I don't know how often you guys have come across this situation, but I think its a serious issue.

Does Nepal really have an identity of its own in the world arena, or are just a faint shadow of India and nothing more?

I work in an IT company and certainly the people I meet are mostly educated ones among the americans. But whenever I meet anyone new and introduce myself and tell them that I am from Nepal, they immediately respond,"Nepal, isn't it a part of India?"

They know a lot about India. they know Taaj Mahal. They know Sarukh Khan. they know the actres in Bride and prejudice. They have heard of the actress Richard Gear kissed like a pervert.

They know a lot about Pakistan. They know the name if the lazy game played in white clothes with a ball and bat. They know about Bangladesh, Srilanka, Maldives and even Bhutan.

But when we comes to Nepal, I try to remind them of the Everest. But then again they end up saying,"Nepal, isnt it a part of India?" And today I felt really bad.

It used to be a little better while at University as many people in University used to be aware of Nepal, because of the high volume of Nepali students. But outside that, it sucks.

Guys, what can we do as a Nepali to help Nepal build an identity of its own at the world stage? I will stop listening Hindi songs or watching movies from today. I rarely watch Indian movies or listen to their songs though.

Sorry the bahun leaders of Nepal have sold your identity to India...

I little bit of knowledge from every part of the world is healthy, it inlcudes Hinidi movies and songs. And the fact that we've Madhesh binds us to be fair to them.But when we're talking 80 to 5 ratio between Indian Vs Chinese culture who are both next to us, we've to accept that we're mesmorized by Indian influence.You have more chances to hear Hindi songs in a party that a Newari songs, and that's bad. We're talking about watching at least 1 movie a week, some even more. We should denounce it.
Boy I used to think that American were the most ethocentric a few years back, but I'm slowly realising that I was wrong. In fact, I'd put Indian highest on the list.
So the guy who started this thread, keep it up and spread the message to our friends and family.

Thanks Vhootee.
Ya.. I think its okey to watch Hindi Movie or hear their songs or of any other country's and culture's. But we Nepalese seem to be doing it at the sacrifice of our own songs, cultures, our own ethnic races and diversities.

Ok crystal cracker ..what are you trying to say i don't get it.
You are mad that why Americans call you Indian instead of Nepali?
why Nepal is not so popular in US?

look from different angle .Here is some:
1.They call you Indian better than being called Mexican ..hehe :P
2.What Nepal has to offer to US ?
3.We are all indian race- indian subcontinent - just like all asians are chinese :P all brown people bangladesh, pakistan ,maldives , srilankan are Indian
4. Also just like alll latino defaults to Mexican ..similarly from most people we default to Indian.


Now , Why Americans don't take better interest in Nepal ?- tell me why should they??
now be a American and think!think from socio-economic point of view.Beside some Americans who are mountains fan ..Nepal has to offer ????
also.. how do you want to project your country?
where we are the most corrupt county, failed state, where terrrorist are in Govt.
where it is top ten smoking nation, top ten poor nation??

don't get me wrong!!but we have very less to offer as nepali so this materialistic world.
You suck it up !!!man!!

Imi,
Its not about " Are you Indian?"
Its about "Isnt Nepal a part of India?", but they do know about Srilanka or Bhutan as an independent country. Why not Nepal then?
I am just self-questioning "Arent we ourselves to blame?"

You are comparing Srilanka with Nepal .com'on now you should know why Srilanka is more popular than Nepal and why it is not India.
Geography.

now don't tell me people know more about Bhutan than Nepal.I do not agree to that.However i agree we are to blame cause we are unfortunate to have Indian born ,raised ,fed leaders.

Imi,
I didnt say people know more about Bhutan than Nepal. They know nothing about nepal, and nothing about Bhutan either. But if you say, you are from Bhutan. They dont counter. But if you say Nepal, they counter back " isnt it a part of India?"
Believe me, I have tried saying this.

Crystalcracker. Here's the thing. You're generalizing the views of your coworkers which is not true. There are tons of people who know more about Nepal than Sri Lanka. Also, people knowing Bhutan more than Nepal is utter garbage. Like I told you, just because the "educated" people in your company know more about Sri Lanka, Bhutan and so on than Nepal doesn't make Nepal less popular. ImI took the word from my mouth and hit the bull's eye when he raised the question " What does Nepal have to offer other than the mountains?" Lets be serious now. Apart from Mount Everest, what else do we have that we could brag about. Most of the Nepalese are in illusion that because of the numbers of tourists visiting Nepal every year, Nepal is a famous country. Have we all realized how the tourists visiting Nepal compare to the tourists visiting cities such as Paris? Nepal gets abt 250,000 visitors every year ( at the maximum ) while a single city such as Paris gets 10 million visitors every year. Doesn't that say it all? Furthermore, lets not ignore the amount that those 10 million visitors spend to the tourists visiting Nepal. Isn't everything Cheap back home? This also makes me wonder if a Nepali waiter ( in a hariyo parda mo:mo pasal ) would return my 10 NRS if say I were to to leave it on the table as the tip. That's the irony! That's the truth. Nepal is one of the most underdeveloped countries. It is now called as a developing nation but only the almighty knows when it's going to develop.
Tourism is the only sector in my opinion that could make Nepal famous. Due to China's and India's economic growth, there's no way that Nepal could produce IT experts as outsourcing materials.Again, Only the almighty knows what's going to happen to Nepal's IT market if an Indian were to set his sight on Nepalese market ( remember the Pashmina saga folks? ). Hope nobody has forgotton how the Indians destroyed Nepalese Pashmina Market that once accounted for Nepal's 3rd largest export.
We all hear anti India sentiments, anti India slogans. If there's an economic slump, then we slack India. We point our fingers at India from every direction. But we forget that when" you point a finger, four fingers are pointing back towards you." India robs Nepal. No denying. It bullies, batters and hurts Nepal for its own betterment. But having said that, we cannot ignore the Indian donations and Indian help as well. Aren't they the biggest donors of Nepal?
It's a real pathetic aspect of us Nepalese that the Indians bully us and some even forget that Nepal is an independent country. But what is there to be done? The sickf***ing morons ( maobadis that is ...forgive my french as maobadi chors and cussing are interrelated words in my mind ) aren't letting Nepal take a developing route. They haven't stopped interrogating the civilians and attacking police posts and so on. Perhaps, we could say that Maobadi chor dankas are one of the few notable things about Nepal that make us famous all over the World ( especially considering the fact that the U.S. still lists those bajiyas as terrorist group).
It is saddening and a cold truth indeed. There aren't a lot of things about Nepal that will make us famous. But lets make no mistake, there is a huge group of Americans who know a lot about Nepal. After all, National Geographic ( channel and magazine ) , Travel shows and magazines, Mt. Everest., the durbar kand and the recent janaandholans were few of the notable topics discussed all over the world. Perhaps one of us could go up all the way, determined and destine ourselves to make Nepal a more famous place.

Why long dicsusson... the bahun leaders have sold the country to India.. now no more Nepalese... try to think how you will introduce yourself in near future?

if people are ignorant you can do nothing about that except tell them what is right....

केही दिन अगाडी एउटा प्रोफेसरसँग कुराकानी हुँदा उनले सोधिन्-"तिमीहरुको देशमा त जहाँबाट हेरे पनि माउन्ट एभरेष्ट देखिन्छ होला, हैन?"
अर्को एउटा विदेशी साथीले हामीले फुटबल खेलेको देखेर सोधेका थिए-"तिमीहरुको देशमा पनि फुटबल ग्राउण्ड छ?" उनले पनि नेपाल पहाडै पहाडको देश भनेर सुनेका रहेछन्।
झन् टाढाका पनि होइन, एकदमै नजिकका, भारतका एकजना साथीले मलाई सोधेका थिए-"तिमीहरुको देशमा त पहाडै पहाड छ रे, सुत्‍ने खाट कसरी अड्छ त्यस्तो ठाडो डाँडामा?" भन्नै पर्दैन, उनी सरदार थिए।

देशको बारेमा त थाह रहेछ, तर उनीहरुले नेपाल सम्बन्धि पाएको 'थाह' नेपाल र नेपालीले दिन खोजेको 'थाह' बाट कतै धेरै टाढा पुगेको त होइन। खै के, खै के??

http://radiomarconi.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html

Ha Ha.

crystal cracker.. when u make that cd.. dont forget to add some pictures of some sexy chicks from partynepal.com

You are the Nepali. You represent Nepal so be responsible and represent. You are no body's shadow ? Is Switzerland a shadow of Europe ?

A man is known by his DEEDS (Karma), the Cultural Values he IMBIBES in him-- from his Family/Race/Society, the Company he keeps, and his genetic superiority or otherwise.

Let us make herein the following Lists, PLEASE:_
a) The Strengths & Weaknesses of a normal Nepali?
b) The infrastructural facilities & financial support available for polishing the Strengths and curing the Weaknesses?
c) What you, at Sajha.com, can contribute to the List at (b) above?

I am afraid that not very many Nepalese men will come forward to seriously undertake this BASIC exercise--though I am certain that there will be at least some Nepalese ladies who will surely take it seriously. I have great respect for the ladies because they are more industrious, open-minded, sensitive, committed, intelligent, pretty and, of course, the proud progenators of lovable baby-boys--with pink cheeks.

I remember when I was about 13 years old I read an encyclopedia that said that Buddha was born in India and that Mount Everest was in India...I wrote a letter to the editors explaining the error but they did not change it....

My reaction was not negative. It doesnt matter what other people think what Nepal is - - its what you think of it. No one can take away your identity as a Nepali and no matter how frustrating it can be as long as you feel pride in your country even if the whole world didnt know about Nepal you would still stand up and tell them about Nepal with pride...

In the lyrics of Ram Krishna Dhakal:
jaha gayepani tara
nepal bhanna paiyoush...

xxx

man is known by his DEEDS (Karma), the Cultural Values he IMBIBES in him-- from his Family/Race/Society, the Company he keeps, and his genetic superiority or otherwise.

Let us make herein the following Lists, PLEASE:_
a) The Strengths & Weaknesses of a normal Nepali?
b) The infrastructural facilities & financial support available for polishing the Strengths and curing the Weaknesses?
c) What you, at Sajha.com, can contribute to the List at (b) above?

I am afraid that not very many Nepalese men will come forward to seriously undertake this BASIC exercise--though I am certain that there will be at least some Nepalese ladies who will surely take it seriously. I have great respect for these ladies because they are more industrious, open-minded, sensitive, committed, intelligent and pretty.

Hi All,

Thanks Crystal Cracker for starting the thread. Its not only you. The same thing has happened to me at my work place too. Pretty much 90% of the people working for that company's IT department (its not a small company though..) are Indians. About 80% of the times everyone thinks that I am an Indian too. Things to happen.
I know it takes time for the people to know about Nepal. The things most other friends have mentioned are relevant. I understand that Nepal is not a major economic player in this Business era, but it does not mean that Nepal does not have anything for the world.

I really feel sorry for our friends who believe that Nepal doesnt have anything. I know its a small country and doesnt have economic or political influence in the world but there are several things that we can pride on.

One friendly suggestion for some friends who blame the so called "Bahun Leaders";- whatever happened in the past is gone and there is no point and pointing fingers at things that happened in the past. We need to see what we can contribute as an individual or as a part of any group/organization. Lets try to do something from our own part..anything positive /constructive should do..anything we can do to contribute towards teh betterment of our country and people.

just a list of few things about Nepal...we have a huge potential for Hydro Electricity, we have a diverse culture (from tourism point ), we have a diverse climate, diverse flora and founa, we can take pride on places like Janakpur, KTM and Lumbini which have great tourism potential. It does not mean that nepal cant develop. I knwo we have never had good leaders but it doesnt mean that nepal will remain the same for ever....

I know we all hate indians...but what I have learned is that there are a lot things that we have to learn from Indians.....I see many Indians as very hard working people. Even if you look at the job market, the fresh ones who just come from India work so hard and manage to get very good jobs. If they can do it why cant we do it? most of us have been for some time. we go toschool for 4 years ..I dont see any reason why we cant do things that someone who just came from india can do ?

Another important thing about Indians is that they never forget their culture no matter where they live. I have hardly seen this among us. I know we say that those indians never change...but why do they need to change? they have good jobs, they do take good care of their family and do all the basic things and if keeping up with their culture keeps them happy why not do it?

One of the reasons why so many people know about Hindi movies is because the indians watch many Hindi movies and they spread the words among their friends from other countries too. I know our movies are not of the same standards..but how can we expect our movies to be of the same quality when everything needs a goood amount of investment ..and for that investors need to be assured that their investment will give them a good return and Nepal lacks a good market...If we nepalese dont watch those movies....aru kasle herne? ..

There are so many factors..But for now...we all need to contribute from our side...we coudl just talk to people and spread the words about Nepal ..we definitely need to learn to look at things positively...lets do whatever we can do for the country and it should not take too long to change the image of our country ....

Jay Nepal

At my work-place also they asked me why Nepal is so figged up.. what is the main root cause?

I could not give them false answer, I had to tell them that chor leaders of Nepal, who happened to be all bahuns, are ruining the country. Nothing against good brhamns sathiharu..but it is true, it so happened that all the leaders who are controlling the politics of Nepal right now are bahuns. fataha bahun leaders, chor bahun leards.. they can be all.. these bahun leaders are fataha, chor, corrupt, terrorists, what not? man, what not? They can be all danavs.

Before this concept of countries with fixed boundries, the present South Asia had many different villages, separately considered as countries. but, with the introduction of states based on boundries rather than nations, the nation states of that time got lost. Many of those nation-states are collectively present day India, rest are nepal, bhutan, pakistan and others.

What I think is, before this introduction of state as not having same boundary as that of nation, the identity of the entire South Asia was not that varied. Most part of it share similar language, faith and philosophy. It just happened because of fkin british that india has larger area, thus is larger in every sense- culture, language, places, bla bla. So, if we start counting the features to make us Nepali, we have less number of unique points. Has it been Nepal that had larger area, even non-nepalese would be confused by others as nepalese.

what we can do?
campaign for awareness. raise issues that are unique to nepal.
I do not consider Sagarmatha and Lumbini as very strong points because, they just happened to be there. No nepalese made any contribution to make them Nepalese asset, they themselves chose Nepal as the place. These assets would help politically, financially but identity-wise, they are not that strong.
I consider Gurkha fight with British as great identity. But shamelessly, we are serving those enemies these days. How stupid are we to fight for rights in UK even after we are taken as prisoners of war since the Sugauli Sandhi.

Unique and improved philosophy and culture can be the best identity.