Returning to Nepal with a US degree, good or a bad idea?

where do you live newstudent?

Dimag kharab bro,
I know you are here in this thread but using some other Id; come out with your original man, I m missing u, lol

newStudent, it does appear that you're living in the bubbles that holding a job that pays you enough money in Nepal ( albeit for a starter ) is a decent return. 

Like agnibikram said, newstudent seems to give a lot of importance to money. Yes, money is important, but it is not everything.
If you had a decent job, relaxed life with your parents around, would not that be great? On my last visit to Nepal, I saw some of my friends who hold regular jobs. They probably make Rs.20-30k/month. And belive me, they looked way happier than me. They know the hardship of living in Nepal, but I know the lonliness of living in the US. You can surround yourself with other nepalese, but at the end of the day, you know you are alone. The ones who love and care about you are back in Nepal.

 I think it is ironical that Agnibikram is accusing me of stressing on money. He is the one who calculates how much one can make all the time.

GC is taken for granted--because as far as I see, almost every Nepali around me have by now applied and received their greencard. Let's face it, lawyers who visit Sajha do so to make people greencard. I know graduate students have worked as legal councillor and made tons of money on these green card scam here. Furthermore, almost everyone except decent Nepali student working his ass off in a college town middle of nowhere seem to have greencard.

Agni's portrayal of dire situation in Nepal relies on his assumptions that 

(1) Roads will never constructed anymore.
(2) Consumer Price will keep on rising.
(3) Land price will either remain same or keep on increase. etc etc.

That's normally hardly the case. Anyone who has seen a city grow knows that (1) is not true. In Nepal too, roads have been made , it is just that they are not made in KTM. Agni's version of our country also means only KTM. But more than that, if educated people return, they will make road. They will inject some sanity in insane KTM where locals used oppose making another ringroad.

Nepal's consumer price rise has saddened me, but it has a flip side. If you own some land in village, you can actually make a decent money by raising cash crop. Rising food prices are the only way to make villagers/farmers well off. Furthermore, it is a phenomenon that has touched both India and China lately. When things become cheaper there, so will it in Nepal.

(3) is obviously not true, and the land price is reducing. You can get an apartment at about 20 + lakh. In America, long ago, they killed natives and took away their land. So,land is abundant here and one can buy land cheaply and make house cheaply except in the cities with land rationing (like San Francisco or more dense city like New York).

Now, look at this news that came a day or two ago: Nepal couldn't spend kharab of rupees (billions of dollars) given by donors. Rightnow, govt has money, donors are eager to give, but good engineers are scarce. You guys probably don't know but a hydropower engineer in Nepal (with MS degree, and 10 years of experience) makes almost Rs 2 Lakh per month.

The key is to identify which subject to study here. If you are a road engineer, sooner or later your day will come. If you are a hydropower engineer your day will come. I see big future for food engineers too as packaged food etc will have their day. But if you are doing PhD in lifesciences working on some species in Antarctica, I don't see how you will get any chance in Nepal that can satisfy you. When you are studying something, you will have to make sure that this has future in Nepal.

If you have a house in KTM, more or less ,your parents are now raking in Rs 50,000 per month, then I don't see why you should be afraid to go. With 1 Lakh per month, you will be able to visit American once in a while if your visa status is not screwed. Regarding car, I don't know why you need car in KTM. KTM should ban car in most of the places, introduce electrical vehicle. I used to live in Jawalakhel and walk all the way to Amrit Campus to take class about 20 years ago. KTM is a small city, we should really make driving car very expensive there, and promote bike riding and public bus riding.

I am not saying everyone has to go. Like I said, if you are a c-programmer, a nurse or so on, you should stay here if you like it here. It doesn't cost much to produce another c-programmer or nurse in Nepal. But if you are not enjoying here, you miss food or other environment there, or if you have some decent business plan, Nepal is not a bad place to go. In fact, it may even be a good place to make your career rightnow.

 हया मुला गुलेहरु खुरुक्क नेपाल जान छोडेर के करैराको । 

 We all are discussing what we can do or what we cannot do in Nepal and in United states.

Can anybody share their experience who has return back  to Nepal and how they feel. and compare the two lives. 

you know what is the problem with all of us. WE are shit scared to go back home becuase we fear that we might fail. plus it's a peer thing too. all of our friends are over here in the US and we fear that we'll be all alone by ourselves in Nepal.

I know it is true for me.

 old english, Agnibikram has clearly said he is in Nepal right now. 

Nice input by him. It's more practical than anything I have heard before.

 @grgdai,

NO offence but I mentioned who gone back to Nepal. 

Agnibikram sounds more like he never lived out of Nepal. (Grass is always greener on other side) 

 Five years ago, in Nepali gathering, you could see several students who would say
  "I would have gone to Nepal, but this darn Maoist insurgency.. you don't know what happens to your life when you go there"
Today, we are complaining that "we won't have car and house rightaway in KTM".

So basically, this is a progress.

I know most of those in the states don't go back. Few do, and most of those who go back seem to succeed.

I personally think life is bitch everywhere. It is upto you to make it better. Nepal is bad today doesn't mean it will remain so forever. US is good today also doesn't mean it will remain like that forever. If you are brilliant, I am sure you will enjoy your life wherever you are. In fact, you will find a way to enjoy your life wherever you are.

 very true @newstudent.  

Very impressed with this http://www.afn.org.np/listen.php?id=23   (part 10). 


Personally, i think whether live in Nepal or USA you should be living happy and enjoy the life. But it would be better if we can contribute at least a little  to our country. This kind of feeling is on me and i know to you( may not to some) all also. Things would have been different if i was born here having Nepali parents or was raised having culture of here. But no, i was born and have tradition of Nepal. so my identity is Nepal which i cannot change neither I want to. Its been five years i am here, i am still continuing my study and want to spend some more tough time and gain some more experience and also enjoy some life here; but later on no matter what other say i am going back. 

 newStudent, your last paragraph of your second last post echoes exactly what some of us have been saying. Unless you've already completed your Master's or a Doctorate and still failed to succeed to land a decent job, don't return back! 

Your take on the present day Kathmandu ( I was born and raised in Kathmandu and I could only relate to what I'm familiar with which is why I talked about Kathmandu, not Nepal in General ) is really inaccurate. You live in the States so please don't judge Kathmandu based on your assumptions. I am in Nepal right now and I can find people to vouch for everything as I've shared. I'm not sure if you're aware but once a trafficman signals the vehicles to halt to allow all Pedestrians to cross the road, more than 1,000 people cross the road at once, giving you some overwhelming feelings like where all those people came from and whether they'd just returned back from an andolan. 

Also, you say new roads will be created. Where in Kathmandu, I really wonder. Saying things like "government should ban all vehicles" are silly at best. The country's run by crooks. Did you know that the current Transportation Minister transferred the CEO of the department of transportation for opposing the minister's decision to remove the CCTV's that had put a stop on all illegal activities that took place while giving trial rides to get your licenses because the minister's commission was directly affected? You think the ministers and the leaders care enough? Further, you reckon the citizens will abide by the rulings pertaining to banning of imports and operations of cars and motorbikes? Get real buddy.  The traffic situations in and around places like Kalanki, Gongabu, Chabahil, Lagankhel, Tripureswore, New Road etc are so damn chaotic that you might end up breaking down. There are no parking spaces left! Newer Malls are being constructed in places that can ill-afford to handle any additional vehicles. Where are you going to build roads? I hope you're well aware of the fact that the locals residing in places like Katunje of Bhaktapur, Chapagaun, Kirtipur etc rejected government proposal of "Greater Ring Road" citing the hiked up property value. 

As more Nepalese leave the country, the income through remittance are increasing year after another. The prices of goods and commodities are so damn expensive that its unbelievable. Surviving isn't the main issue, leading a decent life is. If all one cared about was living an affordable life then hell, I'd rather move to Dhangadhi or Taplejung. There's a solid reason why a number of Professionals are abandoning their careers and moving abroad. Money's not a key, motivation, environment and what not are. 

Also, I can't fathom your audacity to take GC for granted. Where exactly do you live man? A number of my friends failed to get jobs that their American friends managed to get, despite being more qualified than the Americans, simply because they didn't have GCs and their companies didn't wanna sponsor them! There are thousands of highly skilled professionals of Indian origin wishing they had GCs because without GCs, their career is always at a risk! 

The irony of everything is, I live in Nepal while you don't. 

@ Old English, I said "the grass is always greener on the other side" just to reflect my own experiences. When I was in the States, I used to think that no matter what I'd do here, Nepal would be far better than the States. 

I suppose I'm starting to sound like a broken record but yet again, I repeat, if you're well qualified and have already launched into a decent career, thoughts of moving back are pointless. Sure, you'll be missing your friends, family, culture and food but really, if you seriously thought about it, you could have all those things in the States too. If you live in Cities like Dallas, San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, Queens, Houston, Chicago, DC/Baltimore or in states like Virginia, you can enjoy all the commodities. 

The situation of the country is worsening day by day. Hospitals and health-care institutions are in such pathetic conditions that its unbelievable. Its believed that more than 50,000 Kathmanduites will die simply due to the lack of healthcare, should a massive Earthquake rock the valley. 

As everybody keeps saying, Nepal is a poor country full of rich people. There are a lot of people with shitloads of money over here and its the people's "nothing to lose" attitude to go alongside their selfishness that the country's roots are so mismanaged! Sure, roads ( as I've stressed a lot on ) would've been constructed but the fact is, there's no availability of spaces to pave new roads on! 

We can't convince anyone to return back to nepal or come to usa pointing out many many reasons. But here what i did.

 I confirmed by ticket to Nepal and heading back on february. :D

anybody is going back, we can go together...PM ME.

And wish me good luck...

 i want to, but time is not right

this thread is getting really interesting. good luck rakchas......keep us posted

One of the biggest reasons or may be the main reason why we fear going back home is, we are scared to be seen as a "loser". Let's admit it. We are scared to hear "Kye kye nai garchu bhanero america gayeko thiyo," or "teslai sakena america ma." But the reality is, no one really cares back home.
Your parents will be more than happy to have you back home with them after so long. And relatives and neighbors will bad-mouth for a while but they will realize that it was you who got the opportunity to come to the US and not them in the first place and will keep their mouth shut. And besides, do we really want to live our lives according to what other people say and think. OF course not.

Hurray,
I hear your sentiments. But the culture in Kathmandu is a whole other animal. One of the things that I repeatedly hear about Kathmandu is that your individuality dissolves once you land there. The whole place runs on "who said what about who." Everyone has an opinion on you. And if you go against it, you are seen as arrogant. This is the problem with Kathmandu. In the States who can experiment with a lot of things, and if you fail, no one knows no one cares. In Nepal, even if you fail, you have to polish it in so many ways and learn to tell so many stories. You can brush 'what other people say' away, but it nags you in the back of your mind.

Also, I have many people say that Nepalese work a lot more harder in the States than they do in Nepal. I have heard people say, "if you work as hard in Nepal as you do in America, people could earn the kind of income they do in the States. Is there some truth to this?

 Bio, you make a number of good points but again, what you and someone like newStudent are failing to realize is Kathmandu isn't the same as it was during the insurgency. Kathmandu's gotten worse and is beyond repair now. The country is likely to impose 20 hours of load-shedding from next year and no matter what we did, we are going to have loadshedding for at least another 5 years. Sure, there are ways of getting by things, rescheduling, making a different routine etc but the fact remains, life does become miserable. 

Please come visit Nepal this year and try to relate to the Nepal of mid 2000s. There's a massive difference. 

And in all fairness, all it comes down to is this - if you have a decent job in the US, there's no way you're going to abandon it to return back. Because if some mishap occurred, you'll be left ruing for the rest of your life. Now if you're from a decent family and failed to do something big there, you'd definitely return back to Nepal as comparatively, you're way better off over here. 

Now for someone who comes from a relatively "poor" family, no matter what you're doing in the US, there's no way back. Absolutely none. When will you earn enough money to build a house, take care of your family, ride decent vehicles and dress well when you're making such a "feeble" figure? 

Its always easy to lecture people and exaggerate about things when you're not partaking the risk. For a established person in the US, its pretty convenient to say things like, well if you're talented enough, no matter where you go, you'll succeed. But what of my buddy who topped his University? He's earning 14k/year, has been working for almost 2 years and still can't afford to buy a damn motorbike! Compare his situation with a gas station attendant in the US. You should get my message!