July 21, 2008	Monday	Rajab 17, 1429

KATHMANDU: With few friends coming to visit and his son and one-time heir now living in Singapore, the new life of Nepal’s ousted king as a commoner is by all accounts a lonely, meditative one.

Former king Gyanendra spends his time writing poetry, praying, surfing the Internet and taking walks in the forest around the Nagarjun hunting lodge where he lives just outside the capital Kathmandu, guards and his spiritual adviser said.

“The former king has been spending most of his time inside the bungalow,” said a military guard at the lodge. “Occasionally I have seen him sitting in front of a computer or reading books. The place is quiet.” Kanchha Shrestha, who runs a small sweet stall opposite the guarded gates of the reserve, has also noticed a lack of activity at the lodge.

“I haven’t seen many people coming to visit except some former royal secretaries,” said Shrestha, adding that the ex-king rarely left the premises.

“Sometimes he leaves once a week, sometimes once in 15 days.” Those outings are most likely to involve visits to his elderly step-mother, in her 80s, who continues to live in Narayanhiti Palace in the heart of the city.

The concubine of Gyanendra’s grandfather, in her 90s, also continues to reside at the palace, which was turned into a museum after the king’s departure last month.

Gyanendra’s new life looks set to become even quieter after his son, former crown prince Paras, left for Singapore earlier this month. The departure was followed by that of Paras’ wife and three children on Thursday.

But the former king may have taken some comfort this week as he watched the political parties that ousted him in May and ended the 240-year-old Shah monarchy fall out over their choice for a new head of state.

The three main parties had each put forward a candidate for president but a vote by assembly members on Saturday failed to produce a clear winner and end the political deadlock that has delayed the formation of a new government.—AFP