My Vision for Nepal | See Nepal as one of the ‘leading nations’
See Nepal as one of the ‘leading nations’
Three ways to realize the vision:
1) Learn to dream big.
2) Harness the country’s natural strengths.
3) Set a retirement age for our political leadership
As a Nepali who travels all over the world, I can say that my country and my people have as much potential as just about any other more developed country or people. We are as educated, qualified, skilled, and technology-friendly. We just lack a few basic things that hold us back.
My vision of making Nepal ‘a leading country’ is not abstract. The country has many inherent strengths like its mountains, climate, wildlife, forests, mineral resources, and culture and heritage. We only need to harness them properly.
I don’t know why Nepalis are scared of dreaming. To get anywhere, you first have to dream about it. Dreaming helps us to create a definite plan. When you set limits for yourself, you only think of practicability, and that is not how you achieve great things. I consider not dreaming a crime as it forbids you from reaching your true potential. Look at how the dream of Martin Luther King became a reality—just because he dared to dream big.
Once you dream big and have set plans, you need a good management team. This is where we lag behind the most. Management is related not just to our offices, it pertains to every home and individual. We here in Nepal struggle to get things done because there is a huge gulf between company-owners and workers. The workers must take ownership and responsibility for the workplace. And the management must treat and respect workers as family members. Only then can you have productive teams.
Another problem concerns our poor work ethics. We like to poke our noses into somebody else’s business instead of doing our own work. Unless we as a society learn to respect and value our work, it will be difficult for us to realize our national goals.
As politics is at the heart of national development, we also need to get our political system right. I think what we need is a directly elected executive president or prime minister. Our current political leadership doesn’t seem accountable to common folks but only a limited set of party cadres. And they are largely inaccessible for us.
Also read: Sama Thapa: A society based on wisdom and values
All the elected MPs should be made to stay in their own constituency and look after its progress. They shouldn’t be allowed to become ministers of the federal government. Only experts should be ministers, who in turn will be accountable to elected lawmakers. We also need political consensus on important national issues.
People see me as a harsh critic. But I can also be your biggest supporter if you are doing good work. For instance, I talk highly about the current Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation Prem Ale, and the executive chairman of Nepal Airlines Corporation Yubaraj Adhikari. They have succeeded in securing permits that will allow Nepal Airlines to carry dangerous goods, which is a milestone. Now the national carrier can ferry vital medical supplies, equipment, and fertilizers. The minister has laudably started a shuttle service inside the airport too.
The current political leadership is mostly over the hill. They should now transfer power to the young generation. Our ministers should be no older than 40, our prime minister should be under 55, and the president around 60.
Even if I am fit and healthy after 65, I can’t fly a plane. I must retire. But our politicians continue to quarrel for power into their 80s. Compared to flying a plane, it is much more difficult to run a country—and yet there is no age restriction.
If there is a bomb threat on a plane, the captain asks his co-pilot to escort each passenger out. Only when everybody, including all crew members, are out, does the captain leave, after ensuring nobody is left behind.
They follow the same rule in mountaineering, as one of the team leaders stays at the end of the rope at the bottom, motivating and assisting his teammates to climb. For nation-building too, the leaders should stay at the back, pushing the country forward rather than trying to pull from the front. If we can get these few things in order, Nepal will soon be among the world’s leading nations.
Quick Questions:
What is the best thing about being a pilot?
A pilot requires all three qualities that a human being should have: knowledge, skill, and guts. So it is an exciting job.
Who are your real-life inspirations?
My thought process and self-motivation.
A quote you live by.
“United we stand, divided we fall.”
