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A complete transformation of Nepal

Three ways to realize the vision:

1)   By heralding a societal transformation.
2)   By changing our limiting mindset.
3)   By fostering a culture of learning.

Based on my work and background, I see Nepal primarily as a country of potential. When we look back over the past 30 years, the GDP has grown 10 times, quality of life and life expectancy are increasing, education access is getting better, and there are job opportunities for Nepalis not only in Nepal but around the world. When we look at all this, we can definitely call Nepal a country of potential. But we have not been able to achieve our full potential because of certain issues. 

Societal transformation

Nepal’s transformation most definitely has to be based on societal transformation. If we look at our politics, it is the reflection of what happens at our home. There is no home without a fight and we can see this reflected in Nepal’s larger political issues. If we look at our culture and value system—be it on corruption, nepotism, patriarchy, or hierarchy—all these happen in the society and are reflected nationally. So, the key would be societal transformation. Without that, there will be no economic transformation. 

Change in mindset

The second thing to look at is the change of mindset. It has been around 20 years since I first talked about Nepal being, at that point of time, the 40th most populated country in the world. Nepal is currently about the 50th most populated and in terms of economy there are a hundred countries that have a smaller size. So, we are not a small country. This narrative has to change.

We are land-linked to the two fastest growing economies in the world: the narrative of ‘landlocked’ needs to go because we are connected to a market of 2.8 billion people. That is a great potential we need to work towards. Which means we have to change our mindsets, start believing that we can integrate into this global world. We need to change our mindsets to become global citizens by adapting global practices: Be it by considering English language as important as other languages of Nepal, or allowing our regional languages to flourish, or syncing our calendars to international calendars. We also need to align our time. We are the only country with a 15-minute time difference to major time zones. 

The demographic potential

Women compromise half of our population but we hardly see them in key positions, although this trend is changing. In the 90s, only 12 percent of those giving SLC exams were girls; now it is 50 percent. If there is no nepotism, come 2030/2035, half of our ambassadors will be women. That would be a huge transformation. Fifty percent of the population that was excluded is going to be integrated and I can see women-power driving many changes. 

Along with that, our youth power needs to be taken into account. We’ve seen in the past 15 years the tremendous transformation in the IT industry—all led by young people. We are a country where 50 percent of our population is under 25, and 70 percent is under 35. The challenge is how to unleash their potential. Once their potential is unleashed, Nepal can transform beyond recognition. And it’s not difficult. In the past few decades, we have seen countries like South Korea, Sri Lanka and Ghana progress by leaps and bounds.

Learning culture

We have to have a learning mindset. We tend to not learn. We are averse to hiring smart people and getting international experts to do things. We need to create that learning culture to make the transformation. It is about taking your stories to the world and letting good stories from the world influence you.

Quick Questions with Sujeev Shakya: 

Is there such a thing as “too many entrepreneurs?”

No. Every person is an entrepreneur. You may be working for yourself or others, but you can continue to be creative. 

Are Nepal’s tax policies conducive for new businesses?

Policies are conducive, but they can surely be better. Yet the real issue is their implementation. 

Are trademark/copyright laws in Nepal too lax?

Yes, and I hope media houses stop accommodating advertisements of those who violate such trademarks/copyrights.

Have a multi-sectoral approach to national development 

Three ways to realize the vision: 

1) Keep education at the heart of our future vision.
2) Empower women to create better families and societies.
3) Produce leaders with strong political will.

Even if it is the most practical one, a nation can’t progress with a single vision. So, I have visions for various sectors. We have to work on all of them simultaneously, and political will is what can change Nepal. So there should be an eagerness in leaders to achieve progress. For this, we need to produce leaders, not politicians. My visions can be materialized by leaders who dare to take charge.

Education

Our education system—both curriculum and classroom—has to reach the most remote parts of Nepal. The state should provide free education to everyone until Grade 12 and schooling must be made mandatory for all. For me, education is the key to progress, and every other sector should connect to it. Everything starts from here, so our education needs massive investment. It’s not about big roads and buildings; it’s beautiful minds that will make those infrastructures possible.

In terms of curricula, our country needs a major upgrade. We are still clinging to the concept of the 90s, which will take us nowhere. It’s not just about now, the education system should be updated frequently. For example, for six years, we have been practicing secularism, but due to the lack of awareness and proper schooling, Hinduism and casteism still play a big part in creating divisions among Nepalis.

Besides the upgrade in curricula, everyone should be taught moral and civic values. Not only students and youths, but parents and adults should know how to behave and teach their children about their rights and duties. What I have seen in Dharan and Pokhara is that parents want their children to do something that they want. This compels a large number of youths to train for the very limited seats available in the British and Indian armies. This is a violation of the rights of children and has held us back in producing qualified writers, musicians, doctors, and other professionals.

Moreover, I think the government should make it compulsory for every educated Nepali adult to spend at least a year teaching the younger generation, just like many countries have made military training for citizens compulsory. 

Women empowerment 

We should organize nationwide campaigns to teach the public what is wrong with the concept of patriarchy and how it is hampering Nepal’s development. But this doesn’t mean disrespecting men or trying to be superior to them. Women are and should be equal to men. This not only facilitates women but also helps men sustain a proper livelihood because if women are taught to be financially independent, not only will the national economy rise, men will also not feel the pressure of looking after the family. The richest nations have women in the lead and this is the time for us to learn from them.

Women are still treated as untouchable during their periods and there are other misogynistic practices in different parts of Nepal. To abolish these things, women’s empowerment is a must.

Environmental stability

At this point, environmental stability is a matter of concern for countries around the globe. We too should work to maintain environmental balance. We have enough resources to implement this vision, but all our resources that are in control of other countries should be brought back. Let’s do it for this planet because we have no other options. We can be leaders and examples for the world if we can understand the importance of the environment.

Health 

The Covid-19 situation has exposed the underbelly of our health systems. There is negligible investment in health facilities and research. Our doctors and researchers can’t utilize their knowledge to the fullest due to the lack of equipment and labs. So there must be investment in infrastructure and encouragement for our health experts and researchers. 

Music, arts, and culture

Music, arts, and culture are the nation’s assets and they should be deployed wisely to build Nepal. But sadly, the government has neither invested in the sector nor paid any attention to it. It is a disgrace that they don’t care about the human mind because music and art are all about feelings and creativity. Our audiences seek Hollywood-level quality. Hollywood invests 20 million in a project, and we don’t even do 20,000—so is it fair to compare?

Politicians forget how big a part music, arts, and culture have played in every political change and revolution in Nepal. Also, the urban youth culture is not being represented at all. In France, television or radio broadcasters have to promote French music. This safeguarding directive has helped build the music culture of France in a broader sense and again, we could think of something like this for the Nepali industry.

Whenever we talk about culture, we only think of centuries-old things. But actually, culture should be lively and progressive. We need to research the history and diversity of every part of Nepal so that each indigenous tribe or person feels the ownership of the country. Let’s stop advertising ourselves in the name of Gautam Buddha and Sagarmatha.

Lastly, only by working with concrete plans in every sector can Nepal have a better future. I have mentioned some sectors and my plans for them, but there are a lot more areas. So, let’s join hands and work together.

Photo: Yujen Manandhar/LOD

Quick Questions:

A quote you live by. 
I will say two. “To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering” by Friedrich Nietzsche and “You’ll never find a rainbow if you’re looking down” by Charlie Chaplin.

If there were a Ministry of Music in Nepal, who would you see as the minister?
There must be a rotation of tenure every few years so that everyone gets the chance. So, I will say Kunti Moktan, Robin Tamang, and then others.

Name Nepali musician(s), dead or alive, with whom you would love to collaborate.
Gopal Yonjan and Bacchu Kailash.

Copy best international practices to build a beautiful Nepal

Three ways to realize the vision: 

1) Land and house pooling, including proper infrastructure planning.
2) Building straight and well-maintained roads.
3) Creating a conducive climate for foreign investment.

Many of my readers might expect me to talk about literature and its development in Nepal. But there are things above literature whose betterment could benefit most of the people.

Comfortable and sound living is a primary human need and should always be prioritized. Even for the development of arts and literature, there must be a proper environment. Hence my vision includes the scientific use of land, development of settlements, and urbanization. This can be done through land and house pooling.

In 2013, I had an opportunity to visit the US and observe their planning and museums. They are one of the most powerful and well-settled nations, so I wanted to know the secret behind their success. I was eager to understand their ground-level planning. I chose museums because there you can find the history of an entire country in one place.

If you want to know about any place, just visit their museums. When I visited Russia, Australia, and Europe, I also visited their museums. After studying their planning, I learned that the scientific use of land is important, which is something missing in Nepal.

Let’s compare Nepal to a private residential piece of land. To build a house there, first of all, we draw plans according to our needs and hire an engineer to finalize construction. We allocate space for a house, a garden, and a yard. A country needs the same level of planning. There should be scientific segregation of land so that specific plots are designated for residential areas, hospitals, shopping markets, schools, industries, airports, agriculture, and forests. We haven’t classified land in such a way, not even in a single municipality.

Land is a natural asset, then why should it be traded? Do we pay for sunlight or water or air? No, absolutely not. Then why pay for land? The problem is our land is not in the hands of our government. It is with the brokers. This nation is run by brokers.

I know no one will even think of doing it, but land and house pooling is necessary, and a gateway for planning and execution of scientific land division.

Look at Ratnapark to see how ugly our country has become. There is a park, a pond, a temple, a school, a hospital, a bus park, and a shopping complex at the same place. Is it beautiful? Is it scientific? Is it healthy? No. How can a student study in such chaos? How can a patient recuperate in that noise? How can a pedestrian walk in that rush? This is a worrying situation, but nobody cares. 

Every part of Nepal has its own architectural designs. So, after the classification of land, there should be a specific way of building houses in residential areas according to the identity of the respective place. For example, in Humla, houses have three-stories: The top floor is called Swargalok (the place for stores and worship), the middle floor is Manusyalok (bedrooms, and kitchen), and the ground floor is Yamalok (as the ground floor is freezing in Humla, they keep their cattle there).

These things are part of our culture, and they should be immortalized. If we do not preserve such styles, our identity would be confined to history books. In Europe, you find traditional structures outside homes but it’s all modern inside. We can do the same. Else, why would tourists visit Nepal? We have nothing unique and attractive.

The next important thing is the road. Nepal is a small country with an average length of 193 km from north to south and 885 km east to west. Yet, half of the life of each Nepali is spent on buses. One would be able to live in Kathmandu and work in Pokhara or Chitwan if our roads were straight. Time is a valuable thing, but we spend it on useless things. South Korea, for five straight years, worked only on straight roads because they knew roads are the key to development. Break or drill through whatever comes between, but make the roads straight.

We cannot do all these things on our own—we don’t have the financial and scientific resources. So, we have to hire planners and engineers from abroad. Besides, we have to look for international investors. I am sure it won't be hard because Nepal is a land of possibilities and everyone wants to invest here. Even though our situation right now is bad, many foreign investors are investing here, and if we want to make things better, they would help us for sure.

Lastly, what I want to say is, my vision is not difficult to realize. It only needs the government to be interested. Does any citizen want Nepal to look bad? No. If the government comes with a concrete plan, everyone will play their part. Just look at developed nations, copy their ideas and adapt them to our historic taste, and we will regain our beautiful Nepal.

Quick Questions:

A quote you live by. 
I have many but for now, I would say “Humans should try to be good, not great” by BP Koirala.

Who are your three favorite fiction writers in Nepal?
1. BP Koirala 2. Diamond Shumsher Rana 3. Guru Prasad Mainali

What would you have been if not a writer?
If there was a better environment for everyone, I would have chosen to be in politics. I draw sketches and paint. So I could also have been a professional painter.

Get more youths into science and research

Three ways to realize the vision:

1) Proper institutional and infrastructural backing for those interested in the field.
2) Investing, inspiring, and rewarding the achievements of researchers.
3) Getting the government to enact the role of a patron and responsible guardian.

Science is the foundation for development. There is only one thing that sets developed countries apart from developing ones: scientific innovation and its application. So, there is no option but to prioritize science and research in Nepal if we are to compete globally.

For us to make strides in science and research, we need youngsters, but sadly many young people with innovative minds haven’t been properly utilized and recognized. We have been unable to reach out to and convince our youths of the significance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We must inspire and educate them to increase their involvement in scientific innovations.

Scientific research demands sufficient funding, which we don’t have in this country. Broadly, science has not yet been prioritized here. Scientific research fully relies on laboratories, equipment, and infrastructure. But we haven’t made any progress on these fronts. We don’t have enough facilities for scientific research, innovation, and demonstrations. But a deeper problem is lack of active participation of the younger generation in scientific research. We have thus failed to increase the pace of our development.

Therefore, my vision for Nepal includes an active role for the country’s youth. Youngsters today face a multitude of challenges, including education. Probably due to insufficient state investment, decent education is becoming unaffordable in Nepal. We are losing future innovators as they drop out of schools due to financial problems.

We need to work at the grassroots. It needs to start with our schools. Students should get a proper scientific environment and a ‘learning by doing’ process should be implemented so that we can create genuine attraction for science among our youngsters. Students excel only when they get good teachers, so we should train and mobilize potential educators properly. Motivation is a must for both teachers and students. Students and teachers who do well should thus get proper rewards and incentives.

Academia, industries, and government must secure the career of science graduates, who face a high level of job insecurity. If people in power address these challenges, it’s only a matter of time before Nepal strengthens its capability in science and research. The challenges we face are often interrelated and are centered on decision-makers.

Even with our limited resources, I am doing my duty because I am optimistic that Nepal has a bright future. I believe taking small steps is important to reach a destination that otherwise may seem far away. We have to start by trusting our capabilities and working towards our dreams. In my case, seeing people interested in science and research gives me the motivation to continue with the work I do.

That said, we can’t change things overnight, of course not. So, we should seek a collaborative approach to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. Without partnership and interconnectivity, it is difficult to conduct good research. Science is an exploration and it can’t be done within a closed lab. From the start to the endpoint—the initial idea to the last public product demonstration and usage—we need help and involvement of different sectors. The government could act as a bridge in this. After all, better research leads to better lives.

For me, five ‘M’s are important for scientific research: manpower, management, machines, money, and motivation. These should be supported by three ‘C’s: coordination, collaboration, and cooperation. Science is a disciplined culture and we have to develop it in the same way, with mutual understanding and support.

Nepal is a virgin land where only a negligible amount of research has been carried out. So, the next generation has many opportunities to discover, learn, innovate, and initiate. This global pandemic has also taught us a lot. If we had proper infrastructure and investment, we would not have had to wait for international borders to open to meet our needs. We could have even produced our own vaccines. This is the right opportunity to start things.

There are many things we can learn from China, where I did my PhD. There, students only need to think about their research and publication. Everything else a researcher needs, from the beginning to the end, was already arranged by the university, the professors, and the government. But here in Nepal, students have to think more about logistics than about their research. So, bright students don’t want to stay in Nepal.

For instance, when an industry has a science-related technical problem, students are the ones who research it and solve the problem. The industry should seek help from academia. This could be a collaborative approach as it helps to resolve real problems. Simultaneously, it helps students find their research area and also to complete their degree requirements. Therefore, the government should work towards linking the industry and academia.

Lastly, we need to make our science graduates critical thinkers and curious innovators within our defined national priorities. Innovation will promote indigenous technological advances that will lead to sustained national development.

Quick Questions:

Describe Nepal’s scientific research field in a sentence.
It has tremendous but yet-to-be realized opportunities. 

What made you take up science?
It’s a childhood attraction. My parents used to say that those who study science are hard-working and talented. This saying became my inspiration.

A quote you live by?
I have two actually: ‘Time and tide wait for no man’ and ‘Honesty is the best policy’.