Redrawing the map

Territorial issues between countries are as challenging to resolve as claims over land ownership between squabbling siblings.

In the title of one of his most memorable poems, Bhupi Sherchan (1936-1989) bemoans —“Galat lagchha malai mero deshko itihas” (I think my country’s history is a lie). Considering that history is often little more than the idealised version of the past, lamentations of the tormented poet are understandable. Were Bhupi alive today, he would probably say something similar about the country’s geography.