National 5 (Spotlight Weekly)

Anxiety Attack

There is a palpable feeling of alienation among a vital segment of the population

BY AKSHAY SHARMA

The daily staple of death, destruction, corruption, political jockeying, economic decline and general sense of insecurity is more than enough to trouble the most tranquil of minds. When an entire generation of young people feels it has no one to look up to during these turbulent times, the country better start worrying about its future.

Regardless of class, creed, ethnicity or ideology, young Nepalese hold the key to tomorrow. Their anxieties and frustrations are not unnatural, considering the despondency gripping the nation as a whole. But a deeper sense of aimlessness and drift seems to have pervaded this critical section of the population.

Youth : At the crossrods

"I feel dead — mentally and physically," says Robin Bhattacharya, who runs a restaurant at Durbar Marg. "I get so confused about my life. There is no idol that I can look up to," In three crisp sentences, Bhattacharya shows the direction in which the country is headed.

"BP Koirala was in his thirties when he became Nepal's first elected prime minister. Do we heed the voices of our children?" asks Ramesh Sharma, a tourism entrepreneur. "Maybe it is the other way around — maybe the young do not possess the drive to take over the responsibilities of their elders."

Himal Khabarparika recently reported that more than 2,000 youths have left Nepal for the United States. There are countless other Nepalese holding guns either in the security forces or in the Maoist camp. Escapism and estrangement are not the attributes the country needs today.

In some ways, today's young are better off than their predecessors. "Have today's kids played marbles?" asks 27-year-old Sanjeev Pandey. "Our generation got to play computer games, too."

With culture trying to keep pace with technological advancement, the social conversation of urban youths has changed. "Is a Mac computer better than an IBM," asks Prasanta Devkota, 19. "Have you seen Will Smith's latest movie?" BBS student Kusal Timilshina asks his friends. Their fathers at this age were probably talking about King Prithvi Narayan Shah the Great or BP Koirala. For a generation swamped by all kinds of images and ideas from around the world, the search for an idol becomes difficult.

Traditional sources of sustenance like religion are losing their ability to counter alienation. "The only religion not used as a political tool was Hinduism. But now, Indian politicians have turned it into a vote-getter. This would probably do great harm to the world's only Hindu kingdom," says Ajeen KC of Balaju.

Economic decline has exacerbated this sense of drift. Despite its considerable scope for accelerating economic growth by exploiting its potential in hydropower and tourism, Nepal remains among the poorest and least developed countries in the world. With nearly half of Nepal's population living below the poverty line, a feeling of utter helplessness could prove highly destructive.

As India and China continue to record impressive growth rates, some say it is only a matter of time before Nepal begins reaping benefits. "Nepal, a yam between two boulders, will benefit from the Cold War that has ensued between the two giants," says Prakash Koirala, the son of BP Koirala, who is a Nepali Congress MP.

However, the promise of a better tomorrow provides little comfort to those in pain today. "I have a graduate degree, but I do not have a job," says 28-year-old Amit Bohara. "It would be a lame excuse to blame politicians who barely know my name or dreams. So I have to do something."

He is going to the United States where he says his skills as an engineer specializing in high-speed wire might be in demand. "I waited so long for something to happen here. But the government seems dead set against granting a license for the company I used to work for. From abroad, maybe I could do something for the country, too."

With so many educated youths walking around aimlessly on the city's streets, an entire pool of talent risks being drawn in the wrong direction. Politics, economy, technology, religion and other socio-economic factors prove that there is a social transition taking place. But who knows where this would lead the nation?