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| ashu | Posted
on 30-Sep-03 04:55 PM
Nepal Native Adjusts To Life at Harvard By MARGARETTA E. HOMSEY Crimson Staff Writer This September, Astha Thapa 07 traded in the spectacular summits of the Himalayan mountains and sloping green hills that have surrounded her since her childhood for the flat lawns and wrought iron fences of Harvard Yard. The view from her third-floor Grays common room may be less stunning than those in her native Kathmandu, Nepal, but it is one she has embraced fully since her arrival in Cambridge a few short weeks ago. I like Cambridge, it has such a homey feel to it. Its so pretty, and you can walk everywhere, the petite and lively first-year exclaims as she sips an Iced Mocha Blast at Au Bon Pain, a treat shes already adopted as a favorite. Harvard has offered many new tastes and freedoms for Thapa, not the least of which is walking around the relatively calm streets of Cambridge. She says that Kathmandu, while surrounded by vistas of incredible natural beauty, is a city bursting at the seams, packed with people. Theres such population pressure, and its badly planned, Thapa says. The social pressures, especially for Nepali females, are also intense compared to those shes found in Cambridge. Families are very important. In Nepal social life is everything, she says. I live with my grandparents, and my grandfathers seven brothers all live in the same area. Living under the constant scrutiny of an extensive, ever-present network of kin left little room for typical American teenage rebelliousness. I never stayed out with my friends past 6 p.m. because Im a girl, she says, adding that her male cousins had no curfew. In Nepal, people are always pressured to behave the way they are expected to behave. Weddings, big social outings, everything is very formal in Nepal, she says. You have to be ladylike at these events, youre forced, she says. But its good, its made me so sociable. Thapa says she knows her constrained upbringing and early curfew may sound bizarre to American students, but that it made perfect sense in the context of Nepali society. I can understand why you have to have it. It helped me spend more time with my family, to do my school work, she says. In Cambridge, however, movies, birthday parties and the festivities of Freshman Week have already kept her out in the evenings. But while Thapa says she wants to utilize these new experiences to become a more global citizen, she says she will not forget that she is attending Harvard in order to be of benefit to Nepal. And as she learns ever more about the American way of life, she says shes striving to maintain a strong sense of self and pride in her countrys traditions. A Taste of Freedom Thapa says she has quickly developed a close group of friends in the first-year class, who like her are adjusting to an entirely new way of life. Like any first-year, Thapa has reveled in the new freedoms and responsibilities of college life: meeting an overwhelmingly diverse set of people, learning to make her own schedule, holding a job at Lamont, doing laundryand somehow attempting to squeeze in a solid eight hours of sleep. Women are so protected in Nepal. Before I came here I was living in a shell...I was too protected, and its good to have a taste of independence, she says. These adjustments are doubled for Thapa, who is still getting used to what she calls the liberal social life of the West. Peoples dress was at first a bit shocking, she says. In Nepal, showing skin is not appreciated, she says. Here, people wear the bare minimum! Meeting the class of 2007 during freshman week events, along with dorm and entryway discussion sessions have also opened her eyes to the real diversity of opinion and lifestyle surrounding her. |
| ashu | Posted
on 30-Sep-03 04:56 PM
For example, a first-year discussion on diversity in her entryway brought up an alternative view of child labor. In Nepal, child labor is food for the child, she says. The West has a totally different conception [of the issue]. Thapa says one of the most important things about coming to Harvard has been the extent to which she realize[s] people are living lives completely different from what Ive taken for granted all my life. To best absorb this diversity of experiences, she says she plans to refrain from joining any religious or ethnic student groups at Harvard. Im trying to get to know everybody, and I dont want to distance myself by saying Im in a particular group, Thapa says. Its nice to hang out with other Nepalis, but I dont want to belong to any...group. Attending an American university has also freed her from the constraints she felt under home countrys educational system, where students must choose the course of the rest of their studies in tenth grade. I chose the sciences, and you cant shift, she says. Liberal arts is the most important reason why I came here; I really need to explore more. Thapa, who took A-level exams in chemistry and biology in Nepal, is now thinking about a concentration in social studies or government. She enrolled this fall in Bass Professor of Government Michael J. Sandels Moral Reasoning 22, Justice to help her test these new waters of social science. I love Justice, the fact that it makes you think about things you take for granted, she says. It makes me think in a different way from the sciences. Tackling the ample readings in that course and in her humanities classes has been another hurdle for Thapa. Used to focusing exclusively on the sciences and math, she says the huge reading lists in American English are one of the hardest adjustments she is having to make. A Dedication to Country Though shes enjoying her college experiment with American life, Thapa does not feel the need to completely conform with her peers. She says she is determined to maintain a firm connection to the traditions of Nepal and says that being of service to her country is at the foundation of all of her educational goals. Harvard kids may be shocked that I have a curfew [in Nepal], that Ill have an arranged marriage, she says. But just because Im here doesnt mean I want to change myself, and be something Im not. Im still the same. Her dedication to Nepals way of life is also reflected in her desire to represent her nation as a diplomat or in government. She stays informed of all of the developments in her home country, in which there has been much political instability, and keeps in constant contact with her family via e-mail. A chat with her sister last week was another reminder of the troubles at home. I was talking to my sister, and she said at 12 p.m. the whole of Kathmandu rang bells to protest against the Maoist insurgents, using children in war, giving them guns to fight for them. Nepal, the worlds only Hindu kingdom, became a constitutional monarchy in 1990. Since then, insurgents throughout the nation have violently protested against the new government. In the past year, Thapa says, the killing of political and military personnel in Kathmandu has been on the rise, bringing the violence out of the rural areas and close to her family in the city. I always said with utmost conviction Im going back to Nepal, and working in my country, and living in my country, she says. But its hard, coming to Harvard, and you begin to question. It would be nice to live in a peaceful country where you dont worry about being shot. You ask, is it reasonable to go back? Still, she hopes things will begin to change for the better, and that she might be part of her countrys future. Diplomacy really intrigues me. My country needs good diplomacy, and it requires good people to deal with the Maoist problem where diplomacy is lacking, she says. Thapa is enrolled in University President Lawrence H. Summers freshman seminar on globalization, and hopes she can share a unique perspective coming from a more slowly globalizing country. Ive lived life without technology, she says. No cable until 1998, and we only got the Internet in 2000. It still amazes me that I can send my mom e-mails. Thapa believes her courses at Harvard and her broadening experiences living in the United States are vital to making her a valuable citizen of Nepal. Im being exposed to lifestyles very different from my own, and exposure is very important. Im being globalized. Now I have friends from so many different placesIndia, Mexico, Eastern EuropeI feel more connected to everybody now even than just a month ago, she says. This is reality, my world is not just Nepal, it consists of all these other people, you cant isolate yourself. Im part of a global community. Thats perspective I need no matter what career I decide on. http://www.thecrimson.com/today/article349041.html |
| Bhunte | Posted
on 30-Sep-03 05:39 PM
Ashu, Nice piece of info and glad to know that she is into soc sc and attending courses from reknowend professors like Summers, etc there. Those who have gone through reading " going back to nepal..." and "ktm a decade later " threads, your info posted above might be helpful for them. - http://www.thecrimson.com/today/article349041.html |
| ashu | Posted
on 30-Sep-03 06:20 PM
Bhunte, As an economist, you may be interested to know that it was political theorist Michael Sandel, one of Astha's professors this Fall, who said this to The New York Times Magazine last August (in a sympathetic profile of Larry Summers): ''By training and temperament, economists are intellectual imperialists. They believe their models of rational choice can explain all human behavior.'' Sounds familiar? :-) oohi ashu ktm,nepal |
| Bhunte | Posted
on 30-Sep-03 07:13 PM
Ashu, >>>>>....''By training and temperament, economists are intellectual imperialists. They believe their models of rational choice can explain all human behavior.'' Sounds familiar? :-) <<<<<<< A perfect definition for what economists are. I would add economists are critical thinkers. I couln't find a room to diagree in Sandal's assertion. That's what exactly i'm working recently in quest of examining human behavior, and was pleasently surprised to learn just recently that one of my paper has been readily accepted for a jrnl pub, and the other with some minor rev. Both related to human decisions using models of rational choice....ehehe I will look M.Sandel's work, but I have worked using L.Summer's dataset to rework on Manikiw's eco growth. As I mentioned you last time, I'm recently more interested in S.Levit's paradigms. Sorry folks for euolizing ourselves.... |
| Bhunte | Posted
on 30-Sep-03 08:57 PM
Sandel's undergraduate course, "Justice," has enrolled over 10,000 students, making it one of the most popular courses in Harvard's history. |
| Lalupate*Joban | Posted
on 02-Oct-03 09:05 PM
It was an interesting read. Bisundev Mahato had become a news-piece to Brown's daily a few years ago, on the sole basis of his Nepali origin/upbringing. Now, Astha Thapa gets profiled in Harvard's paper on exactly the same basis. The curiosity element, the sense of the exotic that underlies and guides these articles is just way too conspicuous to ignore. While such articles make interesting readings, I nonetheless eagerly await the day when one of the IVY papers will run a story on a Nepali student on the basis of his/her accomplishments in the uni/country rather than his/her Nepali origin/upbringing. I am not aware of any such stories to date. |
| sanobai | Posted
on 03-Oct-03 06:52 AM
I wholeheartedly agree. And what of Nepalese who did not come from the educated elite of kathmandu society and went on to Harvard? My husband is a magar from eastern nepal. He has returned to university here in Vermont to study pre-med, and he is in his early 30's! He never had the chance to go to school in Nepal. Now he is getting full scholarships based on academic achievement and is heading down the path towards a career in medicine-better late than never, but at least in america, he had that option! In Nepal, he was always the poor magar from the remote village near hille who never had the money to go to school. By the way, while I'm tooting my husband's horn (his name is Prem Pulami, by the way), Prem is running the chicago marathon on Sunday, Oct. 12. This is his second marathon (his first was the Vermont City Marathon on May 25). He is hoping to run in less than 3 hours and 10 minutes, which would qualify him for the Boston Marathon next year (his first marathon he ran in 3 hrs and 20 min.). So any of you chicagoites out there, come root your nepal home boy on in his 26 mile race! |
| ashu | Posted
on 03-Oct-03 07:11 AM
LJ, I fully agree with you, and thank you for saying what was on my mind. This is one reason why I added NO comment from my side when posting that article above, and let the article speak for itself. Sometime ago, there was a similar article in the Asian Wall Street Journal, and that too (to my taste, anyway!) exotified Nepali students at Wharton. Then again, some publicity for Nepal and Nepalis can't hurt, right? But, yes. let's hope that the days when Nepali students and graduates of top and not-so-top universities start making news based on their own achievements are not that far. Sanobai, all the best to your husband, and I root for his further success. That said, what follows is a piece of humor I had published in The Kathmandu Post sometime in the mid' 90s. This could be relevant here. Enjoy, oohi ashu ktm,nepal *************** What follow are REMEMBERED extracts of a conversation between a socially insecure and intellectually unsophisticated, 18-year-old, first-semester Nepali student and three of his American friends at a dining-hall at a certain university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.) written by ashu (originally published in The Kathmandu Post) Hi! Where are you from? "Nepal. That's a country between India and China, you know." But you look kinda like an Indian from India. "Well, I'm not as dark as the Indians, you see. I'm a Nepali. And Nepal is an independent, peace-loving country. We have Mt. Everest there, you know." Mt. Everest? That's so cool, man! Are you a Sherpa? "Not really. The Sherpas are a different group altogether. They live up in the mountains, where it's very cold." Mountains, wow!? Do you guys, like, go skiing a lot? It must be fun, right? "Well, not really. You see, the Himalayas are really tall mountains. They're difficult to ski on. We just kind of worship them from a distance." Worship them? Are you religious? "Yeah, I guess. I'm a Hindu." You're a Hindu? That's so cool, man! So you guys have, like, the caste-system, right? "Yeah. But I don't really believe in it. Besides, these days, that's only practiced in rural areas." So, like, what's your caste? "Um, Brahmins. You know, that's like what you have here in Boston, I guess. It's kind of, like, being at the top of the caste-system . . ." Does your Brahmin caste, like, dominate over all others? "Well, it's not really that. I mean, there are good Brahmins and there are bad Brahmins. Historically, a lot of domination used to happen in the past. But that's kind of dying out now. These days, we all get along fine in Nepal. Like I said, mine is a peace-loving country." But you guys are also famous for wars, right? I mean, for my social-studies project at Exeter, I remember writing a paper on the Gorkhas. "Oh, the Gorkhas!! Yeah, they are us. They're really brave and bold. You know, they wield this special knife called khukuri that can hack a person to pieces. Because of them, my country Nepal is known throughout the world as the land of brave soldiers." Are you a Gorkha yourself? "Well, not really. I'm only a Gorkhali, which is just another name for a Nepali." Hey, now I remember. My sister's college-classmate's boyfriend was on the Peace Corps in Nepal. I think he found Nepal an awesome place. He had, like, some amazing slides of a village where he had spent two years digging a canal . . . "Yeah, my country is really beautiful. It is an awesome place. And the people there -- though they may be poor -- are always friendly, happy , helpful and smiling, you know. You guys should visit it someday. You can even go trekking from Kathmandu." Katmandu? That's such a cool name for a place. How much snow do you get there every year? "Snow in Kathmandu? Never. Much of the snow falls on the high mountains -- the ones that are much taller than the green ones you have up in New Hampshire." The air you breathe in Kathmandu must be very crisp, right? And the water, very fresh? "Yeah, something like that. It's also very spiritual. Kathmandu's also known as the City of Temples, you see." How's the economy in your country? "Well, Nepal's a poor, underdeveloped country. Still, we have our pride intact. While India next door existed as a colony, Nepal has always held its head high as a brave, independent nation. But we need development there. Fast. In fact, there's much we have to learn from the First World. And, I guess, that's partly why I decided to come here, you know, to learn from and to share ideas with you guys so that I can go back and help develop my motherland someday." Wow! That's so neat. I guess this is what the admissions office [at Byerly Hall!] means when it keeps on sending out brochures saying that diversity is the hallmark of this place. Imagine having dinner with somebody from Nepal! I'm now going to call my Mom and tell her that I just met a really nice Brahmin from Kathmandu. I bet she'll get a good kick out of it. "Yeah, do that. I have to go to the Science Center, and finish that Expos paper on Orwell that's due tomorrow." [You were reading remembered extracts of a dining-hall conversation between a socially insecure and intellectually naive, 18-year-old, first-semester Nepali student and three of his American friends.] THE END. |
| Arnico | Posted
on 03-Oct-03 07:00 PM
Two comments: 1) Ashu... I am still hoping that you checked with Astha first before reproducing this article in Sajha. It is one thing to be featured in one's own college newspaper and thus to become known to one's classmates... but it is quite another thing to have the same article copied into a website visited by ~4000 compatriots a day. I for one would NOT want every Nepali I am likely to encounter in the US to know what classes I am taking, or even, for that matter, what school I attend. Yes, the article was online at The Crimson.... and anyone who went looking for it would have found it. But I am just not sure whether copying and pasting it over into sajha was such a good idea. If you really wanted to alert us to its existence, why not just give the link? 2) Your last piece reminds me of a conversation my freshman year: friend: "so tell me about Nepal?" me: "Well, what do you want to hear about? its geography? history?" friend: "No, what is TV like in Nepal?" |
| ashu | Posted
on 03-Oct-03 11:45 PM
Arnico, I understand your concern. And thank you for raising it. To answer, yes, I did think about that for a while before deciding-- using my own judgement -- that the news, which was ALREADY in the public domain anyway, was worthy enough to be shared widely with fellow Nepalis on Sajha, and let them reach their own conclusions. [I would imagine that the Crimson Web site gets more visitors per day than our own Sajha does, but that's just a guess. At any rate, for argument's sake, if 10,000 Americans already know about this article, why can't 4000 Nepalis read it too? As for just posting the link, I accept your suggestion.] On another note, the kind of question that LJ raised -- when will Nepalis be featured because of their achievements and not because of their country of origin -- is BROAD and GENERAL and even IMPORTNANT enough to not refer exclusively to Astha's case here. oohi ashu ktm,nepal |
| Bhunte | Posted
on 04-Oct-03 02:18 AM
It is great that Astha is featured in that news link and we knew of her existence at Harvard. We feel pride of her. Thanks Ashu for bringing it up to our knowledge. Ashu has already provided the link and copied and pasted the same news. I don't see a big issue here and hope Astha feels same. Did it voilated anyone's privacy? No! Astha has already put her ambitions and concerns about Nepal in public. If she is new to Boston and need some help for adjustment, one should help her to the extent possible. |