Youngsters have been leaving the country for years now, in search of employment, education or a better life. The conversations that revolve around Visas and weekly wages in dollars are reaching levels of concern, second only to that of the lack of discussions related to Nepal. Let me rephrase that… anything positive about Nepal.

Going abroad to study or work is not a bad deal. You get to earn a lot and learn a lot. But is that it? The problem isn’t with youngsters going abroad; the problem is with them refusing to return.

This is not meant to offend anyone; this is just my personal opinion. When you look at the larger picture, there are several reasons why people frantically scurry off to anywhere else but Nepal, and to some extent their reasons are entirely plausible.

Firstly, without beating around the bush, the level of income is a crucial factor in this context. Why would you want to come back and start your struggle to make some measly rupees when you’re living the good life earning dollars?

Then you start adapting to that good life and your standard of living reaches a whole new level. You get used to the easy way of life. It’s a blessing if you don’t have to stand on a line for hours to get a simple governmental work done.

Why would anyone want  to give up on that privilege?

And once you don’t have to live under the same roof as your family, it takes little time to fall in love with that freedom. You can come back home at 3 in the morning wearing nothing but a sock (not even necessarily on your feet), and still have nothing to worry about.

Also, on a more serious note, coming back to Nepal with a fancy degree that no one really understands does not make the most sense, because a degree in Criminal Justice or Marine Studies really won’t be of much use here in Nepal.

Going abroad and never comingback ranks among the top ten least patriotic things you could

1. The fact that people see little reason to come back might be the root of the problem.

Now, that may have you seeing yourself amongst the unemployed majority of Nepal. Which may be true, you might find yourself sunbathing in Tundikhel or observing people during their trials for their driving license.

You’d much rather forget about Nepal and pursue your growth opportunity far away from home. Wouldn’t you?

The only advantage for Nepal as a country that I see is the “REMITTANCE”. The money Nepal receives through remittance is almost equal to the entire country’s budget. It might not be as bad as it sounds; it might even be very good. However, problems do follow that huge amount of foreign money. It brings a massive halt to the incomegeneration in the country.

You receive money in Nepal. You spend it on fancy foreign goods, goods that are imported to the country. We get money from outside and its again spent outside the country. Country gain… lost.

There are other negative influences that come along with the remittance and living abroad.

• Monkey sees monkey does: You see someone living a lavish life outside Nepal. The social impacts, however, do tend to be slightly more severe in Nepal than abroad. Then there is the entire issue of actually sustaining that lifestyle.
• Extinction/ disintegration of Culture and Traditions: No doubt you love your country, your tradition and your culture, but you are bound to follow and do different things that are socially followed in the country you reside in.
• Lack of new ideas in the market leading to very less innovative business and trend ofcopying others: One of the biggest problems we have in the Nepali market is the trend of people copying ideas from other people. As soon as you see someone making a lot of money from a certain business, you directly jump into it, attempting to mooch off of the profit potential. It definitely creates competition, but at times that can go sour and end up ruining the entire industry. The knowledge and degree you gain from studying abroad might be difficult to implement in the Nepali context but it’s not impossible if you creatively tweak it a little bit. Just imagine how great if would be if it was used in Nepal and people with the same passion got to learn it.

Going abroad and never coming back ranks among the top ten least patriotic things you could do. The fact that people see little reason to come back might be the root of the problem. Here are a few reasons you should contemplate about a comeback.

• Bring in a new idea and increase the productivity of your own country: New ideas and innovation in the industrial level is what we are missing out. We are so limited with our ideas and everything we think about is already tried out. Come back to Nepal, bring in your ideas and see the revolution yourself.
• Inland investment should be prioritized: I never said remittance income is a bad thing. It is a really important factor in the economy of the country. What I think is important right now is increasing investment within the country. We received almost Rs.533 billion as remittance income this year, just investing a little bit Of that can bring in a lot of change in the country’s economy
• If you think you can’t get a job in Nepal, you can definitely create employment as an entrepreneur: It’s something to worry about. Employment rate in Nepal is so less that even the thought of coming back to Nepal sounds like a nightmare for someone who invested so much for a big future and for someone who is earning a lot outside Nepal.

Humble request, come back to Nepal, take the risk and broaden the scope of your knowledge for people just like you. There is nothing impossible, it just takes a little patience and a lot of hardwork to get it done. Still if you can notice the reason I felt about people not coming back home is more than the reason why people should come back. Think about it. People might doubt the validity of my reasoning and they might be true but it what I feel. I just want people to come back home.