| Username |
Post |
| KS |
Posted
on 06-Mar-02 07:44 AM
Courtsey: { http://www.sebsonline.org/forum/forum_view.asp?F=1&T=15856} and Sunday Post
Continued from part I an article by Nuru Lama
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Occasionally, one can spot a second generation Nepali born and brought up in America. They too have their set of problems in acknowledging their uniqueness, their place in a world where most youths feel a little lost anyways. Are they Nepali Americans, American Nepali or Americans of Nepali origin or simply Americans? These permutations and combinations do not help much. The problem is not definitional, it is one of finding those aspects of you, your family and your social circle that you most identify with and enjoy.
We log onto the Internet and read of the Maoist killings, the royal carnage, the bandhs, and silently thank the gods for taking us far away from all that objectness, vainly wishing things would change for the better. Most Nepalese in America talk about returning to Nepal, one day. But a quick observation of the immigrant population in the US provides few stories of returns to the cherished homelands. For most, home, motherland is just a romantic longing, a party cliché, a framed, hazy Machhapuchhre in some living room corner. We talk of Nepali politics, dance to Nepali lokgits, relish dhalbhats and momos, but mostly it is just an attempt to come to terms with the reality of our uprootedness by regenerating here a piece of the past.
Many Nepalese in America talk of getting their education, saving a few dollars and going back to work for the public good - while a respectable thought, it is often a juvenile chivalry driven by Hollywood style "one-man-can-do-all" naivete or a colonial notion of teaching the natives or just an idealistic adventure to nourish the lost soul. Mostly, it is just talk. So, to redeem one’s own conscience, college students go back and intern at some big-name NGO for a few months, others send a $50 check to sponsor a child’s education and feel their responsibility completed. But, most do not even do this much. A few have gone back but for the safety of their family business or due to family pressures to return (babu, we don’t want you to just be a voice on the other end!).
Nepalese have a history of migration in search of economic opportunities, to Bhutan, Darjeeling, Assam and other parts of India. With time, as overseas countries developed and looked for cheaper labour, Nepalese have travelled to the East Asian countries, the Middle East and the West. At many of these places, we have suffered extreme physical abuse, humiliation, poor working conditions and sub-par wages. Despite the cruelty and the hardship, Nepalese are streaming out of the country at an ever-increasing rate, stark evidence of the destitution at home and of the enduring, industrious determination of the Nepalese. Barring the few rent-seeking gentries, disillusioned nationalists and indulgent state beneficiaries, ‘bidesine’ is today a common household topic of discussion, a fact of life, a real escape valve.
America is no kingdom of heaven. It is a hard struggle. But America has provided many Nepalese with opportunities for education, employment and experience of a world different than home. Of the Nepalese in America, a few may return home and some may actually return to make remarkable contributions to the country’s peace and prosperity. It will be a new beginning when the American dream is transposed to the Nepali landscape. Maybe then, no Nepali will want to leave home in search of foreign pastures. Whatever the case, living abroad is neither a betrayal of home nor a ‘superior’ form of living. Diasporic life is just another avenue to solve the equations of life, a rational choice to deal with the complexities of living in our times. Nepalese, whether in Nepal or abroad, should be equally cherished.
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| jagatdogg |
Posted
on 06-Mar-02 07:05 PM
Thank you for your refreshing look on the Nepali experience in America. It is nice to read a rational look through the eyes of a non-judgemental individual who seems to understand the tricky situation of immigrants. This is one of the first articles I have read that does not demonize nor criminalize the Nepali person who has chosen a different path from their brothers, sisters, parents and grandparents in Nepal. We may choose to go back, or we may not. But, that remains an individual choice and is not indicative of feelings of superiority or of pity for those who stayed in Nepal.
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| ashu |
Posted
on 06-Mar-02 08:12 PM
Nuru writes:
"A few have gone back but for the safety of their family business or due to family pressures to return (babu, we don’t want you to just be a voice on the other end!)."
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This is interesting but could have been more nuanced.
Yes, there are quite a few young Nepalis who have come back NOT
necessarily to the safety of their family businesses, but -- more accurately -- to manage the upheavels and lead the changes/transitions that their family businesses are undergoing in Nepal.
In all likelihood, with their US education and contacts, these young people
will try to make their existing businesses run even better, even more efficient
and more profitable, and will get into new ventures and explore new business opportunities . . . and all that IS a very good thing.
After all, it's always more admirable to work for yourself anywhere -- whether in Nepal or in the US -- than to slave under others.
Yes, there are also other Nepalis who have come back to take care of their
aging parents. For many, this can be a valid free choice and NOT necessarily a choice forced by some putative sense of filial guilt. After all, on the death-bed, most people are likely to say that they wished they had spent more time with
their family members . . . than at their office or being away from home.
Finally, the greatest appeal of Nepal, to some Western-educated Nepalis anyway (including myself), is that this is the country where you can -- with drive, energy, persistence and networks -- help build systems (micro or macro) from the ground up. This is the country where little efforts go a long way.
This is the country where, if you look hard, if you build up a solid professional credibility and establish social capital (i.e. getting out of your, say, the usual circle of high school friends and so on), you can find many, many good people of various backgrounds in Nepal doing great, quiet work . . . people you can draw inspiration/strength from.
Sure, buiding up systems in Nepal takes a lot of time, and is full of frustrations and so on. But so what?
At the end of the day, the fundamental question you have to ask yourself is this: Do I want to be a time-teller or do I want to be a clock-maker? Time-tellers are better off staying where systems have already been made and are functioning, and that's fine.
Clock-makers, on the other hand, can deal better when it comes to ambiguities and uncertainties -- stuff that Nepal provides aplenty.
For meticulous time-tellers who yearn order and security, Nepal can be a khattam place, and that's understandable. But for clock-makers with boundless optimism, energy and learning-abilities, there are plenty of things to do/start/continue/experiment with in Nepal, and even the choice need NOT come down to mere US and Nepal but to the US, Nepal and the rest of the world.
Combining the best of Nepal with the best of some other country is always good.
Combining the best of Nepal with the best of other countries while living and working in Nepal is even better.
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
and there is an immense satisfaction that one can derive from building up a system. Our legal system, for instance, needs to be revamped. The way we do business needs to be made more business-friendly. Our curricula needs chang
Finally, as someone who admires the US and had had, on the whole, a great
time there, I have to confess that the US has NO monopoly on all the great opportunities available for young, smart, driven, initiatve-taking and well-networked Nepalis.
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