Inspired by the Tidbid threads started by my good friend Bathroom Coffee, I thought I'd start a blog of random ideas, opinion and analysis. Feel free to weigh in with your thoughts.
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Nepal's Remittance Economy
We top South Asia in remittances as a percentage of GDP
Remittances now make up 14% of GDP, accoring to this report from the International Fund for Agriculture Development. While our neighbors India and China lead the field in Asia in terms of total dollar amounts, remittances are only a small percentage of their GDP making up 2.7% of India's and 0.8% of China's.
It's also interesting, and perhaps no surprise, that services now make up almost 40% of Nepal's GDP, at par with agriculture (1).I remember a time when agriculture made up close to two thirds of the GDP. I currently don't have sector and sub-sector breakdown of the GDP data but if I were to make a guess, remittances, besides banking and INGO cash inflow, are likely to be big contributors to changing nature of income in Nepal.
On the upside, I interpret this to mean many Nepalese are earning and spending more money than they would have had they stayed home. This is normally a good thing for the economy. On the downside, Nepal is potentially loosing a young workforce who could be working on the business opportunities the inflow of cash can create. Also, because it is more lucrative for our workforce to work outside the country, could it create a long-term shortage of skilled labor in Nepal? Or like India and China, will we simply be able to produce and educate more people to fill up the gap over the years?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study." - Chinese proverb ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It has only been recently that I have come to realize there is so much more to Rushdie than the provocative-writer image I had of him because of Satanic Verses. Shalimar the Clown is next on my reading list. Have read mixed reviews about the book, and was debating whether or not I should buy it, but after watching the interview below, my curiosity got the better of me, and I got myself a copy.
CLIP 1(video) : Rushdie at Penn State.The video is about an hour long.
Sorry, couldn't find a way to post clip without the i-frame since "em-bedding" is not enabled on the clip. If you don't like the frame, you can open the video in a new window by clicking here
CLIP 2 (video) : Rushdie talking to Charlie Rose about Shalimar the Clown, amongst other things. He is featured in the second segment - forward to 18:30
(FORWARD TO 18:30) CLIP 3 (video) : Rushdie reads from The Satanic Verses at the PEN American Center Festival of Writers on April 26, 2006.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study." - Chinese proverb
I thought I'd start a collection of conversations with writers and other artists. Naipaul is a natural favorite to start with for his rich literary style and his long list of accomplishments. I have always enjoyed reading his work.
CLIP 1(video): Charlie Rose's interview with Naipaul on Jan 25, 2000 provides a fascinating insight into a brilliant mind. The conversation lasts about 30 minutes.
His thoughts on death:
"One must always writes ones book, the work one's doing, as though it is the last. You musn't be holding anything back. So at any moment I would feel I have done my work."
The Death of a President is not Fahrenheit 911 and Gabriel Range is not Michael Moore. As long as you don't go into the theater with the expectation of seeing vitriol poured on Bush, you might actually be able to appreciate the movie for what it is worth.
The movie combines actual news footage superimposed with the voices and faces of actors at times. President Bush is shot on the premises of a Chicago hotel in 2007. The director builds up to this event by showing anti-war protesters outside the hotel and breaches of the security cordon around the presidential entourage. A significant part of the movie, and indeed the main plot of the movie, is focussed on the aftermath of the assassination, primarily in finding out who the the killer is.
I am no fan of Bush but images of the guy collapsing into the arms of secret service agents does evoke a tinge of concern if not outright sympathy. Unlike a lot of other assassination movies, this one does not spend a lot of time on the actual event and the kind of public grief that might surround the death of a sitting president. Except for a few shots from Bush's funeral and President Cheney delivering the eulogy, there aren't images of wailing masses on the streets or the kind of post-assassination build-up you see in movies about JFK's assassination.
The movie is not explosive largely because it adopts a matter-of-fact approach in the post assassination plot and does not sensationalize the death. But it is hard to escape the subtle yet consistent political message behind the movie which is the chickens have come home to roost from the Iraq war. The movie repeatedly takes pains to emphasize the extremist nature of the assassin but touches, in passing, on hot button issues like racial profiling , civil liberties and racial profiling.
My ratings of Nepalese restaurants in New England based on my dining experience at these places. These are the opinions of only one person, and each person's experiences and opinions about these restaurants could be different. I am putting this up based solely on my dining experience at these places and this rating/write-up bears no intentional malice towards anyone
Kathmandu Spice, Arlington, MA
Food: A-
Nepalese and Indian influenced fusion cuisine. Lots of Nepalese items on the menu - fairly authentic cooking. Everything I tasted on the menu was good - mutton, fish and chicken curries, momos, pakoras and kheer.
Ambiance: B
Decent Nepalese-influenced decor, fresh new look
Service:B-
There has been a remarkable improvement in service from when they first started. I can no longer say the service is slow. A bit disorganized, perhaps, but not as slow the last time I visited. It appears they are still working out the chinks and I hope they sort out the service issues quickly. But A for effort.
Himalayan Bistro, West Roxbury, MA
Food: A-
Limited Nepalese items on the menu with the bulk of it devoted to Indian dishes. All the Nepalese dishes I tried were delicious and authentic. A few more items would have gotten them an A
Ambiance: A
Pleasant decor, with a good collection of thankas and other decorative items from Nepal. The best amongst the three restaurants in this review in terms of ambiance. Also great value for money.
Service: A
Courteous maitre d' and wait staff. Prompt service except if you order the momos which take about 20 - 25 minutes (the waitstaff will give you a heads-up about it).
Cafe Momo, Manchester, NH
Food: B
Except for a handful of items on the menu, the food could have passed for eclectic American, perhaps an indication of the preferences of the local clientèle.
Decor: B
Pretty in its own way but some might find it a bit too hippyesque
