the land of the mighty Chomolungma (Mt Everest) and the mother of many 8,000-metre-high snow-capped peaks, Nepal has no less than 6,000 odd fast-flowing rivers and a total annual outflow of 150 billion cubic metre (bcm). This "so-called colossal water potential of Nepal' is just a "socio-economic myth', according to Dipak Gyawali. In his seminal work Water in Nepal, Gyawali launches a powerful attack on the belief wedded to mere physical abundance of water, viewing water in its everyday social, cultural, spiritual and symbolic contexts within the rubric of Nepali society. The book takes a bold stride into the forbidden realms of the