The ties that bind

The Boundary  between Nepal and India is nothing more than a brick and lime masonry structure built during the days of the Empire. Its 'Das Gaja' of no-man'sland serves as the playground for both village urchins and petty smugglers. Closing this border is something of an obsession with the Nepali hill elites, who raise the issue from time to time. Across, on the other side of the open border, we are witness to the arrogance of the political elite of New Delhi's South Block, which periodically tries to dictate the terms of the "special relationship" between Nepal and India. This cat-and-mouse game has been going on for decades, and seems to break out with virulence every time a matter sensitive to either side is being negotiated.

In the light of such an ambiguous relationship, CK Lal's "Cultural flows across a blurred boundary" (Himal February 2002) is timely and bold. Lal has been writing with sensitivity about many social and political issues concerning both India and Nepal, but in this essay we encounter a hitherto unknown aspect of his public persona. The hidden urban regional planner in him has come to light. He has given us a new vista to mull over – the Ganga Rectangle, which encompasses the Nepal Tarai, north-eastern Uttar Pradesh and north Bihar. These three areas together make up a common cultural entity with a potentially shared future – either of resurgence or dissent into oblivion, depending on how the tide turns.