Kathmandu

Thomas Bell

Random HouseIndia

492 pages, Rs. 499

Kathmandu’s rapid modernisation since it was opened to the world in 1951 is an extreme version of what is happening in many traditional societies. Here, ancient gods, festivals and caste-based forms of social organisation layer on top of the newly arrived spirits of consumer aspiration, individuality, egalitarianism, communism and democracy. The story of the author’s decade in the city is set against that of its history and successive reinventions.