the red goddess

So we went to see the red goddess, whose chariot (its a very tall thing: a bit like a huge christmas tree with a little wendy house inside, roped to the top of a huge wooden cart) was toppling precariously at a forty five degree angle and halted in the middle of the Mangal Bazar. The goddess herself had been moved to a less dangerous chariot, parked nearby. We thought nothing of it, clocked her (Hubby was very disappointed as he'd been under the impression that she was one of the famous living goddesses, but she's not, she's just a statue), and then went off to glance at the rest of the world heritage site that is Patan Durbar Square, before scurrying into a cafe for fish fingers and chips (I know, but it is hard to interest four-year-olds in seventeenth century architecture). 

Apparently when the goddess is halted in her procession, it's a dreadful omen, and means dire things are afoot in Nepal. Or so I read in the papers today, right underneath the story about how the army chief has been sacked, but refuses to leave, thus teetering Nepal on the brink of military coup. Or anarchy. Any excuse for a 'bandha' (protest), of which there were many yesterday afternoon in Kathmandu (luckily not across the river here in Patan). Last night the president wrote to the army chief, supporting his decision not to leave, and saying that his dismissal was unconstitutional. Today the prime minister got all huffy about the situation and resigned.  There will no doubt be loads of street protests again tomorrow, which will be terribly inconvenient as I really do need to do a supermarket shop.

I do wish someone would just fix the chariot, shove the red goddess back inside and get moving. Then the president, prime minister and army chief will all just kiss and make up, and we can go back to getting excited about the monsoon starting and not bothering with bruised political egos.

I'm no political pundit, but I suspect things won't actually spiral into disaster. I think there will be a lot of huffiness, a few more protests, and then things will revert back to the usual haphazard normality. But I may be wrong. Maybe I should ask the goddess?