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Chanmati Batala, 68, of Bherimalika municipality-1 Kalegaun has been without support in her old age after her only son Deepak Batala was killed during the Maoist insurgency. In 1998, Deepak, then 24, was killed by security personnel because of his ‘involvement’ in the insurgency.

The Maoists had started a ‘people’s war’ 23 years ago on February 13, 1996, ostensibly for the liberation of Nepal and its citizens. Districts in the mid-western hills, including Jajarkot, Rukum, Rolpa and Kalikot, were Maoist strongholds.

At the time, Deepak was a student at Tribhuvan Secondary School and was involved with a student union close to the Maoists. His involvement with the union led to his arrest and killing by security personnel. Chanmati’s husband had passed away by then. Four of her daughters are married. She now lives with a disabled daughter.

Says Chanmati, “Thousands of Nepalis like my son lost their lives at a young age in the name of the Maoist war. The political system changed, but now there is nobody to support us.” She laments that the Maoists did not keep the promises they made during the war. “Politicians got people to kill each other in order to advance their agenda. But what happened? More than war, Nepalis need good governance, development, peace and stability,” she says. “May Nepalis never kill each other like they did back then.”

It’s been more than 12 years since the war ended. It seems like a remote, even fictional, story for the new generation. But for those who endured the atrocities of the war, the pain remains raw.

The Maoists made Congres cadres stand in a line and started hacking them to death

It was around 17 years ago during the conflict that Bhadra Bir Rana, also from Bherimalika municipality, was captured by security personnel. His wife Bali Rana still does not know his whereabouts, but she hasn’t given up hope that he will come back. “The Maoists used to come to our home, eat the food we cooked and take him to their events. That led to his arrest and disappearance,” she says.

Following the capture of the District Police Office in Laha on June 12, 1999, the Maoists made four Nepali Congress cadres stand in a line and started hacking them to death. Ram Bahadur Khatri, a Laha local, was one of the four. He says a chill runs down his spine whenever he remembers the incident.

“I was the last guy in the line. They started the slaughter from the top of the line. I thought I would rather try running away than be killed like that, consequences be damned. I managed to escape, and came to the district headquarters and hid there. I have not been back to the village since,” he recounts.

Rajendra Bikram Shah, a local civic leader, says ordinary citizens were troubled by both sides during the war. “Security personnel used to target them for feeding the Maoists, attending their programs, giving them donations, etc. But if they did not do as the Maoists told them, they feared that the insurgents would harm them.”

“In the decade-long war, many lost their husbands or their parents. Many others were maimed. Youngsters who were involved in the war are severely disappointed,” says Shah. “They joined the war with the hope of improving the country’s socio-economic conditions but their own conditions are now so bleak that they are forced to go to Gulf countries for work.”

Over 370 people from Jajarkot lost their lives during the war and hundreds were displaced or maimed. Dozens of government structures were demolished. Many victims have got neither justice nor compensation.

 The El Mediterraneo restaurant and tapas bar at Jhamsikhel, Lalitpur has been in operation since 2012 and claims to be the first Spanish restaurant in Kathmandu, and probably the only one thus far. The quaint little premise of the El Mediterraneo is right on the main road from Pulchowk to Sanepa and is a hub for Spanish food lovers, or anyone who wants to try new cuisines. The normal tapas menu at El Mediterraneo fea­tures Gazpacho, Patata Brava, Bomba Patata, Solomillo a la plancha and other Spanish delicacies while the main course has a wide range of pastas and rice dishes. (Don’t get intimidated by the names though, the menu at El Mediterraneo does have English translations and details of all the food items it serves.)

 THE MENU

Chef’s Special:

- Risotto

- Jamon Serrano Y Pan Con Tomate

- Grilled Prawns

Opening hours: 12:30 - 9 pm

Location: Jhamsikhel, Lalitpur

Cards: Accepted

Meal for 2: Rs 2,500

Reservations: 01-5527059

The Weeping Banyan is an exhibition of 10 artworks by American Visual Artist Maureen Drdak, a Fulbright scholar pursuing her fellow­ship in Nepal. Seven of her artworks employ lapis lazuli (a gem) and palladium and blend them with graphite draw­ings. The other three employ a more complicated combi­nation of copper repousse metal integrated with paint­ing, ‘a material synthesis’ pioneered through her study with Master Rabindra Shakya of Patan.

At first, one could be bewil­dered trying to decipher the meaning behind the art­works. But on introspection, what appears to be a random stroke of brushes gradually make sense.

The exhibition is a “visual meditation on environmental degradation” inspired by a banyan tree Maureen saw in the nearby Kalikasthan. Con­strained from growing into its natural form, the tree’s roots became hanging appendage of tree mass. Maureen drew a parallel with Kathmandu’s development and its spite for nature. The result: the Weep­ing Banyan.

The exhibit at the Contem­porary Art Gallery, Taragaon Museum, runs through Feb 24.

You don’t always see exotic wild animals at Chitwan. Even if you are lucky to, when you’re on a holiday, you probably don’t want to wind up in bed at 7 pm for lack of night activities. Well, such was the case a few years ago, until the restaurateurs started taking tourism and partying seriously.

The Snooks Café and Pub is one such venue at Bharat­pur, Chitwan (you might have to pull out your Google maps for this one) that has taken the nightlife in Chitwan to the next level with a dedicated stage performance and live music from different bands EVERY DAY. Yes, you read that right.

The owners of Snooks like to call it the “only rock bar” in Chitwan, and rightly so with their loud and rocking music. Locals in the area, tourists from Kathmandu, Pokhara and other cities as well as foreigners throng Snooks for its live music, multi-cuisine food and a variety of domestic and imported liquor.

 THE MENU

Chef’s Special:

- Grilled Wild Boar

- Spaghetti Bolognese

- Coin Chicken

Opening hours: 12 noon to 11 pm

Location: Bharatpur-10, Chitwan

Cards: Accepted

Meal for 2: Rs 2,500

Reservations: 9855050700

Q. A question you wish more people would ask of you?

A. ‘What is the reason for your happiness?’

Q. Your alternate career choice?

A. Air hostess.

Q. What is one thing you do to cheer yourself up?

A. Lately, spend more time with my son.

Q. One most misunder­stood thing about you?

A. That I am full of myself.

Q. You were star-struck when you met?

A. Sarun Tamrakar, my hus­band.

Q. The thing people would be surprised to know about you?

A. That I am family-oriented.

Q. If you could have coffee with one Nepali celebri­ty, who would it be?

A. Lemi, the make-up artist

Q. Words that keep you motivated?

A. ‘Keep doing what you can do without expecting anything in return’.

Q. Something you would tell your younger self?

A. I shouldn’t have left my parents to go overseas at such young age.

Q. Would you say you are a better wife or a better mother?

A. Better mother.

Some people are cutting vegetables, some doing the dishes. Others are moving stuff here and there. It looks like a wedding or a social gathering is about to take place. But it’s neither. This happens every day in Adharshila Commune, which is located at Bardibas Gauri­danda in Mahottari, a district in Province 2. Communists have long been dreaming (and talking about their dream) of transforming society. It was with this idea that 13 fam­ilies got together and started living in Adharshila Commune from 2002.

The commune was started in accordance with the political vision of the then Communist Party of Nepal Unity Center-Masal. The current Minister of Education, Science and Tech­nology Giriraj Mani Pokha­rel, who is one of its founding members, took the lead in establishing it.

As 13 families depend on this commune for their basic needs such as food, cloth­ing and shelter, it is named Adharshila (literally ‘foun­dation stone’). None of the members have personal prop­erty. Pokharel says those who join this commune donate all their property to the (commu­nist) movement. “We had 48 members at one point. Now, many of the children have grown up and gone to different places in Nepal and abroad to pursue higher studies. So our numbers have decreased,” says Pokharel.

The commune had started in Siraha’s Golbazar by taking in 18 children. But the basic idea of a commune is not just to satisfy the needs of children and provide for their educa­tion, says Pokharel. “So we assembled members of 13 fam­ilies who started a communal life in Bardibas.”

One can feel that life here is different than in other places. People of different castes live together here. All of them engage in some productive work, which is enough to meet their daily expenses. For example, they do collec­tive farming by renting land. Some run a cooperative, oth­ers an FM station. “We were also involved in a spice busi­ness (Ruchi Masala Udhyog) and were running a computer shop. But these businesses shut down after the block­ade,” informs Pokharel.

 13 families depend on this commune for their basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter

While selecting members, those who believe in the com­munist philosophy are given priority. Families of ‘martyrs’ are free to join the commune. Every family is given a room. People of different castes and communities like Tharu, Yadav, Mahato, Tamang, Bahun and Chhetri are living together in the commune.

“We follow a simple lifestyle here. There are no fights. The commune is everything for us. I am happy living like this,” says Pushpa Lata Koirala, an old member.

Adharshila’s patron and Nepal Communist Party Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha argues that this type of communal living model should be implemented in other places too. “This should a party agenda. But since hundreds of thousands of our party members are without any responsibilities, it is hard at the moment to bring this matter to the party’s atten­tion,” he says.

During the Maoist insur­gency, the rebels had run sim­ilar communes in places like Rukum and Rolpa where they had a strong hold. However, none of these communes are active now.

Irish singer-songwriter, musician and record pro­ducer Damien Rice is all set to perform in Nepal, in what will surely be a luscious treat for his Nepali fans. Rice is an internationally recognized musician who began his musical career as a member of the 90s rock group Juniper. He began his solo career in 2002 with the release of his debut album ‘O’, which reached number 8 on the UK charts and won him many awards globally. With hits like “Cannon­ball,” “The Blower’s Daugh­ter,” and “Cheers Darlin’”, Rice’s blend of folk and indie-rock music is recog­nized worldwide and the news of his concert in Kath­mandu has created quite a buzz on the social media.

The then CPN (Maoist) had launched the ‘people’s war’ on Feb 13, 1996, which formally ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement on Nov 21, 2006. National politics has come a long way since. The monarchy was abolished, and a federal republic established. The former Maoist leaders see the uprooting of the feudal monarchy as the biggest achievement of the war, coupled with laying the foundation for a more fair and inclusive ‘New Nepal’. Thanks in large part to the war, they believe sovereignty is now completely vested on the people and power devolved to the lowest rungs of government.

But as former Maoist leaders observed the 23^rd ‘people’s war day’ on Feb 13 this year, that narrative is being increasingly contested. Critics see the 10 years of conflict as a ‘lost decade’ when Nepal’s development process not only halted but was pushed back by years. Was the loss of 17,000 lives and forced disappearance of nearly 2,000 people worth it? And aren’t the Maoists being disingenuous when they credit their war for recent changes when in reality it was the ‘peaceful movement’ of 2006 that did the trick?

Interestingly, former Maoists under Pushpa Kamal Dahal have now merged with their once bitter enemies, KP Oli-led CPN-UML, to form the Nepal Communist Party (NCP). Dahal’s UML colleagues refuse to celebrate the anniversary of the ‘people’s war’. PM Oli was notably absent from the ceremony this year, as were most of the erstwhile senior UML leaders. Whether to recognize the war was among the biggest sticking points as the merger was being discussed, and most UML leaders continue to believe it was a big mistake.

But leaders of the traditionally marginalized communities like Madhesis, Dalits and Janajatis have a different take. They give more credit to the Maoist war for at least trying to demolish the erstwhile near-complete monopoly of select caste groups in the state machinery. Likewise, with women commanders at the forefront of the war, Nepali women’s traditionally subservient image got a complete makeover.

Whether one subscribes to the first or the second narrative, one thing is certain: even if fought with the best of intent, war has all kinds of unforeseeable consequences. Conflict victims continue to wait for justice, 12 long years after the start of the peace process. Nor has the legitimization of the use of violence by non-state actors been healthy for Nepal’s nascent democracy. Yes, there should be a nuanced understanding of the Maoist war. But as Benjamin Franklin put it: there never was a good war or a bad peace.