Visit any part of the world, and you will be certain to meet a Nepali these days. They all have stories of hopes and struggles, of being driven out of their homeland because of the lack of jobs and prospects. Excerpts of conversations with some compatriots I ran into on a trip this week.
Prakash S, Saptari at Kathmandu airport security check
тАЬI am on my way to Kuwait. I paid Rs 80,000 to a dalal to get a work permit and ticket. They will send us to a shop and we have to do factory type work re. I will be paid Rs 8,000 a month. Maybe with OT I may even get Rs 10,000. The first year I will have to pay back the rin I took. After that I think I can start sending money home. I am going with two friends from Saptari and there are six others going to the same shop. Yaha kam chhaina. You will be lucky to get a job that pays Rs 3,000. People who have gone before say it is hard work, but you can save Rs 100,000 in three years. I can take care of my family with that.тАЭ
Gita K, Gaurighat at Doha airport transit
тАЬI was a management graduate, I looked for employment in banking and insurance in Kathmandu, but they were clerical jobs and paid only Rs 10,000 a month. Now I am at the passenger assistance desk, and I get paid 2,300 riyals (about $600) a month. This is much better than some ketis ┬аfrom my college. They are graduates but work as maids because they canтАЩt afford to send their children to boarding schools in Nepal. I am lucky. I got this job because my English is good. If Nepalis learn English, or get some other sip talim before they go abroad their amdani can double. Most Nepalis here, even at this airport, are doing cleaning or manual jobs. My supervisors are from India, Bangladesh and Philippines and they are managers because they are better educated.тАЭ
G M, Tanahu, returning from Dubai
тАЬAt the moment things are really bad in Dubai. Lots of Nepalis have been laid off, especially in construction and other unskilled jobs. Many had their contracts terminated and they went back with any savings. I was lucky because I came to work in the information technology section of a petrochemical plant and help with data processing, and there havenтАЩt been any layoffs and the earnings are good. Mero kamai mahina ko $400 jati chha. I am going home for a vacation after three years. I am really happy to be going back after so long. I am the only son, and my ex-serviceman father takes care of my family so I have been able to save quite a bit. I donтАЩt know what I will do with my savings yet. Bihe? Khoi. But tell me: is NepalтАЩs economy ever going to improve? Will our netas be able to agree and write a new constitution?тАЭ
Sarad L, Jhapa, houseboy at Doha hotel
тАЬI am really enjoying it here. I earn much better than I would in Nepal, where I worked as a waiter at a restaurant in Thamel. I get to meet new people, the hotel is very well managed. If you say you are Nepali in Qatar the guests in the hotel are very nice to you. Ramro bebahar garchhan. I earn quite a lot from overtime and tips–more than my salary. I will go home next year and I am sending about $100 every month to my family in Kakarbhitta. I donтАЩt regret coming here, but I wish I had a college degree and could speak English or Arabic, because I could get promoted.тАЭ
Dipak, yellow cab driver, ┬аManhattan
тАЬI came here 18 years ago, went to a good college and graduated in computers. I got a job, but got laid off in the current recession. I sat for the taxi exam. It was pretty easy. They test your English and you have to memorise the street names. Kamai ramrai chha, but I am embarrassed that I am driving a taxi. My family back in Nepal doesnтАЩt even know. You arenтАЩt going to write about me are you? If you do please donтАЩt reveal my name. You are my first ever Nepali passenger. My Bangladeshi friend used to make nearly $10,000 in two months driving taxis in New York every summer. He invested it in a construction company in Dhaka and is doing a big business. But with the recession these days, earnings from taxis are down. Tara kamse kam jagir ta chha. I am definitely going back to Nepal someday. This is no place to live, especially for children. I donтАЩt want my daughter to forget about our culture. I want to start a business, and maybe live half the time in Nepal and half the time here. What is happening to the dual citizenship proposal? I wish the rajniti back home would settle down, and the economy would improve.тАЭ










