Four years into living and working in Kathmandu, a young female adult -- a conclusion based on her Twitter profile -- has decided that working her ass off in the city is not worth it, and that she was better off struggling abroad. The tweet appears to speak to many others -- they tweeted affirmatively in response.
After living and working in Nepal for most of the last 8 years, I also concur.
The sixth one in the series about Nepal needing a revolution…a revolution of the mind.
Here’s more of one of many MANY reasons why from during the lockdown to contain the coronavirus.
Nepalis on average are a closed and inward looking people. And because of that, when the proverbial mirror is held in front of them, offended, disappointed, or not liking what is reflected back, they generally shatter the mirror. In this blog post, I document one such example from Twitter.
When pointing out systemic and structural issues in Nepal, the structurally privileged, the hill so called high caste Hindus either go on the defensive or offensive. One of the offensive tactics they use is to accuse the person of "pointing fingers" at them! I have had that. What would have been welcome, among other things, is them listening to our analysis and evaluations and working with us to establish a more just and equitable society.
The fifth one in the series about Nepal needing a revolution…a revolution of the mind.
Here’s more of one of many MANY reasons why.
While, for the hill so-called high caste Hindus, Dassain is the biggest religious festival, for many others, it--along with a lot of the other things--is a symbol of suppression and oppression their ancestors suffered from. So, if, as a high caste, your sentiments are hurt by protests against it, I invite you to reflect and imagine how much and how long the sentiments of others and their ancestors must have been hurt by the suppression of, for example, their festivals.
The fourth one in the series about Nepal needing a revolution…a revolution of the mind.
Here’s more of one of many MANY reasons why.
Another #LifeEh observation. This one about how I did everything I could to leave behind, "escape" from, and rise above the yoke of the Bhote label...only to return to Nepal as a middle-aged man after spending pretty much all my adult life abroad studying, working, and traveling just to discover I have come full circle!
Before abortion was legalized in Nepal in 2002, "up to one-fifth of incarcerated women were convicted of abortion-related crimes" and "more than half of maternal deaths during the one-year study period [was attributed] to abortion-related complications."
Now we have a pro-life Christian organization with 32K strong volunteers, and hospitals run by a Christian organization most likely staffed by also conservative pro-life Christian doctors who follow their religion's narrow dictates when it comes to abortion.
Last January I decided to drastically cut down on my social media activism in Nepal. Additionally, I also decided to cull my Facebook friend list and make my Facebook posts viewable only by friends. Four months later, I came across yet another reason to do that.