Dehradun, Feb. 8 -- the Internet

Imagine a horde of fierce warriors shouting 'Aayo Gurkhali!' as they descended en masse on their hapless enemies. It is a battle cry that still curdles the blood. Armed with the fearsome khukri, the mountain machete that could sever the neck of a water buffalo in a single stroke, they left the surviving British with nightmares and cold sweats.

Subsequent events, however, turned out to be very different. Balbhadra, the hero of the Doon, after giving up the Jaithak fort where he was one of the defenders, returned to Nepal. While in Nepal, he formed an illicit relationship with another man's wife, which became publicly known. Under the Nepalese law, his crime of seducing a brother officer's wife was punisha...