The fight that began in October 2002, when Gyanendra Shah first began to dismantle Nepal’s democracy, ended on May 28, 2008, with a resounding defeat for him, his successors, and his predecessors, as Nepal declared itself a republic.

The declaration came late at night, after protracted bickering between the Maoists and the Nepali Congress, bickering that set the tone for what lies ahead. The declaration came too late for the street celebrations that had been planned all day, and for the parties that had been organised in people’s homes. But a three-day holiday was called, and Nepalis have been using this time to test the feel of liberation.

Then it will be back to work. For there is much work to do.

Nepal is a country in a hurry. It is the oldest nation state in South Asia, founded in 1768, when King Prithvi Narayan Shah of Gorkha defeated scores of small kingdoms in the Himalayan foothills, culminating in the victory over the three kingdoms of Nepal valley (as Kathmandu was called). Eighty years on, a mad Shah king signed away all his powers to his own prime minister, Jung Bahadur Kunwar Rana, who promptly instated a homemade system of rule by hereditary prime ministers. The Shah dynasty was able to recapture power from the Ranas in 1950 only by allying with Nepal’s first democracy movement. This did not keep Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah from effecting a royal coup, demolishing democracy, and setting himself up as an absolute ruler.

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