NEPAL is one country in the Indian sub-continent, which has a monarchy. Its area is about the size of both Switzerland and Austria. It is located between China and India and has a population of about 22 millions, with more than 50 per cent people under the age of 22. About 7 lakhs live in Kathmandu and 1.2 million in Kathmandu Valley. Ninety per cent population, which is predominantly Hindu, lives on agriculture. Eight per cent of the population is Budhists.

The per capita income of Nepal is $ 210. Official language of Nepal is Nepali, with Devnagari script, though there are more than 30 other languages and numerous dialects with own scripts

Coming to Kathmandu is like going to any other Indian city, because the barrier of language is not there. Moreover, the people are generally friendly and almost as inefficient as Indians at times. Though the airline announcement says that the journey time is 90 minutes, but it turns out to be only 65 minutes. There is a time difference of 15 minutes between India and Nepal. When you land in Nepal, you have to forward your watch by 15 minutes. When you go back, you have to set your time, 15 minutes back.

The arena of hotels is altogether a different world, with all facilities of the house, including laundry, hot water, air-conditioning, timely meals or whatever else you order. But all this comes at a price. At one time, Nepal was a favourite destination for purchasing good quality foreign goods like the TV, VCD, tape recorders and calculators. Now with the liberalisation and imports, everything is available in India, and perhaps at cheaper rates. Moreover, there is no hassle of carting the goods and paying customs duty or arguing with the customs, that you are being overassessed.

Every city has a wholesale market, where prices of goods are one-fourth or at least 50 per cent less than what you would pay in a shop located in a prime area. It is exactly like the Sadar Bazar or Chandni Chowk of Delhi, which are the wholesale markets, from which shopkeepers in up-market area like Connaught Place or Khan Market or South Extension source their stuff, and sell the same to customers at high rates. Kathmandu has a similar market called Taleju Chinese goods market, from where people having large show-rooms on other markets buy and sell stuff.

Everywhere people try to encash on the names of prophets. For instance, during my morning walk, I noticed Buddha hair cutting saloon, Buddha dental clinic, Buddha saree centre, Buddha tea stall. A photograph of Lord Buddha was displayed on the board of the shop. Mercifully, the shopkeepers had not shown Buddha cutting the hair or serving tea or extracting teeth or wearing a saree.

Apart from the malaise of corruption, Nepal faces the problem of insurgency and war within. A group called Maoists, who are anti-monarchy, have Republicanism as their main goal. Nepal like India has multi-party problem. Almost all parties are in favour of constitutional monarchy. Kathmandu has a mobile service, which does not have Caller line Identification. An international call costs about 65 Nepalese rupees from mobile to mobile. The streets though clean are dug and nobody talks of removing or relocating slums. There are no consumer courts though there is Nepal Consumer Forum. The Forum president, Harendra Bhadur Shreshta, says that consumers are "excessively suppressed, wherever they go. There are no price lists in the shops and it facilitates the fleecing of the consumers by sharkish shopkeeper". "I wonder why people participate in the movement called by the political parties. Instead they should join the consumer's movement, if they want to save the essence of democracy," adds Shreshta. Even the Chief Justice of Nepal, Kedar Nath Upadhayay, while talking to journalists, said that lawyers were responsible for corruption and irregularities in the judiciary. He claimed that judiciary cannot be corrupt, in itself, unless it is corrupted by the lawyers.

What is common between South Block (External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi) and Indian Embassy in Kathmandu? Both are plagued by monkey business? While South Block and North Block have hired langurs, which are on their pay role, they have become a nuisance within the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu. However, the Department of National Parks and Wild Life Conservation has thrown its hands up. Says its Director General, De Tiratha Man Maskey;"The Embassy has been frequently requesting us to get rid of the monkeys that have been creating problems. However, despite several attempts on our part, we have not been able to control the situation". Though experts have used tranquillisers, darts and other control techniques, the problem has not been solved.