I don't know why all the big fuss about the king walking through Patan ('The Royal Trek,' #266). This is his country as well, he is trying to rally his people at a time when there is disunity and strife. Why do we have to suspect everything he does and try to find a sinister motive in his actions? Can't we for once believe that there is a monarch who puts the country's interest first, unlike the political leaders who let this country
die and the Maoists who mortally wounded it?

Sagar Shah,
email

. In my school days our course book that had a great story on sycophancy 'The Emperor's New Clothes'. Never thought I'd see it enacted in real life but the Royal Trek was almost there. The king must realise that public curiosity about the royalty and support for the royal regime are two different things. The sooner the king gets rid of the sycophants surrounding him and listens to candid advice, the better for the future of the monarchy and the country.

S Hamal,
Lalitpur

. The visit to Mangal Bajar was indeed a 'PR event' as Kunda Dixit correctly points out in 'The Royal Trek'. What the palace does not understand is people can no longer be fooled by putting up PR banners overnight and fixing potholes at the last minute. Why did the king wait for 7.5 months to go to the streets? Why did he not go to the people on 1 February itself? If the king has decided to go to the streets, he may be only competing with the political parties.

D Mahat, Baltimore,
USA

. Walking around Patan, bringing a whole city to a halt the whole day and being a spectacle is not helping the monarchy and the country in any way in these modern times. The money spent on building all those arches could have been so much more beneficial to the thousands of poor and desperate Nepalis who the king must have seen in his visits to the different parts of Nepal.

Could Your Majesty please do something to bring about good governance and seek proper advice that will help to prolong the monarchy and democracy rather than prolong the damage that is being done every single day. Your loyal subject.

R Khadga,
Lazimpat

. His Majesty's visit to Patan last week was supposed to be to assess the situation on the ground. But how is he going to get a true picture when students were required to stand in double lines from Kupondole to Krishna Mandir? Bhaktapur and Kathmandu students were also mobilised to fill the gaps. The students were given specific places to stand, schools were ordered to make banners that said 'Sri Panch Maharajadhiraj ko jai,
jai, jai' if they were not going to make arches. The cheering crowds weren't as spontaneous as they seemed. Traffic was stopped on Patan's main streets and the city ground to a halt. This was an officially sanctioned banda. The royal advisers must know there are many more effective ways for His Majesty to assess the situation in the Central Zone. What is he going to learn he does not already know? These advisers were lazy to do their homework properly and chose a place that would not require minimum effort to show success. They better devise a plan where royal visits henceforth benefit the community in a substantial way rather than waste precious resources on arches and banners. This is a lose-lose situation.

Sharada KC,
Lalitpur