Interesting article, and standing ovation to all four including mno who have returned to Nepal for a better cause. Speaking of their nobility and compassion, I am not taking anything away from them. I, however do not think I am a person with lesser credibility just because I chose to live in America. Also, let me be a little critical here, do we really trust Nepali media at the first place? Or any media for that reason? I could proudly claim that I am there to ‘develop’ the nation and that I have abandoned my life in America the moment I set my foot back in TIA, and I can bet on my life that some awe-struck journalist will garnish my story with much needed spice and print it the next day. And when it surfaces in sajha, I will soon have people like us raving about my magnanimity.

I really wanted to go back to Nepal back in 1999 after I completed my education here. I even sent my resume to my father who tried to look for a convincing engineering job for me to no avail. I had two choices, one was working for a wai wai plant, and other was working for Surya Tobacco, but even then my interview was not guaranteed. I wish my family was so filthy rich so I could put in several millions on a fertilizer plant or a robust oil testing facility but alas, they weren’t. So I chose to live over here, I pay taxes, I eat good, see good and my quality of life has been better ten folds, than what it could have been in Nepal. Do I regret? Heck no.

I tried, and when I couldn’t succeed, I threw in the towel and stayed in America, and now  I ask myself reading the article above if I should be guilt ridden.

My cousin, on the other hand returned to Nepal asserting she was there to take care of her aging parents (they were not that old) and how much she loves Nepal. Just in case you are wondering, she failed to land a job here because of poor GPA. But mind you, she turned tables back home. She now runs a non profit, and thanks to her awesome church going friends in Texas, funds come easy, to teach less-privileged children in rural Nepal she never visits.  She now drives a brand new Toyota, the one she never drove in the highways of Dallas, hangs out with ‘genteel’ crowd and participates in fashion shows, restaurant inauguration and book release ceremony. She even writes poetries. Her name was published in Kantipur just like the one above. She became a mini-celebrity just because she ‘chose’ to return.

Again, I do not doubt the reason why four of them chose to Nepal, but the same does not hold true with most of the people.