Hours before his government was dismissed, Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba was at Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia’s concert. The maestro, who spent two tense days in Nepal, relives his ordealEverything was normal till January 31 midnight . I was performing at Kathmandu’s Hotel Hyatt Regency. The 700-odd crowd comprised Nepal’s PM Sher Bahadur Deuba, his Cabinet, bureaucrats and diplomats.The concert ended around 9.30 pm and we headed for a sumptuous dinner. Over dinner, Deuba and I spoke. Nobody knew what lay in store. After midnight, I guessed something was amiss. Someone told me all the ministers were put under house arrest. I tried to call my family on my cellphone. There was no signal. Then, I switched on the TV. All channels, except a local Nepali one, had been switched off. Even landlines were not working.King Gyanendra had sacked Deuba and declared a state of Emergency.I had planned another show for the next day but I asked the organisers to cancel it as I feared trouble. I wanted to pay a musical tribute to Mahatma Gandhi (his death anniversary was on January 30) but I postponed that too. Next morning, I visited the famous Pashupati Nath Temple. The Army was out on the streets .all flights were cancelled.On February 2, I contacted several airlines. They had not resumed operations. That afternoon, I went to the airport.With great difficulty, I found a seat on an IA flight to Delhi and reached Mumbai the same evening. I will never forget those two tense days. —As told to Mohammed Wajihuddin
