Why “not” Nepal?

http://www.theamericanscholar.org/the-disadvantages-of-an-elite-education/

here is something (link above) that resonates with me against the backdrop where all the brain drain that is happening in Nepal and the way smart youths are progressing towards being cookie cutter professionals rather than the entrepreneurs, innovators, creative intellectuals/professionals they could become.

The writer stresses on the “disadvantages brought forth by the elite education system in the US (and the world… i will add). The system is gearing towards making careers, rather than making minds. They make professionals who cannot deal with the rest of the system or environoment they live around, rather than making innovators who can deal with problems of others inside the eco-system.

Our elite education system is fast becoming a system that makes “excellent sheeps”

When we send our smart youths away to study at the elite institutions in the world, maybe we are not going to get very much in return (in line with our expectations).

am copy /pasting ‘motivator’ robin sharma’s writings. Hope you will end more positive by the time you finish this. Everyone needs some motivation once in a while !

Robin’s,

11 Rules To Change Our World

1. You be the change you dream of seeing (Thanks Mahatma Gandhi). “If everyone of us would sweep their own doorstep, the whole world would be clean,” observed Mother Teresa. She was right.

2. Make time every day to reconnect to your highest ideals and boldest dreams. Without hope, people perish.

3. Leave every person you meet better than you found them. Life’s too short to withhold encouragement and kindness.

4. As I wrote in ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari”, see every setback as a stepping stone and every problem as a blessing in disguise. Contrary to what critics might say, these are NOT corny aphorisms. They are timeless truths of humanity. (And critics are just people too scared to grow their dreams anyway – pay no attention to them. The world needs more people lifting people up rather than putting people down).

5. Go the extra mile in everything you do – you don’t need a title to be a leader. And on your deathbed, you’ll never regret expressing the best within you

6. Do what’s right rather than what’s easy. Being a great person isn’t a popularity contest. Many of the greatest leaders were disliked because they refused to bend to the winds of public opinion. That’s called Strength of Character

7. Care for your health. You elevate the world by elevating yourself and your health really matters. Why be the richest person in the graveyard?

8. Tell your kids they are geniuses – and how much you adore them. Each of us are born geniuses but lose that gift within the first 6 years of our lives as we adopt the fears and limiting beliefs of those around us. Your kids are the leaders of the future. Grow their potential. Now.

9. Learn something new every day. As you grow, you begin to see possibilities you didn’t have the eyes to see before. Read from an inspiring book, listen to an audio program, visit a good blog, go to a powerful workshop or have a conversation with an elder. One idea is all it takes to transform your life.

10. Keep your life simple. Please. The secret to success and happiness is building your life around a few important things. The person who tries to do everything accomplishes nothing. As I recently mentioned on my blog, “What’s the point in being busy doing the wrong things?”

11. Remember that life is a mirror and we receive what we give out. To get more joy, give more joy. To have more respect, give more respect. To realize your dreams, help others realize theirs.

Hope you enjoyed it ! love some feedback if you want in “www.whynepal.com“

Here is a insightful piece by a close friend of mine, Chandra Maharjan on why poor /developing countries are not developing and what is wrong with the help that is being given to us. He questions the way we think about the “aid industry”.

Chandra writes:

Why developing countries never develop?

I think I just found an answer to that.

This doesn’t necessarily agree with your opinion though. Its all my personal view.

The simple logic is – If I find a 1000 rupee note on the street (oh lucky me), I am sure I will misuse it either by drinking or by giving a party to friends or just misplace it. But if it takes me a full day to get that thousand ruppee note, I am sure I am going to think what I need to spend that on. You just become ‘wise’ with that money.

There is a beggar, no matter how much money you give its just no sufficient for him. Well, money is never sufficient to anyone, is it? He will always live a beggar life. I am sure some beggar earn more than those hardworking coolies.

I have lived a ‘poor’ life. Not a rupee to spend on ‘extra’ things. I cried when I couldn’t have Rs 500 to take some music lesson when I was 16. The good thing about living poor is you learn how important money is and when you make some money, you spend it wisely. You become virtually rich. Storing bit by bit and then when you want to get something, you have it in store. You become wiser.

Watching Discovery Channel most of the time, I have come to know why Europeans developed their brain so fast so sophisticated than people who lived near the equator such as Africa or South East Asia / South Asia. That was because, people near the equator lived rich. There was no scarcity of food, water, cold, etc. Whereas in Europe, they lived in poverty. Snow covered most of the time, cold, hunger, less food. In other words, when they lived in this environment, they learnt how to ’save’, adapt and how to best live their lives that way. They were thinking all the time. Their brains developed as time passed and they were wiser as time went on.

So, the basic thing is when you live in poverty (that is real poverty), you know how to become rich.

In developing countries, there are millions / billions of dollars that come in in the name of helping the poor or eradicating poverty (aid). It might be good intention or bad I won’t comment on that. But the thing is, there is someone who is helping those people. So, there is no real poverty here. And when you have someone there, you never learn to live by yourself. You always live in Poverty and you become Greedy. You always look for someone to help (you). When you see your friend getting help, then you also join him…

And it just grows…

My thoughts: How about risking it all and leaving us on our own, for once ? let us become ‘truely” poor so that we can start learning how to become prosperous. With your ‘aid’, we prolly won’t try.

what do you think ?

So you force-close a city (Kathmandu) for a day:

• you put brakes on 5 million people’s mind for a day
• you make 5 million idle minds become a devil’s playground
• you force a million youths to lose their morale and purpose (one level down at  a time).
• you strangle any entrepreneur’s budding desires to start something here.
• you make me question your moral superiority and …doubt mine (for bowing to you)
• you make me not want to do anything for anyone.
• you make us all dumber
• you force 5 million people to be poorer.
• you make it easier for us to leave and leave you all alone.

what a Lose- Lose situation.

Few weeks ago, in the “entrepreneurs for Nepal” gathering, I got to interact with a Nepali Hydro electric developer and a pioneer, Gyanendra Pradhan at a “entrepreneurs for nepal” gathering on 30th of April. He makes a good case for Hydropower development in Nepal. Here are a few stats he pulled out which was interesting.

• Nepal has 20,000 liter of water per person (thats a  lot).
• His words ” Nepal is a cheese between 2 breads” because of water and the hydro potential. He sees Nepal’s moment of action is now, where we need to show foriegn and domestic investors that we are serious on our efforts turn this potential gold mine into action. Otherwise the confidence will be lost for a long time.
• Nepal has enough supply to power south Asia with hydro power, the cheapest form of generating electricity.
• More than 50 thousand crore rupees (500,000 million rupees)  is currently being invested (or about to) in hydropower in Nepal right  now.

Gyanendra’s mantra for a successful entrepreneur is as follows:

1. One need to think differently…To be different

2. Be a day dreamer

3. Independent, tough and creative

4. Extremely optimistic

5. Be prompt decision makers if they feel they have enough facts/ information

6. Have a vision to drive enterprise

7. Have a habit of analyzing their past actions and learning from them and planning future steps
8. Have determination and strategies to turn the vision into reality

Some Questions and Answers with Gyanendra Lal Pradhan.

“What are the major hindrances to goal of producing the 10000 Mega watt of electricity? NRB (Central Bank of Nepal) says our commercial banks don’t have enough capital? Who will fund the projects?”

Gyanendra answers, “We have 550 billion rupees in our market. Around 2000 Mega watt can be produced with this much capital for the rest foreign investments should be attracted. But people needn’t worry about the foreign investment as once invested in hydro projects they become local investments as it not possible to shift all the infrastructure of hydro electricity. We need to make the environment investment friendly though.

Which projects are on the pipeline?

Projects capable of producing more than 3000 Mega Watts of electricity and investments of more than 50 thousand crore have already started. It’s our last chance of producing the electricity and if we fail now , we better forget about producing hydro power in this country.These projects are will not only help in producing electricity but also help to create a peaceful country by engaging every people in construction works, and generating employment and income for all like that of Sikkim 20 years ago.

What’s the biggest obstacle to making something happen (in Nepal)? We hear about corruption, inefficiency?

In this country, we have enough enormous resources but they are very poorly managed and there is a lack of visionary leaders. Nepal has a very high rate of political understanding but most of the people don’t understand economics and the virtue of entrepreneurship.

Can’t the remittance be a good source of capital for investment in hydropower?

It can be. People should be provided with proper incentives to invest their money on hydroelectricity rather than the areas they are investing now.

How to manage the people affected by construction of hydro projects and how to overcome objections of locals in constructing hydro electricity projects?

Affected is wrong word to use. Construction of hydropower projects always improves the life standard of local people by providing them with electricity, roads and better lands…so better say promotion. Usually high, unreasonable expectations of local people make them interrupt projects. We need to make them aware of the limitations of the project but fulfill all the promises you make to the. Making locals happy is more important than reducing cost.

A final word of advice from the veteran, on life: It’s easy to be happy. Just learn to separate ‘chinta’ and ‘chintan’. Worry and do your best to change the things you can change and learn not to worry about the things you cannot change!

What do you think ?