Category Archives: environment

frank talks about ground reality in Nepal

Nepal Airlines: break it down and sell it in parts.

change, environment, governance, , , , , , ,

When you have a brand that is only “negative”. When there is very little trust in your brand and no hope from management that it will change its services, my solution is to break this brand up in bits, and sell the scraps ! you can’t fix a flawed direction unless you turn 180 degrees.

Nepal Airlines is a brand that is stinking so much that it is disreputing the brand of even other airlines in Nepal. How about, selling all its remaining planes to private airlines, and shut down the company. Sell the posh real estate it owns in New Road and other expensive operations to finance the selling or loans it still has.

What will Nepal lose ? A chance for nepalese Politicians for a free ride for the near future. And a couple of hundred jobs.

What will Nepal gain? A chance for more efficient, and reliable private airlines to take over and give us the service we deserve. If USA doesn’t have a national carrier, why does Nepal need one?

I bet Buddha Air could take over international Airlines operations pretty smoothly, and Yeti Air could take over the national operations of Nepal Airlines much more smoothly. And there are dynamic entrepreneurs waiting to turn it around if given the chance. People who have the zeal, and the capacity to turn troubled companies around !

(Premise- I just rode back from Phaplu, Solukhumbu to Manthali in Ramechap on a 18 minute Yeti airlines flight  on a 7 seater pilas porter plane so that I could get back to Kathmandu in a day. Previously, I had been waiting for Nepal Airlines for 4 days, who didn’t care much about the sense of urgency.  And no, the weather was perfect ! – so no excuses)

Other government owned companies that needs to broken off and sold off to young dyanmic teams of socially responsible entrepreneurs are:

Nepal Telecom

National Trading Corporation.

Nepal Oil Corporation

Pashupati-nath Trust

Give them a chance (and hold them accountable ! .. Yes it is as simple as that)

I welcome your thoughts and alternatives below !

This 3 day Nepal bandh (total shutdown of country). This is blackmail.

entrepreneurship, environment, governance, ideas, inspiration, leadership, philosophy, thought provoking, , ,
Are you looking forward to this 3-day bandh, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday? (Total shutdown of Nepal)
What say to the sorry fact that a few big egos with no-one’s interests at heart but their own, will oppress you for three long days with the threat of some cheap several-hundred-rupee-per-day-hired-goons. Who benefits from this? Can bullying create lasting change? After 15+ years of bandhs, does it have the power of ‘shock and awe’ any more? This stinks. This is terrorism on the street corner and the masses lie down and swallow it as a part of life in :New Nepal.  But wait a minute…. Are you thinking….
  • Its not my job to stop it ?
  • I am helpless to face up to it myself, what can I do?
    or
  • So what, its just a few days, I can wait it out?
  • I am lazy, I am a coward, I am average….?
Is there really *nothing* we, you, I, me, he, she, they can do? Aren’t you feeling helpless, pathetic, angry? What? You don’t care?
Visualize this,
“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a room with a mosquito.” Someone wise person said that. You all know its true.
Here’s a suggestion. Instead of looking for the nuclear bomb that will wipe bandhs from the face of history tomorrow, let’s take it slowly, be creative, be surprising, reject the shouting, chest beating old-school ways, and have a lot of sneaky fun. Sounds like an ideal romance, no? Let’s start by giving a hint of the steam in this youthful pressure cooker. Start by making small cracks in the wall of nonsense. Lets find new ways to deal with this mob.
Here are some ideas floated by fellow activists in the Facebook Group “Die Nepal Bandh Die”. Join it if you believe in the cause and recommend others.
START THINKING!

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“What about ‘Flash Mob'”?, asked a few people – showing the strength of the silent majority without violence. Know what it is? An sms alert brings a huge mass of people together at short notice at a specific location with secret instructions. Then disperse immediately after the action is over.
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“Exposing faces behind the mob”, suggested another. Get snapping pictures of bandh enforcers now, and start posting pictures on this and other forums. This is one small way of empowering ourselves and see the faces behind this destructive forms of protests.
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Phone jamming – “if you get 1000 people to call every party head office and express their one sentence opinion on bandh, and then hang up. would be fun no?”
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Email the editors – Another suggested, “Mass send emails to the editors of the mass media in Nepal. ‘Please publish on letters page: Dear Sir/Madam, I am 23 from Lalitpur and I want to express my view on the bandh culture which is a hand at the throat of this nation…”.
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“A bandh day football tournament on tundikel, mass random cricket competition in the streets, a cycle rally for the hard-core orwhat the hell – let’s just get people, lots of people together. Otherwise its pathetic, isn’t it?”, emailed yet another.
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Asks a foreigner,”Where is the dissent in this country!?”

We need a Park ! Turn our old Royal Palace into one now !

entrepreneurship, environment, governance, human resources, recommend these links, , , ,

We want a park to enjoy, to take a breathe away distraction full Kathmandu. What better use of the old Royal Palace  in Kathmandu to turn it into a park! It is a huge space in the most lucrative business districts of the country and it now houses a stupid museum and a stupid bureaucratic hole. So lets suggest some creative ideas for this space. Here are some of mine:

  • Take the bloody foreign ministry somewhere else first.
  • Get a bid for building a hybrid limited storied business- commercial shopping complex all around the Palace. This way new businesses will have a new address to attract nepalis and foreigners alike. Cap the design to be more architecturally Kathmandu’s Malla period architecture. Let there be a open plan/competition for architects for a design that incorporates tourism complex with a big park in the middle.  Use this to attract responsible tourism related business into the complex. (plan is to extend and upgrade Thamel’s charm there in a more cultural plus natural framework).
  • Let most of the revenue go towards building an impecabbly well maintained park not unlike the “Garden of Dreams” next door in Thamel. This will be our ‘Central Park of New York. or “Lumphini Park of Bangkok’. Build a park where people can walk, children can play and pets can be brought in safely. Ban Big gatherings.
  • Also make it a space for morning/evening walks, outdoor running, and peaceful meditation spots.
  • Make another small space  within this,where Artists, musicians, dancers, creative teams (not political) can hold open gatherings (without too much disturbances – architects can design this within the huge space of the Former Royal Palace.
  • Make the park vehicle free but build a underground parking area though that will generate additional revenue and people can park their vehicles in peace.
  • A Question: Make it open and fee-less but with strict enforcement? ” or keep it closed and with an affordable fee -easier to manage like the Garden of Dreams?

Add your own ideas on how to best use the Royal Palace ? should we start a movement on this ?

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The business cost of avoiding confrontation

change, environment, philosophy, thought provoking, , ,

The business cost of avoiding confrontation in Nepal

A friend from the US living part-time and doing business in Nepal expressed frustration over our (Nepali) strong cultural desire to avoid confrontation in a professional relationship. Specifically, the steep business cost of this in-action. We discussed for some reasons behind this.

The graciousness of Nepalis is a double-edged sword. The Nepali hospitality is world-renowned but this can be problematic in international business culture. This is rooted in a Nepali tradition of treating visitors as ‘gods.’ People here go out of their way to make sure that a visitor’s experience is a good one. Nepali people don’t like to disappoint. It’s personal pride. But in business, if you don’t let me know that you are going to ‘disappoint’ me – i.e not delivering on time, not delivering on the quality i seek – then I will make promises that I can’t keep, losing face and disappointing others. This creates a domino effect on all my professional relationships. In business, brutal honesty of your short comings saves a lot of pain later on. In a lot of cultures, this is expected of you in business.

But a Nepali may not understand the true business cost of disappointing others. In other words, things not getting done correctly (with quality) or on time is not a big deal among Nepalis but is a BIG deal in the U.S. So why are we so afraid to avoid confrontation, and to avoid conflict?

Is it because of our culture that worships authority, hierarchy, and guests. This culture that taboos ‘questioning authority or displeasing guests’ leading to complications when trying to keep your professional commitments. While we  stress on the culture of “guests as god” relations, we unknowingly end up belittling our professional commitments. Do we have a conflict between our cultural and professional commitments. Many times I have come across this situation. We deny outright that there is a problem and we lie casually with reassurances to avoid the inevitable confrontation. This is our chaotic contradictory way to avoid confrontations.

To a foreigner wanting a professional relationship in Nepal, this is a contradiction.  On the one hand working with a Nepali earns you genuine care and respect, thus earning great personal relationship. On the other hand, their apparent dishonesty with you in terms of keeping up their professional commitments costs you your professional (and later personal) relationship with others,

Is it, that to preserve this status qua of our fabled “respect your authority and guests” philosophy, we may become a generation of conflict averse professionals who cannot keep up with our professional commitments. Do we really understand the business cost of disappointing others? In this flat world, we need to figure out a way to solve this sooner than later.

on a side-note : why “do Nepalis turn our heads sideways (as if we disagree) when agreeing completely with them! (it makes any foreigner go crazy).

would love to hear your opinions on whynepal.com

10 good places inside Kathmandu to talk ideas over lunch ….

environment, ideas, places and travel, , , , ,

Here are some good places I  have taken people for business talks or other ideas that needs to be shared. Maybe  you have bumped into one of these places yourself.

On top of the stairs of the tallest temple opposite the Kathmandu Durbar Square (Also called Hanuman Dhoka) in the center of Kathmandu, near New Road is a great place to talk, take a packed lunch or just a thermos of tea /coffee with 2 cups and go sit on there. A great place to view the world below while talking about how to tackle that business problem! Here is the photo link of the place…

Imago de cafe and gallery in the immediate east of  the former Royal Palace walls. (few houses away from the Visa application office for the UK) great ambience, very silent and cozy. Good light food and plenty of green around. Plus a bit of a relief from the usual trendy crowded durbarmarg and Thamel area.

OR2K (means light 2 Kathmandu in hebrew). An israeli vegetarian place in the heart of Thamel, opposite Pupernickel bakery and “the Factory” lounge, This place  is usually crowded but early evenings or lunch times are a great place to sit down on the mats and talk business. A great place to bounce of ideas while having delicious Middle Eastern food. Try the simple mushroom humus with a mint lemonade ! has free wi fi too.

Dhokai maa Cafe ( a distinct place with a courtyard of its own) in Patan Dhoka ( lalitpur), It is across the Bagmati River in Lalitpur near the southern gates to the ancient city of lalitpur. Good charming place to talk! Here is a link for further info of the place.

Kaiser cafe inside the Garden of Dreams, right on the mouth of Thamel. A great place to be in the midst of gardens, ponds and a visual feast. And not many crowd to disturb you with ! Here is a link to the place.

The Zoo. Yes, the  zoo located in Jawalakhel in Lalitpur, is another place I use to walk around and talk over while watching playful children enjoying the exotic animals in the central zoo of Kathmandu. A bit refreshing  from the usual sit, eat and talk.

Walters in Babar Mahal revisited is another place like the Garden of Dreams but a place with exotic shops inside the compound and right next to Singha Durbar, the center of Government of Nepal. You can sip tea or coffee or drinks in this old but renovated French architecture courtyard.

Kaldi Cafe in Thamel: A wi-fi enabled place with great coffee and nice environment to complement the ever busy atmosphere in the middle of Thamel. I like the scene where everyone is here with their laptops communicating, a good place to observe travelers from all around the world. I have asked a few strangers here for feedback on my travel portal.

Sherpa Mall at Durbarmarg. There is a restaurant, Cafereena I frequent regularly. A great place to brainstorm ideas and is preferred by busy working people who also can’t live without Momos (Dumplings). It is a bar/open -sky restaurant. I invite a lot of my friends specially activists working on our similar cause to talk over matters with momos and green tea!
p.s there are 2 Cafes serving Nepali organic coffee in this complex. The one on the first floor, Magic beans has better views but is a smoke filled place packed with smokers. The one on the street is open sky but very limited seating place.

Shangrila Hotel in Lazimpat: There is a nice garden restaurant inside the hotel, where you can catch up with a business associate or brainstorm crazy ideas or catch up with a friend. Just go inside the hotel and ask for directions.

Add your own list of favorite place to talk ideas in Kathmandu below!