Nepal, Aug. 4 -- iving beside a river during the monsoon needs constant vigilance. The Rudramati is not the sacred river it once was: it carries the city's sewage, is a flowing rubbish dump, and on hot afternoons the putrid smell settles over the neighbourhood forcing residents to shut their windows.

Nobody swims here. Children do not even need to be warned not to play in the river because they never would. Most days, it exists quietly in the background, hidden behind concrete embankments and half-forgotten by everyone except those who live along its banks.

Then the rains come, and nature demands to be noticed. The garbage is washed away, the sewage diluted and the smell is diminished ion the river also called Dhobi Khola.

One night t...