Posted by: Agnibikram January 16, 2011
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Interesting topic.
First off, Dolphin, I wish to know what companies are so eager to hire US Graduates by offering 1 Lakh rupees per month. Lets not kid ourselves here. If you have a Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance etc, you start off at 15k/ month with 12-month mandatory training related to management.
If you have a Master's ( Preferably MBA ), you will start off at around 25-30k. Now consider Kathmandu's inflated market. If you go out, which you most definitely will, a thousand rupees will buy you a plate of mo:mo, some appetizer and probably a glass of beer. Now imagine you're out on a date or out and about to treat your friends. 4-5k is a must.
Consider the price of clothes. I went out shopping for some trenchcoat just the other day. A Chinese brand with a poor finishing was priced at 3,500.
Lets move on to bigger things. What is your parents' financial background? Do you live in a house that offers privacy? If you've lived in the states for over 5 years, you're highly likely to seek privacy. What about noise pollution factor? Where's your house located at? In the main street or in a quiet neighborhood?You might wonder why I'm bringing this up. Surely, you'd want to live in a quiet neighborhood. Now if your parental house doesn't meet your expectations, you'd consider building a house, right? The cost of land at a semi-decent land in Kathmandu is about 10 lakhs ( at the very least ). When on Earth will you earn money to buy a ropani of land and build a house?
If you led a decent life in the states ( as in, a civilized manner ), you'll get the culture shock of your life-time. People taking a piss in the sidewalks, people picking noises, pollution, "rudeness" are just some examples.
Moving on, you gotta consider the fact that Nepal's electricity crisis is worsening year after another. There are news surfacing in local media that next year's load-shedding will be hiked for up to 20 hours/ day. Now you might say you can opt for alternative sources such as inverters and generators but what you really need to think is, having moved back, you're the person who's likely to bear the responsibility.
Don't think about inverters and generators that supplied electric needs to your household while you were home as a visitor during the winter break. After you move back, petrol and batteries needed to operate those power sources will need to be bought by you! The same goes for veggies, groceries, clothing, cost for performing religious rituals and everything else! You will need to be more responsible!
Then there's the issue of traffic. At this very moment, about 5-6 new massive malls are being built in sensitive areas such as Tripureshore, Sundhara and Teku. Traffic situation, as it already is, has become a major issue. Now when these malls open and start their operations, the parking lot will be able to house about 1,000 more vehicles leading traffic situation to worsen further as the condition of Kathmandu is such that neither the roads can be expanded, nor newer roads built! Who could've imagined that it'd take a person to reach Sundhara from Jorpati 2 hours!
Therefore my friends, I'd really urge you all to think 10 times before deciding to move back. Security situation is so freaking worse. If you were to open a restaurant, befriending a bunch of gangsters is a must. If you made it big, you'll be an easy target of extortion. And who the hell's gonna come save your ass? Nepali Police? You better no kid yourself.
You'll be paying taxes, doing everything required to lead a noble life but the country that can't even provide security will give you nothing for welfare!
All that said, if your parents are well off, then perhaps, you're better off returning back ( provided that you're confident of getting back into the groove of environment you were brought up in ).
But, if you're aspiring to make money, to build a decent house, buying a car and what not then please, don't trouble to kid yourself. A Hyundai i20 car costs over 30,000 dollars! When you're making 300 bucks/ month how many years will it take you to ride a basic car.
Further, as I've aforementioned, you won't even get to enjoy the luxury of riding a car because the roads are so damn full of vehicles. Just the other day, a local newspaper stated that about 150 odd vehicles run within a square km within Kathmandu!
I love my country as much as anybody but the fact remains : Nepal has increased 10 fold in the past 5 years, for the bad, not good. The commodities cost as much as they do in the states and you'll be making 1/5th of what you'd be making in the States (at the minimum, provided that you'd make 20k rupees per month here and you're making 2k back in the states ).
Therefore, think and think again people! Don't take the opportunities in the States for granted. Work hard. Motivate yourself. "Grow" some money, plant the seeds of succeeding, get established and then consider moving back.
The responsibilities weighing on your shoulders once you've moved back itself will be more troublesome than all the gooey work your Indian boss asks you to perform.
Good luck!
First off, Dolphin, I wish to know what companies are so eager to hire US Graduates by offering 1 Lakh rupees per month. Lets not kid ourselves here. If you have a Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance etc, you start off at 15k/ month with 12-month mandatory training related to management.
If you have a Master's ( Preferably MBA ), you will start off at around 25-30k. Now consider Kathmandu's inflated market. If you go out, which you most definitely will, a thousand rupees will buy you a plate of mo:mo, some appetizer and probably a glass of beer. Now imagine you're out on a date or out and about to treat your friends. 4-5k is a must.
Consider the price of clothes. I went out shopping for some trenchcoat just the other day. A Chinese brand with a poor finishing was priced at 3,500.
Lets move on to bigger things. What is your parents' financial background? Do you live in a house that offers privacy? If you've lived in the states for over 5 years, you're highly likely to seek privacy. What about noise pollution factor? Where's your house located at? In the main street or in a quiet neighborhood?You might wonder why I'm bringing this up. Surely, you'd want to live in a quiet neighborhood. Now if your parental house doesn't meet your expectations, you'd consider building a house, right? The cost of land at a semi-decent land in Kathmandu is about 10 lakhs ( at the very least ). When on Earth will you earn money to buy a ropani of land and build a house?
If you led a decent life in the states ( as in, a civilized manner ), you'll get the culture shock of your life-time. People taking a piss in the sidewalks, people picking noises, pollution, "rudeness" are just some examples.
Moving on, you gotta consider the fact that Nepal's electricity crisis is worsening year after another. There are news surfacing in local media that next year's load-shedding will be hiked for up to 20 hours/ day. Now you might say you can opt for alternative sources such as inverters and generators but what you really need to think is, having moved back, you're the person who's likely to bear the responsibility.
Don't think about inverters and generators that supplied electric needs to your household while you were home as a visitor during the winter break. After you move back, petrol and batteries needed to operate those power sources will need to be bought by you! The same goes for veggies, groceries, clothing, cost for performing religious rituals and everything else! You will need to be more responsible!
Then there's the issue of traffic. At this very moment, about 5-6 new massive malls are being built in sensitive areas such as Tripureshore, Sundhara and Teku. Traffic situation, as it already is, has become a major issue. Now when these malls open and start their operations, the parking lot will be able to house about 1,000 more vehicles leading traffic situation to worsen further as the condition of Kathmandu is such that neither the roads can be expanded, nor newer roads built! Who could've imagined that it'd take a person to reach Sundhara from Jorpati 2 hours!
Therefore my friends, I'd really urge you all to think 10 times before deciding to move back. Security situation is so freaking worse. If you were to open a restaurant, befriending a bunch of gangsters is a must. If you made it big, you'll be an easy target of extortion. And who the hell's gonna come save your ass? Nepali Police? You better no kid yourself.
You'll be paying taxes, doing everything required to lead a noble life but the country that can't even provide security will give you nothing for welfare!
All that said, if your parents are well off, then perhaps, you're better off returning back ( provided that you're confident of getting back into the groove of environment you were brought up in ).
But, if you're aspiring to make money, to build a decent house, buying a car and what not then please, don't trouble to kid yourself. A Hyundai i20 car costs over 30,000 dollars! When you're making 300 bucks/ month how many years will it take you to ride a basic car.
Further, as I've aforementioned, you won't even get to enjoy the luxury of riding a car because the roads are so damn full of vehicles. Just the other day, a local newspaper stated that about 150 odd vehicles run within a square km within Kathmandu!
I love my country as much as anybody but the fact remains : Nepal has increased 10 fold in the past 5 years, for the bad, not good. The commodities cost as much as they do in the states and you'll be making 1/5th of what you'd be making in the States (at the minimum, provided that you'd make 20k rupees per month here and you're making 2k back in the states ).
Therefore, think and think again people! Don't take the opportunities in the States for granted. Work hard. Motivate yourself. "Grow" some money, plant the seeds of succeeding, get established and then consider moving back.
The responsibilities weighing on your shoulders once you've moved back itself will be more troublesome than all the gooey work your Indian boss asks you to perform.
Good luck!