting reality. As Mr Lal explains, Nepali expatriates are not satisfied only to live in comfort. Material well-being is not sufficient for happiness. We want to do something for Nepal and return to our motherland. But can we really contribute? Often, we gather and talk about our nation's problems, but we find no solutions. Our only conclusion is "ke garne?" Small correction: Mr Lal got my name wrong, I am Pramod, not Mahesh Khakurel.
Pramod Khakurel
Paris

Aside from calling Pramod Khakurel Mahesh, CK Lal has commited certain mistakes in his otherwise good article on CNRS. The Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies (CNAS) is actually doing excellent work considering the constraints under it has to operate as part of Tribhuvan University. CK Lal's charge that there has been no substantial work on Maoists is not true. There is at least one book on the Maoist movement in Nepal, for which Mr. Lal himself has contributed a chapter.
Bimal Kumar Khakurel
Swayambhu