The more Nepalese are in America, in many ways, it seems that less Nepalese are getting exposure of America that is not part of the Nepali ghetto. There is less of a need to adapt to the good that America offers apart from money.

We love Nepal. It has its faults. But it has been home to all of us at one time or another. Now we find ourselves in America. It is a mixed bag. There is good and there is bad.

When we came to America from Nepal, we thought America would be everything we didn't have in Nepal. When we arrive here, we realize that it isn't all that its made to be. With every new succession group of Nepalese coming to America, the learning curve is getting shorter and shorter. Many Nepalese are settled down in the States now and can easily teach the new comers about life in America. Sajha.com contributes a lot to the education of Nepalese by the members giving advice, suggestions and help.

But there is another side of the problem. There are Nepalese who have stayed a number of years in America who think that just because they have stayed here for 10, 15, 20, or even more years that they know all that there is to know about America. They can speak fluent English. Their children prefer pizza to dal, bhat in Nepali parties. Their wives wear shorts around the mall without feeling shy. What is there to explore in America more than this?

It is interesting that a Nepali can be a professional of any sort, but at the end of the day, to find meaning for his/her achievement he or she comes back to the same Nepali community. Many feel the need to find meaning in the wealth that they have earned by going back to Nepal and dropping hints at the education and wealth that they have earned. America continues to offer these people all else except status.

In the end it seems that many Nepalis are more successful in changing their economic status than their mentallity.  It is hard to change our mentallity when at the end of the day we are surrounded by the same dogmatic standards from the Nepali community that we know we will be judged by. I recognize that it is this ghetto mentallity that we need to be able to evolve from. And this is the real challenge for us Nepalese. You can take the beggar out of Nepal. But how do we take the beggarliness out of the Nepali? It is easier said than done. It is easier to judge others than to judge ourselves. I'll be the first one to admit guilt.

What I am trying to say is that in many ways us Nepalese have been able to take advantage of America in terms of what it can offer in terms of economics. We come from a poor nation, so to establish ourselves financially is a big deal. But on the other hand if we continue to just highlight what a big deal earning money is to the point that we don't see all else that America has to offer to us to grow as people, our Nepali mentality will never go beyond what we arrived in America with. And for some people that is a source of pride.