i have to ask this.. for those of you who are in the US: how many of you intend to go back to Nepal at some point in your lives? why wud u want to / or not want to?

for those who r in Nepal, do you think we shud come back ?

lol.. dumb mistake.. no joke, i'm going back to Nepal fo sure.. haha

I totally agree with hurray.

i like the little summary that Shiv did... i am glad most of us do want to go back...

Where do I start - hmmm let's see - don't get me wrong I love my hometown - but was abt 5/6 I guess went to pre- boarding school in Kerseong/then finished my school in Darjeeling SP then went to Banglore C finished my associate degree then came to KTM and stayed almost 2 yr trying to figure out wot to do then came to USA. so let's see how many yr did I spend it NEPAL - hmmm and I have been here 14 yrs in USA.

Someone please convience me to go back home plezzzz I need a very good reason why I should leave everything I have and go back and ............

here is one reason for u sanjays - u were born in Nepal, that's who u truly are regardless of how many years u've spent there, that's a good enough reason.. but if u do not identify with the nepali culture at all then I don't know what to say to u 'coz it's difficult ..l.. i wud understand why it wud be hard for u to find a reason to go back...

Wasn't conviencing but I will take ur word "no one" - I know u will make urself proud someday being someone....don't worry!

My case is something like Sanjays too, I was born in India grew up there studied and everythng and in the May of 97 visit ktm for the very first time. but for all those years before I even visit nepal I always considered myself as a nepali though I have never been to nepa ( I think that was funny). Well, I like nepal so much than I decided to work in Nepal and fortunatly got a very good job in the bedeshi project in the end of the same yearI visit nepal for the first time, I moved to ktm. Well, I only lived in Nepal for only three years and I still consider myself Nepali.

I am married here in the US so my home is US but my Maiti is nepal. So no doubt that I will go there to visit some friends and family and maybe when I am old I might want to retire in Nepal. But again. who knows what is the future has in store for me??????????????

JANMA BHUMI ---- NEPAL
KARMA BHUMI ---- USA

WELL i guess i'ma do lotsa karma in AMERICA n go bak to my JANMA bhumi to RELAX..... n maybe come to USA for a VACATION when i retire...... well dat'z my plan....... but i ain't sure if i'ma be alive until da time i retire.......soooo dat'z da question i wonder all da tyme???
peace
NepBloodz

neppal neppal..sundar shanta nepppal hahhahahhhahaa

aafno nepali maobadi daju bhai jungalibheda,,netaharu vacuum cleaner,, and king gainendra sandhe,,police chor nabhaidiyeko bhaye ta nepal janchu bhanna hunthyo,,but ahile ta nepal gayo bhane kaam napayera bihe garna budhi pani nabhetla jasto lagcha,,then may be bau le bihe gardenan por pani ,,,aama malai tyai keti chaiyo bhandai gaudai basnu parcha,,bidesh ko degree nepal ma technical kaam khojyo bhane over qualified,,aafai kaam garaun bhane future look xyz

The true test of your intelligence on behalf of topic depend on your main ideas and supporting details that you collect. The Topic is "being head of dog is better than being tail of tiger."
First you never ever qualify as a bona fides citizen of US,
you never ever get worse in Nepal than the Job you doing in US according to your qualification.
Let's say you did master or Ph.D., you barely sustain if you do proper expenses as needed in US. I found more graduated Nepalese doing such a degrading job even in US, and a very few of them get succeeded in their profession. However, their jobs is no guarantee at all, at the same time their correspondence worker even couldn't come to close to compute with you, may have more chance to abolish to you (Bideshi workers).forget about your H1-B, If you want to see the proof, just glimpse to the IT field of CA, and across the US. For sure savin money from working lehman way beyond your education may tempt better financially secure( the same way bihari live to save money in our hometown). But, you don't want to spend your entire life staying in kitchen, factory, grocery story or similar type of job including Taxi driver. Of course, you will like to enjoy the sweet of your labor. The answer is pretty simple, whether you want to enjoy your entire earning with in a couple of years for yourselves or couples of decay and for your generation? You have a choice, I don't argue to whom he/she already frustrated of Nepal's situation. Time won't be taken way longer than the way it usual long to come for you to decide with peace minded and say that I will enjoy that much from this much of $. The way time fly the same as you will fly .......Don't worry, I am tried of working ......... I have fulfilled my goal....... but not making family happy, for sure, money and 8-10hrs hard labor couldn't make my family happy. Buying houses, sport cars BMWs, everybody can does(if she/he promises to pay by working), no one gives a shit. After 30 yrs of paying house would become your dream true, on the other hand, you kids respect you by giving a shit (dad take a snap shot, it just pot..... hahaha, hell ya I have to hang out with my homieeee, f*** your shit dashain or culture, It's funny to me even to talk with my homieeeeeees, hahaha ya unculture people explain about culture,,, what the fu*** I need f**king 10K, I an't live with ya such like wild animal) you are going to end up a word "wild animal" given by yourr own kids. Than you will think not going to home town better toward Kashi banaras.........

From Okhaldhunga to Oklahoma- I





This is the story of Ram Prasad, a Nepali caught between two worlds. Many Nepalis, both at home and abroad, will find it familiar. Read Part One below.

By Dr. Ambika Prasad Adhikari

Kathmandu provided the best of both worlds, a sophisticated urban life in the midst of mountainous landscapes!

The setting in Nepal

The fifties were an interesting time internationally and for Nepal too. Many nations, including neighbouring India had just become free from the clutches of Colonialism. Following the Second World War, many countries of the world had begun the nation building process and were gearing up towards development. In Nepal, democracy was instituted for the first time in her history. Extraordinary personalities in all fields, such as B. P. Koirala and Laxmi Prasad Devkota, had begun to lead Nepal towards modernity in politics and literature. Many pioneering events had just taken place in a country of just 10 million people. For example, Radio Nepal had been launched, and the aviation era had dawned in mountainous Nepal. Nepal was negotiating with India to construct its first highway ever? the Tribhuvan Highway? linking the nation?s capital with the India border, a gateway of the outside world to exotic Nepal.

Innocent early life in Nepal

This cohort of people born in the fifties essentially constitutes the present day mainstream leaders and professionals in Nepal, and runs the country. Belonging to this cohort, Ram Prasad was born in Okhaldhunga, a far away hilly district of Nepal, a place that is, even by Nepali standards, still waiting for modern development. Ram Prasad?s parents were farmers, belonging to a family that had lived in the same village for ten generations.

Ram?s elders were adept in farming activities, like tilling land, chopping trees, shepherding cows, hiking through the forests and picking fruits. Awed by their outdoor skills, he followed in their footsteps and learnt the ways of survival in the hinterlands. Life close to the land and nature is the best. Henry Ford once said ?chop your own wood, it will warm you twice?; it was exactly the practice in the hills. In retrospect, living in the midst of a concrete jungle, and winding highways in Nepal or in America, Ram often finds solace in the thoughts of those days.

Ram did not go to grade school then, as his parents? taught him the three R?s at home. In those days, there was no climbing up of a long ladder of schooling, as the kids are grilled through today. There was no need to start at Nursery then move on to lower KG and Upper KG before embarking on even Grade one ? to Ram, this process looks like a Ph. D. already. Most of his classmates started at whatever grade they wanted to, like third, fourth, fifth or even sixth!

Sweet life in Kathmandu

After a couple of decades of leisurely education, household chores, and moving around to make a living within Nepal, Ram finally got an opportunity for higher education in Kathmandu. Wow, that was quite an achievement, and life felt good for Ram! Kathmandu provided the best of both worlds, a sophisticated urban life in the midst of mountainous landscapes! The hot Momos in the cold Kathmandu weather tasted sumptuous, and people were friendly. Ram fully indulged in it, as much as he could afford.

After graduating, Ram became a teacher. Bachelor life with a monthly salary of Rs. 500 tasted great, and he enjoyed parties almost every evening with Khukuri Rum and buff barbeque! The corner restaurants and bars of Kathmandu streets catered well even to his income. In retrospect with one single bill to pay for a room, life was practically stress-free, with no need for Yoga classes or psychiatric counselling! In fact, with his salary he was already a middle class Kathmanduite!

Craving to go to a ?foreign? land

Within a few years, though, the lure of going abroad prevailed on Ram. America was the preferred destination. It was a romantic thought, half way around the globe, a rich and developed country beckoning the poor Nepali! Ram?s image of the US was created by some films in USIS, the colourful pictures in the ?Free World (Swatantra Bishwa)? magazine, and stories from people who had visited the ?Promised Land?. In 1969 when the USIS in Kathmandu exhibited the pictures of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon, the US became the ultimate destination to many Nepalis. Ram fantasized of working in NASA and helping send people to the moon. Further, America was a land of big corporations like GM, Fords and Coca-Cola, where people earned untold amounts. Some people even believed that money grew on trees in America!

Slowly the ?land of milk and honey? became an irresistible destination, and Ram had to mobilize all his intellectual might to realize the dream. A graduate of a local Nepali school, he ventured into the hardship of TOEFL, GRE and filled out miles of forms in order to make the trip to the US. The only way for ordinary Nepalis to come to the US then was on government scholarship. The commonplace sight of Nepalis visiting the US these days for a week?s vacation, or to observe the birth of their grandchildren was unthinkable then. Only royalty and perhaps the top hundred elites of Nepal could visit the US or Europe on their own. For mortal Nepalis like Ram it was impossible to come here privately, and a scholarship remained the only salvation.

Finally in America

After preparing for almost a year, Ram Prasad finally landed at a dazzling International Airport in America. Before the school actually started, Ram got busy with tours of super markets, trips to fast food restaurants and orientation parties where alcohol flowed like water in the river, and there were mountains of food. Life tasted sweet and smelled fresh! The journey to a new world for a poor Nepali thus began, and it will take Ram through many memorable experiences, both sweet and sour.

To be continued...

(Dr Ambika Adhikari is associated with Arizona State University, USA. Ram Prasad is a fictional character)

Laura,
Yes, indeed the feeling is generic and we all feel or felt that way once.
-Shiv

laura where did you find this article?

www.ekantipuronline.com

Very well said Thaha. But be careful, ppl might say that you are having so much fun and you're so much scared of them coming over and taking your fun away that you're giving away invalid information... lol..

darling ofcourse you JANMA BHUMI IS NEPAL , AND YOUR KARMA BHUMI IS AMERICA. WHY WOULD YOU NOT WANT TO RETIRE IN NEPAL WHEN YOU CAN HAVE ALL THE CHILD LABOR IN YOUR HOUSE TO LOOK AFTER YOU LIKA A MEEM SAAHIB, I WOULD ALSO CHOOSE TO RETIRE. YOU ARE SO HEARTLESS, THE COUNTRY THAT GAVE YOU KARMA, DON'T YOU EVERN FEEL A INCH OF PINCH TO RETURN YOUR PART TO THE KARMA BHUMI.

SHAME, SHAME, SHAME

Dyamn, You r right, I 'm experienced with that....... some of my close relatives even don't talk to me just because I didn't send paper to their kids in order to face US Visa's interview. As I understand, people are living here years and years and yrs have no goals. They do as Americans, earn money spend as much as they can, finally depend on bank or credit to do an extra expense.... Can't even go home to visit due to job being fired, and payment for their plastic poison. More over, who gonna buy Daru-pani for them once having dismiss their jobs. then rationalize their staying in US is unstable of Political situation of Nepal. Hehehe,,, I am saying bye bye Nepricans (everybody is here doctor, engineer, intellectuals burga saying that no one is here come from poor class or khana napugne huru, so what why are you staying?)
They need to know a meaning of satisfaction,,,,,,, I am sure , I understand the comparison of US facilities with of Nepal is vast deferent, it doesn't mean there are 30 million people don't know how to enjoy. You have one way the other, it is up to you whether you like to live with tenson, fraustration, and unsecure life style. I don't balm to US people, but people who came here on their mid-age or after 20's and act like shit kinda sarcastically. I can rationalize of not returning, but one day my relative and my family will figure at out how selfish I is. how much is too much gotta learn to figure at out. Driving BMW, thousands of dollars in bank, 100s of thousands credit card and loan offers, degree from US,,,,,,, etc........... But, for a poor Nepali who enjoy his/her kharidar or teacher's job thinks that you have just nothing, but money. Shame on us Nepricans....... to proud of

Definitely..........Nepal

haina,yo website ma bhayekaa sabai jana abroad chhan jasto chha.sabai ta haina tara almost 90%.ani nepalma chai ko chha ta?ani yastai tarikaa le sabai yata tira huikiney ho bhaney ek din nepal ritto hunna ra?