| Sajha.com Archives | |
| Username | Post |
| confused | Posted
on 03-Jan-04 03:23 AM
i have been faced with this problem a lot..wherever i go frist people start to talk to me in spanish then if i tell em i am not hispanic..then they start to think i am frm INDIA...whY?? arent there any other kind of race other then these two....I am a NEPALI and when i tell people that..they go where is that at..then again i have to explain abt NEPAL and mT everest... this is really dipressing sometimes..people dont you know ur identity...they keep on missplacin u..for something else..mannnY people even dont know NEPAL exisit and even our INDIAN neghibors think Nepal was a part of India.. in my opinion their aint even a solution for this problem right now..until someone steps in an international level and tells people what is nepal...Indains seem to be eerywhere frm grocery store to head oF IBM...and they have spreaded their culture soo much that people are led to beilive all South Asian countries consist of same culture....Maybe someday one of us Nepali will prove that we can be MIss world, we can be RICH as BILL Gates, we can act better than Tom Cruise, we can write like Shakespeare and yes show them we know how to live in peacee..until then..our identity is lost in this foriegn land of AMerica... |
| JavaBeans | Posted
on 03-Jan-04 05:23 AM
The Problem: Unfortunately, this sort of identity crisis is common for all of us currently. And, you are not alone. Obviously, the main reason for this is we have not spread ourselves around enough to let the mass public envisage our heritage and culture as Hispanics and Indians have. So, when a general public approaches and identifies you as one of those other nationalities it's because of your looks and accent, and most of the time, nothing more. The general public is not informed enough to think of you as a Nepalese American. That is quite harsh and insulting, I know. And most of us are aware of this major identity crisis. I cannot speak for all, but to those who grew up in the US, such as myself, or to the second generation Nepalese Americans this sort of crisis maybe even more prevalent and difficult to resolve. A story I would like to share-- when I was in the fifth grade my parents dressed up in their traditional Nepalese dress as did other parents during a multicultural international dinner at my elementary school. Although I felt quite embarrassed that my parents also made me wear a 'daura suruwal' and a 'topi' I felt proud of my heritage. After the dinner, many of my teachers and friends were able to identify me as a Nepalese although I was no different than any other white American kid in academics, sports or social situation. I would love to see this sort of 'heritage identifier' to all Nepalese Americans at the national level. Here is a nationality twister: here in Melbourne, where I am currently, most of the time Aussies identify me as an Asian when they first see me because of my looks, of course; but, once we start a conversation my accent gives it away. They immediately withdraw the thought and ask me, are you American? The Solution: I think Confused's last paragraph sums it up. My admiration goes to any fellow Nepalese who is trying to extend the already existing identity even more further in the American/world map. -JavaBeans |
| Luckydude | Posted
on 03-Jan-04 11:01 AM
Mr Confused, don't be confused anymore because it's a universal problem when someone goes to a foreign country especially to America. America is made out may cultures (a multi-cultural society) where people from different cultures and countries have been living together. I have had the same problem many times. People often ask me if I am from "Italy" or not. Then, they ask me if I am from "India." Like you said, I have to tell them where Nepal is, but here in Seattle, many people seem to know where Nepal is. Besides, I tell them that "Mt. Everest" is in Nepal. I certainly don't like when people ask me "Are you from India?" but it pisses me off when an INDIAN asks me if Nepal is part of India or has it ever been. One time this stupid Indian girl asked me "What state of India is Nepal in?" Those of us who are in foreign country must be aware that not many people know where Nepal is. So, we need to tell people. We certainly did come from Indian Sub-Continent but that was thousands of years ago. Our ancestors and Indian ancestors were probably same, but we are different now. We are Nepalese and we are proud to be Nepalese. Peace in Nepal Luckydude |
| oys_chill | Posted
on 03-Jan-04 01:58 PM
Confused brodar, I wouldn't say that's the loss of identity. Like luckydude said, people here do not know about the part of the world we're from and are least interested in learning about it. I don't sweat much when people ask me where I'm from like I used to few years ago...Ignorance is bliss for most people here. On the otherhand however, when you tend to start embracing and malvinating to an american culture so much that you find everything about Nepal and Nepalis and the past stupid, then I think its time to reconsider our identities. Its common to find folks who after getting the branded education of the West incline to think like one and weigh Nepal in terms of western values. I have had friends who NOW find walking with friends with arms around their shoulders gross. They vow that they never did it in their lives in 12 years of their schooling in Nepal. I don't mean to belittle good values America teaches us, but there's a fine line between being educated in the west and getting braindrained :) ~Iti Oys |
| confused | Posted
on 03-Jan-04 03:36 PM
"I have had friends who NOW find walking with friends with arms around their shoulders gross. " oys bro..soooooo True..maan..let me give u a huggg..:D yah like oys said.."there is a fine line between being educated in the west and getting braindrained" |
| luckydude | Posted
on 03-Jan-04 05:50 PM
Walking with your guy friend with arms around his shoulders is a sign of being "gay" in America. Well, at least that's what I know. They think it's more than gross. I think it's just a cultural difference. In our country, we always walk putting arms around our friends shoulder, but nobody says nothing. The question is why should one say something since there is nothing wrong? These are the cultural problems we face when we come to foreign countries. But I am suprised to hear that Nepalese people (who are in western countries) also think it's gross. Peace in Nepal luckydude |
| eXpert_Opinion | Posted
on 03-Jan-04 09:19 PM
As JavaBeans already said these kind of issues arise because us Nepalis have not spread ourselves around the world. Mainly due to the culture and the isolation our country was forced into during the Rana rules. The British moves the Indians around, and after their independence it was easy for them to goto UK and other British ruled places. Until recently Nepalis have not migrated much and have hardly been in the news. With this new wave of migration to western countries more and more people will know where Nepal is by the 2nd or 3rd generation of these migrants. Also I would like to point out that these same phenomenon occurs in Nepal. When you see a white tourist they are branded as "amrikane". We first assume they are American or from the UK. I agree that most of us will not ask a tourist where Holland is if he didnt turn out to be a Briton or American. That's because we were taught in school where Holland is and our news media cover events that occur in those countries. If I see a black person here in the US, I assume them to be from Ethiopia or Sudan and may act dumb when he names some African nation that I have never heard of. |
| confused | Posted
on 04-Jan-04 01:08 AM
yah Expert excatly dude..it aint their fault its our fault...its just that We havent done anything greattt in mordern world to be known ...well 5-10yrs from now..that might change and someday we might just not have to explain people where is NEPAL..AT |
| Bob Marley | Posted
on 04-Jan-04 07:26 AM
Being Nepali sometimes is cool and sometime fraustating too if you're in US. Not just Americans, even foreighners have not heard a lot about Nepal. I get mistaken from being Oriental. They go through all the names of the countries in Asia, but surprisely they really don't seem to know Nepal...Chinese (lots of them) don't know where Nepal is. I gave maps to one of my American friend and also once to a Japanese. They went through the whole map (especially on the Asia continent) and when I said I was not from any of them, they thought I was making fun. Nepal just is too small to spot and on top of that, we're poor. Did you know that if (unfortunetly) Nepal has a terrorist and trying to enter, then everybody will know (in the US) where Nepal is with detail maps on the news channel. Isn't that funny, if we do something stupid like that, we might get some recognition. It's just my stupid example...don't take it seriously. So Confused...don't worry...there're a bright future a head of us from the coming genneration. |
| luckydude | Posted
on 04-Jan-04 11:59 AM
Speaking of being terrorists and trying to attack the U.S., Maoists have already done it by killing two American Embassy's guard. I don't know what else Maoists have done to the American interests, but America has announced Maoists a threat to their National Security. They are warning their citizens not to go to Nepal. For more information go to - http://www.travel.state.gov/nepal_warning.html . I have a couple of friends in the U.S. and they have been to Nepal a couple of times with me and they always get the travel-warning from the American Embassy in Nepal if there is gonna be some kind of rally or bandh. They already know the word "bandh" and they have a hard time remembering "Shuva Ratri." Pretty Ironic that "Bandh" and Killing has become a part of our Nepalese Peoples daily life. Not just ironic, but also unfortunate. But let's hope one day these suckers will realize what the f**k they are doing with Nepal's future and stop killing each other. Peace in Nepal luckydude |
| mickthesick | Posted
on 05-Jan-04 04:40 AM
..I don't think this should be a problem. We look like Hispanics and Indians so it's wise for the Americans to assume that we are one of those. It's another thing that they are wrong. But we can at least remain cool about the fact that they are trying to figure out who we are so that next time when they see us they might shout at us saying "Hey Nepali" and start a lively convesation. We cannot really argue that they are guilty of recognising our identity. Yeah it's true that instead of starting to speak with us in Spanish or Hindi they could ask us our identity first, just to make sure whether they are right in their judgement of us or not. But then again they are not used to such situations and more than often Americans are so sure about their judgements that they make the mistake of not asking us before starting to speak in Spanish or Hindi. Although t might seem ridiculous but the only solution would be to explain every one (who approaches us thinking we are Hispanics or Indians) that we are Nepalis and that we are different from what they assume who we are. I don't think we should be mad at them. People in Nepal think every white tourist in Nepal is either a British or an American. They don't even give a faintest of thought to whether he could be a French or a Russian. The case of Americans assuming us to be Hispanics or Indians is similar to our perception of tourists in Nepal as British or America. The only solution is to have a talk and sort out the difference so that they don't do it again. |
| VincentBodega | Posted
on 05-Jan-04 11:46 AM
Lost identity re? what did we have that we are losing? Isnt it a little bit of our fault that when people are talking about Mars exploration and outer space we still cant fathom the notion that killing people for some political beliefs is barbaric? I dont think I have anything positive to introduce Nepal with other than Mount Everest and Buddha, and these are the things we didnt go get. These were given to us and we exploit that too. Sometimes it amazes me. There are 20 million plus Nepalese and not a single one about whom we can talk about in lieu of John Nash or Eric Lander or Mikhael Gorbachev ... May be we are just humble and dont believe in publicity and there are heros out there who are just unknown to me. But I think its high time someone made it out there... at least to show us the way. oh well |
| katmandude | Posted
on 05-Jan-04 03:05 PM
How long are we going to coast on Mt. Everest and the Gurkhas in the name of our national "achievemnents" ? No wonder people (even the Chinese, to my utter surprise, let alone average Americans) havent heard of Nepal. K'dude |
| AskMe | Posted
on 13-Jan-04 02:53 AM
Great article, by the way you should accept the fact that Nepal is small country and poor country, so it is not famous, and most of the people arround the world still don't have idea about Nepal. |