Twenty years after the royal massacre

Nepal’s trajectory drastically changed after the events of June 1, 2001.

On the night of June 1, 2001, exactly twenty years ago, an event at the Narayanhiti palace saw an end to an entire family of the then ruling Shah dynasty. Helicopters were hovering and rumour mills were active. In the pre-smartphone days, when mobile phones were still uncommon, the SMSs didn’t stop coming, and home phones rang non-stop. I was then working at the Soaltee Hotel, where the requisition of a large amount of ice from the hospitals triggered lots of questions.