Word: bhaktapur
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...impetus for the great democratic revolution that the world has been trying, and failing, to force onto the North Korean people. Of course the threat that it could all be taken away will surely give Pyongyang something to think about before dragging its feet. Tapas Barsimha Thapa, Bhaktapur, Nepal...
...bronze bells are ringing in the temples of Bhaktapur, about ten miles outside Kathmandu, and people are lighting small wax candles. The morning after King Gyanendra went on television late Monday night to announce that he was capitulating to popular protests by restoring Nepal's parliament - an announcement that put an end to a nineteen-day cycle of protests, curfews, tear gas, rubber bullets and several deaths - the people of this ancient town of temples and palaces, which was once the capital of a medieval kingdom of Nepal, are offering thanks to the gods...
...Dinesh Hada, a shopkeeper whose store has a view of the palace square of Bhaktapur, is open again, for the first time in nearly twenty days. Four customers have gathered around him, happily drinking tea or smoking cigarettes. "I've lost so much in the past twenty days," Hada says. "This is the last strike ever of its kind, I'll tell you. The people won't let it happen again...
...despite the petulant tone that the Maoists are striking, some Nepalis really do believe that the rebels will give up arms and eventually enter the political mainstream by contesting elections once the country has a new constitution. Back at his store in Bhaktapur, Dinesh Hada and his friends certainly share that view. "Look here - the way you talk about Maoists, it's as if they were monsters," one of Hada's customers snaps. "Now, one of the four of us," he gestures around him, "is a Maoist. Can you guess which one?" Two of the men drinking tea begin chuckling...
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