When 80 km is too long: Darbhanga to Janakpur, two tales of stalled change

Like in Darbhanga, where people are not happy with their lot but have made their peace with it, in Nepal too, structural change seems a bridge too far

The distance between Darbhanga (India) and Janakpur (Nepal) is barely 80 km. But here in Darbhanga, the Gen Z-led upheavals in Nepal have the quality of a blur. It is remarkable that events that have had a cataclysmic impact on many political leaders and their parties just 100 km away have had no impact on the placidity — even hopelessness — in Darbhanga.

 

Suraj Rai talks as he rolls out and flips aalu paranthas on his smoking griddle in a tarpaulin-covered stall by the side of the road. He’s been a “caterer”, as he describes himself, at the same spot,