Posted by: boston78 December 10, 2007
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I ignored this thread for a long time but today I just checked and was appalled. I don't want to pass any judgment of the DV-lottery guy because such attitude is not limited to just DV lottery people. I know some Nepalese (and Indian and other nationals as well) who are undocumented and yet they sport attitudes like that.
What appalled me was the fact that the originator of the thread used the word "pakhe" to describe a man who did not come from Kathmandu. I am from Kathmandu myself but I don't think I am any less pakhe than any other man. Just because he did not happen to come from an affluent society in Kathmandu and did not get the opportunity to get enrolled in a good school where "English medium" is strictly imposed, that does not make him a pakhe. That kind of attitude on our part as "city-dwellers" that sows the seeds of Maoists and Terai Forums.
Speaking good english does not actually get us anywhere, specially in the cities like boston which is a melting pot for many nationalities and communities. I myself was educated at an "English medium" school by a multitude of American (and British, Canadian and Australian as well) teachers but I have a lot of flaws in my English, even more so when I speak. For the kind of jobs that most of us Nepalese people do in the USA, it is enough if we can get the message through when we speak. We will never be on a harvard debate team.
And technically, I don't think the term "pakhe" applies to a guy from Terai. It is a slur for someone from the hills. Pakhe = someone from pakha
Friends, let's forget who's pakhe, who's parbate, who's shahariya, who's madhisey and who's bhotey. After all, we are all Nepalese. And in much broader sense, we all are human beings. Belonging to one particular group of people does not make us any better (or any worse) than other groups.
Amen
What appalled me was the fact that the originator of the thread used the word "pakhe" to describe a man who did not come from Kathmandu. I am from Kathmandu myself but I don't think I am any less pakhe than any other man. Just because he did not happen to come from an affluent society in Kathmandu and did not get the opportunity to get enrolled in a good school where "English medium" is strictly imposed, that does not make him a pakhe. That kind of attitude on our part as "city-dwellers" that sows the seeds of Maoists and Terai Forums.
Speaking good english does not actually get us anywhere, specially in the cities like boston which is a melting pot for many nationalities and communities. I myself was educated at an "English medium" school by a multitude of American (and British, Canadian and Australian as well) teachers but I have a lot of flaws in my English, even more so when I speak. For the kind of jobs that most of us Nepalese people do in the USA, it is enough if we can get the message through when we speak. We will never be on a harvard debate team.
And technically, I don't think the term "pakhe" applies to a guy from Terai. It is a slur for someone from the hills. Pakhe = someone from pakha
Friends, let's forget who's pakhe, who's parbate, who's shahariya, who's madhisey and who's bhotey. After all, we are all Nepalese. And in much broader sense, we all are human beings. Belonging to one particular group of people does not make us any better (or any worse) than other groups.
Amen