Nepal, Feb. 24 -- The prince, the ruler, has ruled humanity forever in various hues and forms. In Nepal, too, he came in different forms and shades. First, he came as a hereditary ruler of small principalities and then as the monarch of the Nepali nation-state. Today, he is a political man, elected by popular vote. His form may have changed over the years, but his core remains the same: masculine, calculating and power-hungry.

During medieval times in Italy, Niccolo Machiavelli drew up a sketch of an ideal ruler, which he titled The Prince. According to Machiavelli, he who was successful in acquiring and maintaining power was the most noble of all princes. This was probably the first European write-up which encouraged blatant obsession f...