Sunday, April 19, 2015

Our dream: From Third World to First World

If you are born poor, it is not your mistake!
But if you die poor, it is your mistake!!

I hope, some  of you may have heard this statement.  Well for me, I heard this statement loud and clear in one of the conference. This has influenced me deeply and literally, it has been injected in my mind. I find it meaningful for what we dream of my future.

We all have dream, am I right? But today, I think I should talk like any revolutionary expecting “revolution” in our country like those in France or USA or China. Therefore, I want to be clear upfront, I would like to start by sharing current situation of our country and also a bit angry at our leaders who have brought us – “national shame”.

Before going into revolution part, let me tell you a little aboul Nepal. Our country is a land-locked country having geographical and cultural proximity with India in the south, east and west, while Tibetan plateau in the North. This is the land of great diversity in terms of geography, plants and animals, people and culture. Nature has gifted us with treasure like Himalayan range in the North. Above all our key strengths, we have young population, which is approximately 30 million. You can also call Nepal as the land of Himalaya. But more than that, we are enriched with rich culture and civilization, which has roots back to ancient time of Buddha and other great ascetics that have guided South Asian civilization. I will not go further in that direction.

But I have one question - though, we are naturally gifted, “why do we continuously fall behind as one of low income countries. I need to understand this question well because we have to always face both “told and untold” gestures of who we are and it is so painful!! We also squarely admit that we lack “competent” leadership that believes in basic understanding of fairness and justice.

Our country used to be a Kingdom before 2000. Now monarchy is abolished and we are negotiating through “ups and down” of political instability due to poor judgment and policy decisions. Therefore we Nepalese people are struggling to secure political stability and aspire for better future despite our hardship and struggle for survival thereby eradicate poverty once and for all. In this fight, we have distant dream of that day when lasting peace and prosperity will prevail in our country. Therefore, we like to emulate the success of Singapore and Republic of Korea. The realization that “This is not impossible!!” has come to me even more reading two books written based on first hand experiences of socio political struggles and smart maneuvering of the uncertainties with people’s full and active participation. In both books – the key messages is “we can progress at an accelerated rate with good education, hard work, discipline and robust leadership.”


On final note, we will definitely move toward the path of prosperity once we settle these proverbial mountains of challenges that perennially plague our motherland. We will also be a bridge between two giants – India and China which are evolving as superpower and ultimately the center of this new global political order. But how, I would like to paraphrase Lee Kuan Yew – “The future is as full of promise as it is fraught with uncertainty. The industrial society is giving way to one based on knowledge. The new divide in the world will be between those with the knowledge and those without. We must learn and be part of the knowledge based world. However, we stand a better chance of not falling if we abide by the basic principles that have helped progress: social cohesion through sharing the benefits of progress, equal opportunities for all and meritocracy, with the best men and women for the job, especially as leaders in government.”

19 April, 2015

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