Well, I agree with the original message in this topic. However, I want to add my thoughts about the culture aspect. Here most of us are trying to say that getting drunk and all is not in our culture. Well, getting drunk and fighting is not in any culture anywhere in the world but still people do it. Everyone knows it's not right but people still do it. It has nothing to do with culture. And again, culture keeps changing continously. In Nepal, do we all still have the same culture from the previous generation? Just ask yourself. Nowadays, in Kathmandu, how many Lakhe dances can you see during the Nag Panchami season? If you were around twenty years ago there would be more than one Lakhe dance in the same tole - on the same street. Now the Nag Panchami Lakhe dance seems to be a rarity. Even deusi and bhailo is on the decline and whatever there is - is usually performed to collect donations. So what I am trying to say is that let's not crow about Nepalese people's culture in the usa while our culture is undergoing a drastic modernization within Nepal itself. (And it is a different story altogether that there are many regional communities that have had a much more liberal culture than that of the major ethnic groups like Bahun Chhettris and Newars.) I have other perks about Nepalese communities in the US too but I will not go into that now. Right now it will suffice to say that I agree with the most of the poeple in this thread. Cheers