The Nepal bell, an echo decades later

It’s been over a decade since the people of an apparently forbidden terrain woke up and broke out of an administrative machinery that had once spawned many a dreams for them.
Eighty years ago, when the storm struck the stifling autocracy of the tsar and brought the advent of a new age with the promise of food for every stomach and hope for every heart, a gasping nation breathed afresh.
But, did their dreams come true? Did it help the cash-strapped republic in fighting with an inflating vacuum of wealth?
Perhaps no. And, that’s why when the frenzied mob pulled down the towering symbols of communism and uprooted the theory that they had been living with looked so horrid. It had triggered a racing pulse among statesmen across the world — no matter Left, Right or Centre.
The people’s rage had questioned the very integrity of a system. It had shaken the foundation of an administration that was perceived to be the way out of a life crammed in the fascist rule.
In 1917, Russia had perceived communism as a relief from the feudalistic and monarchical misery. In 2006, nearly 80 years after the Bolsheviks shook the world, Nepal displayed the rerun of a similar wakening.
It’s the people of this small nation, too insignificant and obscure being sandwiched among two superpowers — India and China — and tucked away in the lap of the Himalayas, who suddenly burst out in anger sending a jolt to the world’s impression of the country.
Nepal is not just the haven of junkies and a small Las Vegas away from the hustle and bustle of America. It treasures people who can raise their voice and shed their blood in support of democracy and tear apart the all powerful king.
But, for Nepal — transition from a democracy overthrown by the king and then again back to the people’s mandate — what lies in store?
Revolutions get crushed and enemies change.
How is it to be shifted from a king to a band of rebels whose cousins in India are hated for their bloody vendetta and visionless violence? What good holds the Maoists-led seven-party alliance for their people?
Even before the scars of the war against the king dried up, Nepal’s rebel leader, in tow with an Indian Leftist, couldn’t hide his hunger for the top seat.
The country is soon to face its people’s mandate. No one can say what the elections has in store for the community but a fear is evident — people are scared to realise that they have been duped twice.