���Maila Baje��� is Sanjay Upadhya

Nepali blogger who wrote under a pseudonym finally comes out of the shadows in new bookThis the Foreword and concluding chapter of Empowered and Imperiled: Nepal���s Peace Puzzle in Bits and Pieces in which US-based Nepali writer Sanjay Upadhya confesses that he is the Maila Baje who wrote the Nepali Netbook blog. The new book is a collection of his entries over the years.Sanjay Upadhya also wrote a column on current affairs for Nepali Times between 2001-2003 under the pen name Puskar Bhusal, which are in this paper���s online archives. It includes this piece on Sher Bahadur Deuba���s second tenure as prime minister which is as relevant today is it was in 2002: Consensus Charade.
Out of the Shadows, Finally
It feels good to finally come out. I���ve been tempted to do so several times over the last decade and a half. The shades just seemed too soothing. I chose this nom de guerre before I���d decided what I���d call my blog. Relatively new, the blogosphere beckoned with all its breeziness. A notebook on Nepal on the net. Bingo.King Gyanendra���s royal rule was at its toughest. The Seven Party Alliance and the Maoists had signed the 12-Point Understanding but so much was unclear. Geopolitics, public opinion, hope, despair���the imponderables were too many. Powerful as the royal regression narrative was, I never bought it���and still don���t. Our triangular fight had become too drawn out for anyone���s good. I don���t think King Gyanendra had any specific plan when he took over on February 1, 2005. He wanted a realignment of forces into a bipolar one, and thought he could pull it off. If not, well, others were free to try. They did and here we are.I���d been defending the royal takeover in that spirit, drawing all the venom I expected to. There seemed so much going on that seemed so unreal. Yet, a lot of what seemed to be going on seemed too real to discount. (Read more at nepalitimes.com)