Why are youth fleeing country?

KATHMANDU, Sept 8: Nepal bhaneko Nepal nai ho. Yahan kehi hune wala chhaina. And things end there and then for youngsters and the only option for the youth is to flee away and not come back home, for their mind-set is that Nepal will never improve. But are they wrong when they say that?

Over the years, Kathmandu has drastically changed but the fact remains that even with the rise of the wanna-be skyscrapers, basic necessities like water, electricity, good roads among many other things, are not fulfilled. Life is difficult in Kathmandu for many reasons, be it the smallest of things, young ones are easily frustrated and resort to flying away never to come back. I thought the same but stayed back for I thought things will change.

I´ve seen youth coming back home only to be frustrated and soon they feel there are compelled to go back to an alien land. The question here is: Are the youth getting what they want or is it that their expectations are too high?

Das-Dhunga, a movie based on the infamous and so-called politically motivated accident of UML General Secretary Madan Bhandari and central committee member Jivanath Aasrit, stroke me as the movie rolled on. High profiled cases are never solved and the jurisdiction doesn´t care about them. The Royal massacre at the Royal Palace did not see a proper investigation and the public was left in a dilemma, filled with rumors. The Das-Dhunga case was dismissed and has never been solved. In-between all this, would we feel safe to live in a country where "the authorities" don´t care for the public and their sentiments?

Another reason, and the main one, behind leaving the country is that the education system is not "well- coordinated". Students of Tribhuvan University (TU) and other universities have to wait for almost a year for their results to come out. However, Kathmandu University, a private educational institution, publishes results just in a few months. Why such a difference? TU´s reputation as the oldest university and its recognition in the international arena is excellent but do the youth really care?

There are not many subjects that students can choose from when it comes to studying in Nepal. And with the world shrinking every day to one global village, it´s obvious that students want to explore the world and study something new which Nepal does not boast of. If only we had good education system offering various courses like aeronautics, photography, natural sciences, veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences, environment, among many other subjects, would we go abroad?

With limited resources, expensive colleges and not-much availability of scholarships or financial aid, it´s definitely a tough call for youth to decide whether to stay back or fly away.

Also, why should we stay back when there is no employment for the youth? Should there be a quota system in an office for youth? Even if you find a job, you are most likely to work your butt out and slog it out! Oh well, what´s new with that?

After all those years of fighting, the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual) group finally has a voice in the Constituent Assembly. Is this going to be the fate of youth too? Gagan Thapa was our voice and he still is but till when? Who will follow him?

Our society is such that our generation, even if we want to explore, it´s an "oh s/he did that" moment for the society folks. Parents abroad teach their children right from the beginning to be more independent and move out of the house once they are 18 or old enough to live on their own. Talk about separating from your family in KTM City and getting an apartment of your own, and you´ll have it from your parents!

Also, there is a huge difference, but not a clash, with the youth inside and outside the capital city. We all grew (and grow up) in different situations and have our own mindsets. Wealthy parents choose to send their children abroad because of the life-skills training provided abroad but not-so-lucky ones stay behind desperately trying to flee and cling to brokers who promise to send them abroad only to be cheated after paying huge sums of money, most of the time.

Our generation, especially the ones living in Kathmandu, is such that we´ll think and talk international and not national. We will think of donating money to the Pakistan flood relief, when they are already attracting many donors, and not think about Nepal´s own flood relief programs. It´s awesome that we´re aware of international miseries but what of our own? Maybe we´re just too international-fied that we forget we live in Nepal and hence, think likewise and flee the country anyway.

There is no point just sitting and wishing for something to happen. Instead, just flee abroad and pay taxes to a foreign government and help their economy instead of paying 1 percent tax to Nepal government and not getting back anything is return, forget about tax returns. Nothing is really done with the tax money for the people.

I remain optimistic that things will change for the better but when? The question for all us is when will we ever learn from our mistakes and is anything going to happen AT ALL?

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