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Nepal is beautiful. It doesn’t need to change. We do.

Ujwal — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 08:16:38 +0000

Nepal is beautiful. It doesn’t need to change. We do.

Bagmati, near Sundarijal is refreshingly pure. As we touch it, we start turning it toxic. We need to change our habits.

Krishna Mandir in Patan is heart stopping! The houses we have built around it, since, aren’t. We need to re-think what “progress” means.

Kathmandu is fresh. Just smell the air as you walk down on its streets at dawn. As the day progresses we turn it into a smog hole. We do need to reconsider our life-styles.

The apples of Mustang are delicious! How many of us have tasted them? Yet we import apples from the US daily. We need to reconsider our priorities.

Nepal is peaceful. We sure are provoking it to become increasingly violent. We do Nepal bandhs to install fear in its air. We spread negative news day after day to poison it. We fill it in with “yestai ho” mentality to depress it. We really need to chill !

Nepal remains united. We are hellbent on fragmenting it. We are provoking each other in nastier ways, in the name of our ethnic groups, religion and areas and philosophies. We burden her by demanding our rights from her, without being responsible for protecting her. What would be our identity without Nepal?

Nepal is youthful! 82% of Nepali are under 40. We are sweating in and out of Nepal making ourselves known for our passion, dedication, hard work,loyalty and bravery. How about our rulers?

Nepal is rich. It provides for nearly 30 million of us. Yet we choose rulers who do everything to rob it and strip it down. We need to change the way we make our choices.

Nepal is strong. It can handle every problem we hurl on it with grace and humility. We need to ask, do we deserve her?

Nepal is beautiful. It doesn’t need to change. We do.

(a version of this was published in Folio magazine)

देश भक्ति के होला ?

Ujwal — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 02:54:44 +0000

देश भक्ति के होला ?

थाहा भएन मलाई

तर देश भक्ति के चाहिँ होइन रहेछ, यो ब्याख्खा गर्न आँट्छु आज
यति थाहा भयो कि देश भक्ति भन्या मार्कसवाद, पुँजीवाद, राजावाद, मावोवाद ,जातीबाद, धर्मवाद, अधिनायकवाद कुनै पनि सिद्धान्त होइन रहेछ
आफ्नो हक – हित खोज्दा अरुको चाँहि छिनिन्छ कि छिनिन्न मतलबै नराखी हिँडनु पनि होइन रहेछ
हक मात्र खोज्ने र आफ्नो हिनताबोध बिर्सने पनि होइन रहेछ देश भक्ति
अरुले गु खायो भन्दैमा आफुले गु खानु पनि होइन रहेछ
आफु र आफ्नो घर आँगनको मात्र मतलब गरेर बस्ने पनि होइन रहेछ देश भक्ति
रिसको झोँकमा मनपरि गरेर ठुलो हुने प्रबिति पनि होइन रहेछ
अरु कोहि आएर यो ठाऊँ बनाई देला नि भन्ने आकाशे खेती सोच राखनु पनि होइन रहेछ
पुर्खाको “बीरताको” आड लिएर आफुलाई बीर ठान्नु त झन के होला र
चुपचाप सहँने अनि आफुलाई महा धैर्यवान ठान्नु पनि होइन नि
देशको लाई मर्छु भन्ने, केहि गरेर नदेखाउने पनि होईन रैछ
देश भक्ति के होला त?

पाँच हजार जनालाई आफ्नो अभियानमा एक हफ्ता भित्र कसरी ल्याउने?

“All this learning means nothing until you make something happen.” tips from a entrepreneur.

Ujwal — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 06:17:02 +0000

A small but powerful piece about “confidence” from a startup entrepreneur.

He argues, “All this learning means nothing until you make something happen,” further adding,
“I was an over-confident punk, thinking I had the answer, and everyone else didn’t. But it worked. And in fact, isn’t that kind of confidence absolutely required to get anything done? Isn’t the role of the entrepreneur to be the bold, daring, audacious one? The over-confident reckless one who says, “Screw it. Let’s do it!”?
Yes! Of course! It’s the essential final lesson: that all this learning means nothing until you make something happen.“

What are you going to do about it?

Here is the Link to the original article /blog. Enjoy.

what if, a million job creation was the election mantra of a new common sense party in Nepal

Ujwal — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:30:50 +0000

A couple of What ifs:

a) What if some dynamic young leaders of different political parties decided to come together and start fresh and make a new party (the way kadima was formed in Israel).
b) What if they then, brought all the young social entrepreneurs and economic advisors into their core political team and make “a million man job creation” their primary election agenda
c) What if they turned to the Non resident Nepalis for funding their organization through their website and transparently post their party spendings.
d) What if this youth party decided on “green” and “economic development” as vehicles for change!
e) What if the new “youth” party pitched in to form a dream team of national planning commission to put a successful entrepreneur, a young social entrepreneur, a globalization expert and an environmental social entrepreneur.
f) What if this party restricts its leadership’s age limit to 50 years and below.
g) What if it advocated chinese, english, hindi, entrepreneurship, mathematics and “effective communication skills” as a pre-requisite subjects for all schoolers upto high school.
What if….. (add yours)

Dokkodo, the art of living as a warrior

Ujwal — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:54:45 +0000

.
Quoting words of wisdom from “Dokkodo”, an ancient Japanese warrior tradition. It applies to the warrior inside each of us ! May this be an inspiration to you as well.

Accept everything just the way it is.
Do not seek pleasure for its own sake.
Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling.
Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.
Be detached from desire your whole life long.
Do not regret what you have done.
Never be jealous.
Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.
Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself or others.
Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love.
In all things have no preferences.
Be indifferent to where you live.
Do not pursue the taste of good food.
Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need.
Do not act following customary beliefs.
Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful.
Do not fear death.
Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age.
Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help.
You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honour.
Never stray from the Way.

more about the article here and also about its Japanese author, a warrior from centuries ago.

Under promise – over deliver

Ujwal — Mon, 24 May 2010 16:06:10 +0000

Its an old concept but frankly it’s a winner:

Under promise and over deliver !

This make your customers go crazy about your brand and they will recommend to others.
Word of mouth will bring new customers and better days.

this should serve as an welcome counter to companies like NTC (Nepal Telecom) who over promise and under deliver. Be warned ! such behaviour creates backlash when competitors will rise and “under promise” and over deliver ! NCell is rising at the cost of NTC.

Do you know any organizations or businesses or small shops here in Nepal who Under promise and over deliver? Please let our readers know by writing below.

No related posts.

Swedish IT social entrepreneur in Nepal, Bjőrn Sőderberg

Ujwal — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:24:38 +0000

Bjőrn Sőderberg, 28, is a young social entrepreneur with three successfully running companies, two in Nepal and one in Sweden.

In search of something exciting, challenging and different from that of Sweden, Bjőrn Sőderberg came to Nepal as a volunteer when he was 19 years old and lived in Bal Mandir. During his stay, he saw the potential for exciting new things in the hands of the young people in the country. In contrary to the trend of the youngsters finding their way to the U.S and abroad, Bjőrn started off in Nepal with a paper recycling (Watabaran Pvt. Ltd.) and IT outsourcing venture (Websearch Professionals Pvt. Ltd).

Despite the Swedish Government urging its citizens not to travel to Nepal for security reasons, Mr. Sőderberg was determined and he started approaching for loans in banks for the initial capital of $20,000. But through his struggle in the initial days, what he learnt was exciting!

——> Lesson No: 1, One does not need money to be an entrepreneur, s/he needs customers. You don’t spend money to start a company; you start a company to earn money. And with this learning in mind, he went to Sweden and confirmed two clients by promising them to deliver the same service they were already getting, but in half the price. His first two customers was his market research. In his way of doing things, he believes more in learning by doing rather than trying to focus too much in theory as he says “Most people believe you need to follow a certain process and make business plans to start a company. But the matter of fact is you don’t need websites, business plans or brochures to start your company, just start making money. Once you have your first customer, you have your market research, you have your company.”

Speaking of the struggle people go through to find that one bright idea to start up a venture, he points out that having a good or a great idea is not a guarantee of the success of the business.
—–> Lesson No. 2, Having the drive and the guts is more important than the idea itself.

The passion associated with the work can naturally make any idea a good one. The old formula is if you enjoy your work, you don’t even feel you are working. Adding more on innovation, idea and entrepreneurship, he explains that Entrepreneurship is about getting an idea and working very hard to realize it because it takes time to build up a business. And thus during that time, an entrepreneurs must have two qualities; patience and work hard.

While most people are apprehensive about starting up a business for the fear of failure, he takes a different approach saying,

—–> Lesson No. 3, “Never be afraid to fail. Rather be afraid of never failing. Those who never fail have never tried anything new and never be afraid of creating new things. Because creating new things and translating new ideas to action, even if they are small ones is what entrepreneurs do.”

Some Questions & Answers

What are the problems in starting up a business in Nepal?

Corruption is one of the major discouragements in starting up a business in Nepal. Bureaucrats try to squeeze money out of you here which a different scenario than in Sweden.

Do you think foreign investors are safe enough to invest in Nepal?

Given a few things, a safe environment for foreign investment can be created in Nepal. Some are:
Documents should be in English.
Load shedding should cease.
Hindrances from involuntary Bandhs and strikes should stop.

Have you faced or felt any conflict between the social contribution and economic aspects of a business?

I haven’t faced many clashes as such. I provide scholarships to talented students to study in KU and ask them to work for me for 4 years. Besides, I am always trying to take the middle way in finding profitability and contributing to the society.

In a certain business situation like “If a client asks more and more services and in the end refuses to pay the prices pointing out it was very high, what can one do in such situation”?

To avoid unprofessional situations like these, making everything about the deal clear beforehand is important. Give your client a sample or a prototype of your service and product and ask them to test it. If they like it then mention your prices. But remember some clients are unworkable and sometimes in those cases you have to let them go.

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Previous speakers at “E4N’s Last Thursdays” have been:

Ambica Shrestha of Dwarika’s Hotels and Resorts

Ajay Ghimire of Vibor Bank

Ashutosh Tiwari of Himalmedia

Bal Joshi of Thamel.com

Gyanendra Pradhan of HydroSolutions Nepal

Ichhya Raj Tamang of Civil Homes Group of Industries

Jonas Lindblom, a Swedish investor of Isadora Cosmetics on Durbar Marg

Karna Sakya of Kathmandu Guest house

Kiran Bhakta Joshi of Incessant Rain Animation Studios

Mahendra Shakya of Momo King

Min Bahadur Gurung of Bhatbhateni Supermarkets

Tashi Sherpa of Sherpa Adventure Gears

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

Ujwal — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 21:02:24 +0000

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!?”

Co-written with Richard Bull for the Facebook Group “Die Nepal Bandh Die”

need for a “patient systemic process”

Ujwal — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:35:07 +0000

Acumen Fund describes “patient capital” as not to seek high returns, but rather to jump-start the creation of enterprises that improve the ability of the poor to live with dignity.”

Ashu (Ashutosh Tiwari) and I are both fans of Acumen Fund. And we believe what we are doing in our group, “Entrepreneurs for Nepal”, complements their efforts by setting up a “patient systemic process” that helps in the effective implementations of “patient capital”. In our frequent brainstormings, we found ourselves always coming back to this central theme, “being patient, being persistent, and building organizations with this combination of patience and persistence.”

A “patient systemic process” involves spending time patiently but persistently building systems in place in your organizations, into your career or into your businesses. In the context of Nepal, we have got to invest more time and energy into learning how to make resilient systems with processes built by patience but persistence. This means building system of processes in almost every end goal in your business/organization, whether it is dividends, team-building, organizational growths, profits or career growths.

Once you have processes in place, the system will be resilient.

Please post your comments in whynepal.com and continue the discussion in our facebook group, “Entrepreneurs for Nepal”

The business cost of avoiding confrontation

Ujwal — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:34:26 +0000

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