'Former king living less opulent lifestyle... very few staff around'
After the page was turned on the 239 years of history of monarchy in Nepal, former king Gyanendra has all but disappeared from the media limelight which he used to hog so often in the past, perhaps more than any of his predecessor.
However, a former prime minister of a tiny island nation in the pacific has given us a rare glimpse into the life of the last Shah king in his new residence as he celebrates his 62nd birthday Monday as a common citizen for the first time in his life.
Fiji's former prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka told a journalist just after returning from his Nepal trip that he found the deposed king adapting well to his "new, less opulent lifestyle".
"I met him when he was living in a very humble bungalow above the city with very few staff around," Rabuka said to a reporter, "We couldn't see any tea man so his own personal aide went and made the tea."
Rabuka, who had met with the Nepalese leaders including former king Gyanendra during his visit in Nepal last month, also had an advice like any Tom, Dick and Harry seems now to have for the world's newest republic - "Nepal should use dialogue as the way to solve its political problems".
Meanwhile, the deposed monarch's well-wishers and supporters went to his 'summer palace' in Nagarjuna hill to extend their greetings on the occasion of his 62nd birthday.
A crowd of two to three hundred people had gathered in front of its gates to extend their best wishes to the former monarch and in it were mostly Gyanendra's distant relatives, ardent supporters including the ministers during his doomed royal regime.
They signed in the guest book kept at the gates of the palace which the government has provided him for temporary use only and also presented bouquets expressing their best wishes for him on the occasion.
Durga Shrestha, who was a cabinet minister during the erstwhile royal regime, was also among the people that had gathered over there to wish the former monarch.
"Even though the government has barred the former king from meeting his own people, you can see so many people have gathered over here. What this means the monarchy was loved by many people and still has significance in Nepal," she said, adding that the election to Constituent Assembly was carried out to draft a new constitution, "not to abolish monarchy."
However, Muskan Poudel, chairman of pro-monarchist party Muskan Sena Nepal, seemed to be in a little aggressive mood. He said, "The decision to abolish monarchy was not taken by the 27 million people of Nepal. The decision was taken by only the 601-member Constituent Assembly."
He was hopeful that one day monarchy would be restored and Nepal will again be declared a Hindu kingdom
However, the former king didn't emerge from his bungalow to thank his well-wishers who had come to this desolate looking place to wish him a happy birthday. nepalnews.com ag July 07 08
