Who are we as Nepalis?

Three years ago, at the book launch of Unleashing the Vajra by Sujeev Shakya, I reflected on the current state of Nepal. At the time, I said that “I wasn’t really sure what we as Nepali people or the country are trying to be,” or “where we want to head towards in the future.” Shakya’s book laid out several challenges that Nepal faces and made clear that a major goal would be to strengthen Nepali human capital. As I see it, we can accomplish this only if we truly know who we are, understand our potentials, and capacities to carve our common path into the future. This is a goal we must, as a nation and as individual citizens, be willing to design for ourselves.  

Taking Stock While Abroad

The Nepali diaspora today is spread in over 170 countries. Many of us have ventured out across the world to pursue higher education and create our professional spaces. Upon leaving Nepal, for shorter or longer periods, we are inevitably drawn to a question that we only often raise at home – who are we as Nepali, and what can that answer tell us? It is a natural response, as we define ourselves in new environments.  

What does it mean to be an individual Nepali living abroad? What keepsakes of Nepal that we take with us are genuine and substantial that should help us define ourselves? Is this re-definition even necessary? I argue that it is. The longer one is away from Nepal, the greater the distance is created between what Nepal traditionally is in our minds and what Nepal is in fact becoming.   

When I returned to Nepal in 2018, I was initially excited to reorient myself with my home country after more than a decade away. I was a bit disillusioned to experience an air of unfamiliarity in my usual familiar landscapes. I witnessed a changing neighbourhood; the little corner shops slowly being replaced by large department stores and traditional food shops now surrounded by western style cafeterias offering a unique menu of wood fired pizzas alongside a plate of momo. While the silent cultural truths that Buddha was born in Nepal or that this is the land of Mount Everest continue to be splattered on taxi windows, the world is becoming global and with Nepalis being even more global, the new trends and popular cultures around TikTok and Netflix have managed to sway the Nepalis to adapt and adopt a new form of worldview. The juxtaposition personally felt jarring. 

It is quite natural for things to change over the course of time. Tension is, thus, created by the nostalgia one experiences when mourning the loss of what used to be. In the face of all this, I decided to pose my questions constructively. What should our nation become, since it will become, and who should we become? This development has already taken root in Nepal. While advocacy and youth participation on social, economic and political matters have been a backbone to the country’s development, recent participation in pressing matters such as geopolitics, climate change, digital transformation, gender empowerment and inclusivity are taking center stage for many discourses across Nepal. And yet changes in behaviour and mindsets reflecting the tireless efforts of the youth that should be central to national progress have been slow.

Away But at Home

When I transitioned to a new country this past year, I carried these questions with me but at a higher level, since I was once before a young Nepali abroad. This time I am primed to ask the deeper questions.  

No matter the reason one has left Nepal, we hold rather tightly to our Nepali identity; pride of our homeland helps us sail through the challenging times while one is away from home. We carry these identities as an armour against the changes and challenges we meet while living in other countries. Still, we adapt, as we must.  

We have learnt to assimilate in the contexts of cultures as we adopt a second home. We learn to normalize the newness, learn from others, and develop. And in doing that, we try to hold on to the norms, traditions and the values we brought with us to new places to the best of our ability. The question remains – do we eventually let go of it all as the need for survival in the new culture takes precedence?   

Or can we be satisfied with just adorning our houses with mementos, murtis and other traditional pieces; the spice jars that remind us of home. Our unique journeys, individual experiences and value systems determine how we adjust our “Nepaliness.” I’ve noticed, never in this process have we really questioned our identity as Nepalis. We love to gather around momos and beers to celebrate festivals that glue us all to the many facets of our essential identity, even as our new identities demand a rather different existence. We hold our Nepali identities tightly because for many of us this is the only thing that is constant, as we navigate our lives in a new country. 

Exploring our Common Future

It is, thus, immensely important that each of us raise questions about our identity as a Nepali. This will become even more critical for second-generation Nepalis (and beyond), who will be born with an extended identity that is not first-hand. The sooner we understand the implications of these self-reflections, the clearer we are in finding the essence of who we are as Nepalis and perhaps ultimately what we should want Nepal to become.

There is no definitive answer. And yet, while this is true, these questions persist. There can be dialogues, conversations and thought-sharing to explore and understand what it truly means to be a Nepali in today’s globalized and highly interconnected world. Such self-reflection and communal work will allow us to maintain coherency and thus, connections that are deeper than just trinkets on the wall. Certainly, we must innovate and make changes based on a common understanding of what should be done for the collective development of the country. It is time to explore, collaborate and engage in important conversations around our common identity, as Nepalis and for Nepal. It doesn’t hurt to ask, Who are we? 

Diva Shrestha is an educator and a Fellow with the Nepal Economic Forum, leading the Global Nepali Network Incubation Center. She has a Masters in Public Policy and has a diverse professional experience  working at universities in the US and leading a non-profit in Nepal. She is currently based in Vancouver, Canada.