| ashu |
Posted
on 29-Apr-01 11:27 PM
Hi everyone,
Just got back traveling to out-of-the-way villages in Parbat
zilla (capital: Kushma) -- accompanying backpacking friends
who were trekking/hiking/walking along those areas.
Talking with villagers and observing changes, one thing that struck me is how GLOBAL Nepal's villages have become.
Let me explain.
In almost all the villages we went (5 in all), there were people -- Nepalis in their late 20s and 30s and even 40s -- who had been to countries like South Korea, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrein, Malaysia and so on and had returned. Some had earned money abroad and are now happy to reminisce about their
'phoren' stints, showing photos and so on; a few had
returned empty-handed . . .
Of course, these people comprise a small, small part of
those who had gone abroad from these villages. Many are still
overseas -- sending money home every month and so on.
But the fact that seemingly a large number of the young Nepali villagers are NOW abroad (mostly to work and earn money) tells me that -- and if we are to take this Parbat-zilla-ko-case as a REPRESENTATIVE sample -- Nepal's remote villages (where there is no running water, electricity and so on) are no longer remote in one sense.
Whether we like it or not, these villages -- because of labor mobility and attendant influences from abroad -- are actually
a vibrant part of the GLOBAL society. Never mind that these villages do not have telephones, bijuli, piped water and so
on.
In Ramja (a Gurung village) in Parbat zilla, I had had an informative discussion with a Korea-returned veteran who answered all my naive questions about how you make 'kimchi' (a sort of Korean staple 'achaar') and what ingredients are needed. I mean, imagine that!! Having a discussion about a Korean dish in the
middle of nowhere. Surely, a fruit of globalization . . .
To add to Hom Raj's points, globalization has arrived in Nepal -- and, surprisingly, it is all the more alive and kicking in Nepal's villages.
oohi
ashu
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