The day after the coup - Nepal without mobile phones

I haven't even realised that the day the king of Nepal seized power last month, he disallowed mobile phone usage in this tiny and poor country.

Nepalese need to learn to use old communication tools the hard way and for some, it is the path down the road to unemployment for a long time to come, probably.

"I have not had any business since the mobile phones were shut down," said Krishna Maharjan, who had to sell the tanker truck he once used to deliver water to homes in Katmandu. "I don't know how long this will last and I just cannot go on like this."

Maharjan needed his cell phone to take orders, since he was always driving around Katmandu, where many homes have serious water shortages. New customers would also call him — using the number he had painted on his blue tanker."

This is tough, tough, tough. Especially for a country that hardly has well-functioning fixed line and used cellular technology to leapfrog old technology.

(By Asia Business Consulting)