As Ujjwal Bhai has said in his editorial, TND is back after a couple of years' hiatus. True, now Nepalis and friends of Nepal in many countries of the world have access to several websites that provide online news and views published about Nepal not only in Nepal but elsewhere as well. And this development that has happened in the past decade has come to us as a miracle. It is thanks to the internet that those of us who have access to it can get more access to news in various media sources about Nepal than people who have access to hard copies of news resources in Nepal.

That said, I must also say that the emergence of all these sources of information about Nepal has not taken away the need for TND. In fact, the common expatriate Nepali living anywhere from Japan to Europe and North America to Africa does not have an independent forum where one can think and speak in a sustained manner yet not go through the editorial hurdles of acceptance and rejection. TND in this respect works as that kind of informal forum where Nepalis in diaspora can voice their ideas about life and society both in Nepal and where they live. As in the past, TND can once again function as a community of Nepalis and friends of Nepal to exchange ideas and participate in conversations.

One drawback of course is that to exchange ideas in a community may not necessarily bring monetary reward. Participation itself is its reward. To be a concerned citizen of the world, to be a Nepali with concern about what goes on in Nepal and among Nepalis abroad, is itself a reward. Those who have given time to TND in the past as well as now have worked because they felt like doing something for society. Some have contributed with their money in order to defray the cost of maintaining the website, some have volunteered their time in running it, and others can contribute by expressing their ideas in their formative stages. Once can of course later recycle those ideas for other more formal occassions. This is the pleasure of TND.

And I'm sure there are Nepalis and friends of Nepal out there who are willing participate in this community of conversationalists and express their views and share their ideas. This is indeed a learning experience. It has indeed been for me.

Best wishes,
Pramod K. Mishra

(Dr. Mishra is TND's long time advisor. -Ed.)