Premiere is on tuesday february 2nd 8/7c. Can't wait!! If anyone's interested in getting together for LOST nights leave a comment.
For all you fans, this poster is a must have. Hint: It's size is 1920x1080 - perfect as a background for your High Definition TV!
Nepal is due for a big earthquake. No amount of denial is going to change that. Most of our buildings are also woefully under designed. You can definitely count on the government being completely incapable of any rescue efforts when the time comes.
A little bit of effort, though, can go a long way and can mean the difference between life and death. This thread is for tips and ideas on how to increase your chances of surviving the next one.
This is my 6th post on earthquakes in Nepal without any comments, while my posts on KFC, interior design, tourists, etc. all get many responses.
Contrary to popular belief Nepal does have a very valuable resource - it's people. We have a very young population - 42% of the population are under the age of 15. It's a age distribution that most developed countries would absolutely kill for. A large young population means a more nimble and capable workforce and at the same time a small older population means less resources have to be spent on taking care of the elderly.
But for all the talk of patriotism, we're actually pretty obsessed with leaving Nepal - I've had countless people ask me for advice from hair dressers to students to massage therapists to dentists. As a result of this determination a large percentage of young talented Nepalis go abroad - both for education and work. Many never return. And this really is a shame because these young people can and should be the driving force behind Nepal's economic growth through new companies, ideas, and sheer young energy and optimism.
Having lived in Kathmandu for a year, I've reflected on why this is the case and how this trend can be reversed.
Elder worship
This is a very much accepted and consistent theme throughout Nepali families. We bow to elders, and we use a different speech with and about them to imply deep respect. Basically, the old are wise that we young should respect and learn from. Unfortunately, our older population is neither very well educated nor experienced about the world. Very few have traveled, either through lack of funds or understanding of the world around them. And we're expected to learn from them. It's like the blind leading the blind.
Lets respect our elders, but not take worldly advice from them. Lets help them be comfortable in their old age but not take relationship, work, and health advice from them. Young Nepalis need to feel empowered and confident if they are to change the country and a good way to start is to be treated as equals by older people.
I was recently in Hong Kong and a good college friend of mine who's a high level government official there told me point blank "you should move to Hong Kong - we would love to have more young professionals". From a policy perspective she understands what a great difference young professionals make to a country's economy. Notice she didn't say "your parents should move to Hong Kong - we would love to have more old people to respect". And young people can feel it. You can feel it when you're in dynamic places like Hong Kong or San Francisco. You feel needed and wanted. You feel like you're valued and can make a difference. And you feel drawn to those places.
Nepotism
It is embarassing and demoralizing to see less qualified people get jobs you want because they have family and other connections. What's the incentive to stay in Nepal and work hard if there is no relationship between hard work, talent and financial reward? Nepotism is a sure way to make sure young talented Nepalis leave the country and have only the less capable or lazy ones with family connections stay behind.
Fun things to do and night life
Young people need fun things to do to be happy. It's just the way it is. We have more energy, more hormones kicking, and more appetite for new and fun things to do. There's a reason that google offices have fun games and crazy interior design and food by celebrity chefs. It keeps things exciting. It makes us want to hang around. It makes us happy. Currently the most exciting thing happening in Nepal is the opening of KFC and Pizza Hut. When I read the events section in the local newspapers I sometimes get a gag reflex with the absolute lack of fun things to do in Kathmandu.
Friendly business environment
We don't need things handed on a silver platter, but it's currently so tough to start a business that only the most brave and adventurous go for it. Or if your family has the right connections. If you think that the bureaucracy in Nepal is not too bad you don't know how easy places like the US or Hong Kong make it for people to register a business. Ours is a country where getting an office phone number is like pulling teeth. But really, by making it difficult to start a business, Nepal is only hurting itself. It stifles innovation and it discourages young graduates from starting a business.
The benefits from all of this of course is that it will create jobs and a smarter segment population will remain in the country. And successful startup founders can become mentors for the next batch creating a healthy cycle and startup culture.
Nepal, you're our country and we love you and want to be there for you. But it sometimes feels like you're an abusive spouse who doesn't value what we have to offer and spits in our face when we try to do the right thing. You need to change a few things or risk having all your young supporters leave you forever - more attractive places in the world beckon for our talent.
So I was at a construction site today and one of the workers stepped on a nail. Of course, this being Nepal, he wasn't wearing a hard hat, gloves, steel toe boots, or safety glasses. He was just wearing a pair of pants and a shirt and sandals. So naturally the nail went right through his sandals and into the bottom of his foot. It all looked very painful and I'm sure it was.
But what he did next astounded me. His friend calmly pulled out a matchbox and proceeded to remove the red match powder and apply it on the wound. Before I could yell at them to stop the madness he lit a match and then put it on the match powder on the wound. And then poof. His foot was on fire. For 5 seconds at least.
I'm no doctor so I don't know - were these guys insane or does lighting a wound help heal it faster?
One thing (out of many) that confuses me about Nepal is how difficult it is to find skilled workers in Nepal. At first I thought it was due to small number of good universities in the country and that many skilled workers leave Nepal never to return. But that too doesn't add up.
Many good programmers and artists I know went to just average schools and colleges. But through their interest in the subject matter and hard work became experts in their fields. As far as leaving Nepal for greener pastures, I know that's not easy either. Just look at the long lines of VISA applicants at the US, French, Chinese, Korean consulates and you know that everyone is not getting permission to leave the country.
So if it's hard to get a VISA, and there are lack of job options in Nepal, in theory there should be a surplus of talented people in areas such as graphic design, programming, carpenters, painters and so on. Which is why it doesn't make sense why I haven't been able to find them. It's frustrated me enough that I created a separate category on sodne.com for jobs as well as a whole new website to help find skilled people in Nepal. So far I haven't been very successful. The painter I'm using sucks, the one I like is always busy. I've been looking for Ruby/Rails programmers for a whole year now without success. I have one good carpenter but he's also always busy. I haven't had too much luck with finding good graphic designers with CSS skills either.
Which is a shame because I'm willing to spend good money to be able to hire skilled people. And I'm assuming there are many others in the city looking to hire skilled people for a nice salary as well - hello job opportunities. So what's going on? Am I not looking in the right places? Where are all the [young] talented Nepalis?
I'm looking to buy a dynamo. I looked but the only things I've been able to find are the 12V bicycle dynamos. Anyone know where I can buy a dynamo that is 40 to 60 volts in Kathmandu?
A lot of work in Kathmandu is done by word of mouth. Need a plumber? Most Nepalis will ask their family members or friends for a referral. It's a nice system that's been working for hundreds of years but the problem is that it is not efficient and it also doesn't help newcomers who might not have that level of connections to be able to ask for referrals.
The problem is compounded in Nepal because of the lack of any comprehensive white pages or central directory where you can reliably search for skilled people. So we decided to roll out a hybrid solution and came up with milnu.com.
Milnu is basically a three way lovechild of white pages, yelp, and a wiki. Basically that means it's user generated, user editable (with revisions), and comes with recommendations (i.e. reviews and ratings). Additionally it also rates your language skills and is hyperlocal (i.e. based on GPS coordinates). The goal is to let users to ask questions like "I'm looking for a top rated electrician within 5 kilometers of my house who speaks good english".
Well, there you have it. Try it out and let us know if you have any comments or suggestions. You can also add yourself or someone you know who's skilled at something - the site is completely free and requires no login or registration.
I happened to walk into a construction area in Kathmandu yesterday and was curious about a little shed that they were building. It's a small room - roughly 10ft x 10ft and about 8ft tall. The walls were basically being made of stacked bricks and about 16 inches thick but what was most interesting was that there were NO cement or mortar or reinforcement being used. Just plain old bricks stacked on top of each other and a basic corrugated metal roof.
I asked the fellow building it and he told me to my horror that no, it was't going to be used for storing stuff but rather was going to be a temporary house for the guard who's going to be providing security for the site. This is just an accident waiting to happen - any small tremor from an earthquake and this little shed will literally collapse on whoever is unfortunate enough to be inside.
The owner of the project is unwilling to spend the extra bucks to use cement on the walls (the point being that this is a temporary structure and they want to use the bricks towards the end of the project). More importantly it turns out that this is common practice in any construction site in Nepal. So I proposed a cheap and easy solution - basically put some corrugated sheets on the inside walls and attach them securely with some steel pipes. For anyone who's skeptical check out the video below.
Humans have a tendency to think that efficacy is directly related to cost and effort. But it's really a false assumption. A little effort can go a long way in making buildings a lot safer during an earthquake. And fortunately a lot of these methods are very cheap as well. So there really is no excuse to not create structures in Nepal that are at the very least life safe, i.e. something that doesn't kill the people inside. All that's needed is public awareness, education, and will power.
I'm trying to put together a list of bookstores in Kathmandu here. Please leave a comment with your favorite bookstore in Kathmandu (You can also add it yourself to lukeko).
Just finished reading the book - in great shape. It's also my new favorite book of all time if that helps you get interested :) Reviews of the book are here.
Contact me at sthapit @sodne.com or leave a comment below if you're interested.
I was having a discussion with someone about famous Nepali people and I realized my list was pretty short. But there must be many out there - media, athletes, professors, business owners etc... Add to the list if you can think of any.
As much as we talk the talk about patriotism, I think it's interesting how there is so much foreigner worship in Nepal.
"Oh, someone spoke to me today in Italian! How cool! He thought I was Italian". Or "this person I met at work today asked me if I was Filipino. I guess I look Asian!". Substitute Italian and Filipino for one of many countries in the world. I swear I've heard Nepalis say this with glee countless times now - there is something to this. Maybe it's a desire to look exotic, or maybe Nepalis automatically equate foreigners with wealth. I don't know. But I do feel that there is an under current of Nepalis who want to look and hang out with non-Nepalis. A party is more cool if you have some white/asian/hispanic/whatever folks in it. A fashion show is more legit if you have some foreign models. ANY foreign model will give you bragging rights - "come to Fashion Week 2009 - we have THREE MODELS FROM INDIA AND ONE FROM RUSSIA".
This would be funny if Nepalis didn't have to go to restaurants in Nepal and have the waiter drop taking their order to rush to seat and take the order from the foreigner who just walked in (no, this didn't happen to me, I read it on myrepublica - link here). Ours is a nation that is racist against our own people. How messed up is that.
Step one to generating electricity from wind power is to create a turbine. Turns out it's actually very easy - all you need are some PVC pipes. To test out the theory I built it using a toilet paper roll which worked and then I also tried a paper towel roll which also worked. I simply pasted the blades on a Horlicks jar cap. Pictures and video are below. The whole thing took me less than an hour - not bad at all.
Next I have to find some decent motors/generators in Kathmandu to actually convert this wind energy into electricity. And make bigger blades of course. I'm thinking of something around 2 feet and made from plastic instead of paper. Stay tuned :)
I need to buy some simple PVC pipes? The simple ones that's used for plumbing and electricals. Anyone know stores that sell them in Kathmandu? Preferably near Naxal.
Anyone know if the IT Park is open for business? What kind of facilities are available, pricing? Who's eligible to apply for space?
One of my family members had a pretty severe case of food poisoning with lots of vomiting and diarrhea. Since he hadn't eaten out the previous few days the obvious culprit was the maid who cooks for him. What was interesting was her reaction when I asked what she thought the problem was - she looks at me straight in the eye and says that the spirits were making their rounds and that's why he got sick.
At first, I seriously thought she was joking. But she carried on. "Oh yes. The spirits come around to my house as well. There's not much you can do about it except do pujas to rid the house of the spirits". I was pretty dumbfounded. "Really? You really think so?" I asked. But it became obvious that she did. "What about your hands? Have you been washing your hands properly?" I went on hinting that there was probably a rational explanation to why he got sick. "No. it's the spirits". I dropped it.
I doubt that this is an isolated case. In fact my own mom does pujas when someone gets sick in the house and she's more educated than most Nepalis. Which really highlights one of the problems facing Nepal today - rampant superstitions. I really believe that on some level it is holding us back from development. If you stop asking questions you will not find answers. If you accept that spirits cause you to get food poisoning then you will stop trying to prevent it in the first place. Why stop to figure out why someone got food poisoning and practice proper hygiene - it's so much easier to do mindless pujas.
I think the blame falls squarely on the government of Nepal, both present and past. This is what happens if a government (or king) neglects its people for 300 years and is more interested in increasing their own wealth rather than the development of the country. This is what happens when illiteracy is widespread. And this is what happens when you have poor governance and therefore poor dissemination of accurate health information.
So in this respect, I think it's good that the monarchy is over. Monarchies, in places like Japan and the UK are fine because on some level the people there understand that at the end of the day their beloved king or queen are just people like everyone else. Ours is a country where a lot of people genuinely seem to believe that our king is a reincarnation of gods. So for this reason alone I believe the country is better off without a monarchy. One small step towards reducing superstitions in a largely superstitious country can only be a good thing.
Need to rent a sound system (amplifier + speakers) for a party on Sat. Anyone know where I can rent them in Kathmandu?
The Maoist Party (UCPN-Maoist) has announced that they intend to conduct the following:
I think we should copy from China's playbook and get rid of the ugly green army and police uniforms in use today. Get rid of most of the men too (except the good looking ones - we need to fight female criminals too) and hire lots of attractive women. Then issue outfits like below with short skirts, go-go boots, and cute hats. Do the equivalent for men. I don't know, maybe some of my readers can chime in but I'm thinking of something like this.
Imagine you're robbing a bank and a group of hot police officers dressed like that come to arrest you. Well (a) you'd definitely be very distracted, unable to look away or run and obviously (b) not be able to shoot at such cuties. As a bonus (c) the world will think Nepal is very progressive for having a police force with lots of women. Less crime and bloodshed, more jobs for women, kickstart the fashion industry (have yearly local contests for cute outfits), more hotties on the street... Win win.
Sthapit lives in Kathmandu and loves traveling, learning new things, and meeting new people. He is a graduate of Georgia Tech (B.S.), MIT (M.S.), and Berkeley (PhD) and as a result knows about architecture, interior design, math, engineering, earthquakes, robotics, controls and a bit about wine and cheese. He can be reached at sthapit @ sodne.com and if you write him an email he promises to answer it.
Joined Sodne 7 months ago
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there is no link on your home page for sodne pictures?? i think it is good idea to have a link of it
@sushma - was trying to keep things simple on the home page but i'll add a link if people are interested. btw all the pics are at http://www.sodne.com/photos
