"I seem to have developed this middle-age aversion to small aircraft and turbulence," Dutt recounted her latest horror story in the air. She was in Pokhara to attend a session at the fifth Nepal Literature Festival. It was her fourth time in Nepal.
As she has known Nepal for so many years, we wanted to know what she made of the post-earthquake coverage of Nepal in the Indian media. "I know that there was a lot of criticism of Indian media after the earthquakes. But what you must remember is that during such disasters sometimes our only source is the Indian Army. Perhaps the same was the case after the earthquake in Nepal."
But if the generosity of the Indian Army after the earthquake was over-reported, why haven't we seen a similar level of coverage in India of the recent blockade, which has, arguably, had an even bigger impact on Nepal?
"The blockade is certainly a story that needs to be reported more in India. But unlike the earthquake, it does not make for dramatic visuals; it's not out there and in our face. We have had blockade in our own country, for example in the North East, and our mainstream media have not covered them."
Is it the case that the Indian media generally overlooks the issues of smaller countries in the region? "Yes, unfortunately there is very little coverage of events in the smaller countries since India-Pakistan relations dominate our foreign policy thinking. But I would say that Indian media is obsessed with local issues and generally tends to avoid international issues."
Narendra Modi has time and again said that improving ties with India's neighbors is his foreign policy priority. Is this seen in his actions?
"Yes, I do think he is trying to reset the equation with Nepal. This is why he became the first Indian prime minister to visit Nepal in the past 17 years. I think compared to previous prime ministers he gives more importance to SAARC."
If so, and if Nepal is indeed so high in Indian priority, why did it impose such a crippling blockade on Nepal? "From what we understand in India, the Indian government's view is that it should stand up for the rights of the Madhesi people. When we ask people in the Indian government about their Nepal policy, this is what we are told."
But surely that is not how relations between sovereign states are handled. Can one sovereign country pick sides in the affairs of another sovereign country? "It's not about picking this or that group; it's also about standing up for your principles. People of the plains have historic links with India. The border is right there. I think the Indian government sees this as something connected with India."
Yet Dutt does not believe India has carte blanche in Nepal. "Indians have to be careful not to act like a big brother in the neighborhood. People here resent a big-brother attitude from anybody and all of us in India have to be sensitive to this fact."
Following the short interview with Republica at Hotel Barahi on Lakeside, Dutt had to rush off to Pardi, the venue for the literature festival. During her one hour there, she was confronted with more or less the same set of questions, bar a few.
Kunda Dixit, the moderator of the session featuring her, wanted to know if she had deliberately withheld the information that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif had secretly met on the sidelines of the SAARC Summit in Kathmandu in 2014. The accusation was that she was holding it back for her recently published book, This Unquiet Land.
"Not at all. I also came to know about the meeting much later. Initially, I, like other Indian journalists, also bought the lie of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs that there was a cold standoff between the two leaders during the SAARC summit."
By the end of Kunda Dixit's short session, the moment of reckoning had again arrived. Having landed in Pokhara only hours before, Dutt was supposed to fly back to Kathmandu in the dreaded 19-seater Beechcarft.
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