shiva_linga i think i have to disagree with sumedhu

"The present Gurkhas are foreign mercenaries prepared
to die for money for their foreign masters." (sumedhu)

i think he is being biased. First i think one need to realize the political scenario in Nepal. Nepal is far lacking in opportunities. And then we have to realize that there are no jobs opportunities in Nepal. Can you imagine what these men(gurkhas) will be doing right now if the British had not recruited them? We would probably have seen these men going to Arab and Malaysia as laborers. Till Nepal can fully stand on its own feet and provide opportunities to its citizens, people will continue to seek opportunities elsewhere.

In addition just like many of our brothers and sisters working as laborers in gulf countries, Gurkhas are also sending foreign remittance to Nepal. This has to be realized. Nepal in those times especially during the Rana regime I believed was closed to the outside world. There was no source of foreign income coming into Nepal. Gurkhas beside the Manang traders were the only one allowed to leave the country. The foreign revenue earned by these men no doubt played a significant part in Nepal’s economic. Yet after several decades Nepal is still in a deep_shit_hole. Nepalese population is growing and Kathmandu is already overpopulated. Yet there are neither factories nor any industries that can put our citizens to good use. Therefore we see mass migrations of Nepalese laborers to gulf nations. We also see many Nepalese going abroad in pretext of higher education never to return back. Then one needs to realize we also have many migrants in a form of DV winners and asylum refugee seekers in America alone. This constitutes only a significant portion as we know that many Nepalese are living in many European nations as refugee.

This again all comes to socio-economic factor. As long as Nepal remains under develop and cannot provide its citizens with foundation of life, i.e education, health, jobs, etc Nepalese will continue to look for green pasture elsewhere.

Finally I see that these men have not been working for themselves only. Can you see the deeper meaning into it? With the service of the Gurkhas in the British-Singapore-India, these men have been able to sustain their families back home in the hilly regions. Their children have access to education and shouldn’t have to worry about being farmers in their homes in the hills.