Bemused performances and befuddled anxieties

The print media dissected the implications of policy options and helped form public opinion.

In the supplement of Nepali Times, marking its 25 years of publication, Kunda Dixit has titled his Publisher’s Note thus: “Imagine no Internet. No Facebook. No TikTok. No algorithm, no AI”. He spent several years pursuing a futuristic degree in science and technology in the aftermath of the Prague Spring and before the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. When imagination is proscribed, the mind seeks solace in silently observing absurdities of everyday life and talking to oneself for emotional release.