well,

let me share sth that might be interesting to most of you. i am not sure how things go at nepali gatherings in your states and cities, but over here at my place, its pretty much monotonous and predictable.

1) Corona

2) Cards

3) Politics

i don't go to nepali parties often. its not that i don't like them..but i feel suffocated at times. people gather....men go for cards....women go for their feminine stuffs ( i have very little clue about it :P)....then drinking and stuffs..and finally politics...

with more corona gone from freeze, more people participate in politics...
more the consumption, louder the noise.

last week, i went to one of those parties. there was this guy, quiet and tranquil sitting on a counch in the corner until he was done with two coronas. then he stood up and went:

"nepal has no future!"

"all these fu--ing politicians should be shot in tundikhel" blah blah..

someone retaliated..and then there was a verbal commotion for a while. later on i came to realize that the dude was a DV winner...hehe.

then political debate took on the party for another 2 good hours.... i felt so fuc--ked up, runied my friday night completely...but then this is how we are haina--typical nepali?

ki haina?

how does it go in your place?

LooTe

That's why I don't go to these parties or, even if I have to go I don't stay for long time.

Nepali bhayera Nepaliko partyma nagayera kaha janchau? Quireykoma?

Parties does not necessarily have to limit within drinking, cards and politics. I believe parties provide a platform to meet your folks, refresh your mind and body after a hectic schedule and a place where you can exchange your ideas. Hoina ta?

sometimes its painful but sometimes its so hilarious that You almost pee you pants..I have been here for 3-4 yrs now....till 2-3 months before i had not seen 50 neplese at once...My uni had no neplese and even the town...but now I have moved to a bigger city where there are few neplese..I have been to couple of these parties....Things i wanna add to loote's list is,

I. heiniken
II. Small groups of neplese(4-5)
III. Fu.ck.ed up New commer(me)

I left after 1/2 an hour...Dude..I went there with so much enthusiasm now I have the same enthusiasm to stay back rather than to go to these parties...
Politics is aweful....dude ma ta chakka yaar....NRN sanga 0.5 bill dollars ani world bank bata 1.5 billion dollars jhikera nepal ko infrastructure develop garne re yaar...on top of that that dude just had 1/2 bottle of heiniken......I dunno what the heck he thinks of himself.......I am sure he is also DV gang coz after 15 yrs in US he still says (T-MOBAILE)

i mean there is nothing wrong in a political discussion if it is disciplined and everyone get a chance to speak. but i feel that everyone is eager to prove theirown point without analyzing and comparing their viewpoints with others.

how can a view be right/wrong if it is not juxtgaposed with its rivalries?

how can sth be "true" if there is no "false"?

are nepali less analytical? why don't we let other voice to be heard. why me, me and me only? why not we?...

sometimes i feel that "we don't deserve democracy"...its not in our culture to be democratic...i may sound rude but that's what i gathered from few nepali parties that i have attended so far.

LooTe

Perhaps that shows the lack of commonality among us Nepalis. Maybe there is no common thread, except griping about politics, that brings us together.

But that's not true.

When I am in the party, we talk about whole host of things. Stuff we talked in last Nepali party...

high school days
college (in Nepal) days
stock market ... I think we extensively talked about some obscure tech stocks
trekking escapades
buy vs. rent real estate
following girls from PK
how many times we got laid in college
how many times we got laid in the car
particular female science teacher back in high school we tried once to look up the skirt of
ghost stories (this topic went on till wee hours of the morning)

wow....riten..that lists look interesting...
i am not saying that people only indulge in political discussions. they do talk about other stuffs too but in summary, it all boils down to politics. perhaps you are right, they feel together in it....but i don't see them compromising...

floppy,

i am dying for a good nepali party, trust me! i don't go for too many "kuhire" parties either. as you said, meeting with old folks is fun for sure....but i was just projecting what happens in "general" in a typical nepali party....i mean for "general" nepalese living in US.

i have attended parties where nepalese Phd of different fields gather...i have mixed experiences from there too.

LooTe

That's true, Loote. The party I mentioned above was probably different than the usual Nepali get-together.

Some of us knew each other from school days, others we got to know here, most of us finished college here, some were married, none of us were lucky DV winners, all of us were in same age bracket... probably same tax bracket too, all of us were professionals, all of us Nepalis (from Pokhara to Kathmandu to Dharan to Darjeeling).

I can see the conversation invariably going towards Politics in larger Nepali gathering. I was in a Nepali picnic some time back. I hardly knew anyone there. Those I knew were more of acquaintances than friends, folks I meet only two or three times a year. And yes, the conversation revolved around only politics.

And I don't blame anybody for that because there was very little to talk about other than politics. Our backgrounds were probably so different that we could not draw upon anything to converse on, furthermore, we hardly knew eachother to talk about such intriguing topics as our "first kiss" or "first sneeze" or "first fart".

Had lots of get togethers during my undergrad. I was totally against maoists that time. Didn't even know what maoists were upto....all I knew was they were for communism and communism was bad... There weren't a lot of us..probably 10-15 studends, both grad and undergrad. All guys and girls discussed about politics after dinner. A lot of times I was there just observing two people arguing...but of course, bent towards the royals at that time... and in the end everyone shouting at the same time....hahahahaha...it used to be fun.....we would be scared that the neighbours might call the police...hehehhe

we also used to discuss about women's right issue etc. All girls would fight(argue) with the irriating guys...who would trigger females by saying something like women deserve what they are given right now and nothing more..bla bla....hehehehe..it was fun though.

Ugly kid Aashish: I think i was at that party too. Well at least that dude has a plan even if it's impossible to achieve. He is a nice guy, aashish belive me and he is not a DV gang. By the way, why you guys are against DV guys. I wish i was one of them. Sick and tired of immigration status.

Nepali haruko kaam nai chaina
harek choti gathering ma gayo, khali politics matrai garchu chor haru. sala america ma basera nepal ma yesto ra usto furti matra jharchan. galli ko kutta jasto bhukchan matra... tato na chharo ko halla matrai badi chor haruko.

Politics is the most important factor in development of a country. Nothing major can be done without political stability. 'I love nepal', if you really do love nepal, then better start thinking about it.

Politics garne manche nepal jaanu ni
America ma basya chan, SPA lai hijada bhanyo, maobadi lai well done bhanyo..

yeso ramailo garna nepali jam ghat ma gayo, gandhe rajniti matra sunnu parcha.

ke problem paryo hajur lai? Nepali haru le hajur lai maan parne maan parne kura haru garena bhanera ki kya ho?

To add to what Lootekuker has said, nepalese seem to talk about Nepal always. This what it was in Nepal, this is how it is done in Nepal, this is what it is said in Nepal, Nepal Nepal Nepal blah blah blah. I have been to gatherings of people from other countries and they don't seem to talk about their country as much as we do. We are obsessed about Nepal, and yet we leave that country at the heart beat.

Most of the nepalese gatherings I have been to have ended in a disaster. I have come to conclusion that nepalese people cannot deal with differences in opinion in a civic manner. They resort to name calling, and most of the times into arguments and occasionally into fights.

I have met people who have discussed about caste system and think that it makes sense that someone by birth can be superior to someone else and that too after being in US for more than a decade. And then there are these people who are older and think that their opinions and suggestions have more validity than the ones from younger ones. It is just ridiculous.

And one thing that keeps me amazed is the curiosity of nepalese to meet other nepalese no matter where they go. We see threads like "Any nepalese in CA, NY blah blah blah?" And once they meet and hang around they get back to usual stuffs like arguing, fighting, jealousy, bad mouthing. Looks like Nepalese seek for trouble and thrive on it.

And what's up with guys forming their own group and girls forming their own?
Can guys and girls just have fun together?

Couple things I want to add to Loote's list:

Sports
More beers... of course
Current happenings in the society (nepali society)
Politics - Nepal to Israel (World politics)
Last visit to the strip club

I am just wondering why you guys are so against the DV winners. They are lucky to win the green card lottery where most of us are trying hard to get it by other means. However, I understand that some of them not having the education here in US and coming at their mid-age don't seem to adjust with the culture here too well. I, myself, is a DV winner but I have been in US for 10 years and I have done my undergrad and grad school here. I only won the lottery few years back. There are other people whom I know are just on the similar situation. Some of the DV-winners who comes in the mid-age are also getting along well with the people who've been here for a while. So, my point is don't generalize all the DV winners!
When we mingle at nepalese parties.. be it someone's house warming or any sports events, we engage ourselves in different conversations and politics is a part of it too. I love to talk about politics whether it is Nepal's, USA's or any other countries. There's nothing wrong talking about politics as long as you can listen to others' point of view!

Uglykid Ashish,
what kind of english do you speak, I'm one of th DV winner and I bet you money I can speak better english thsn you, So keep your mouth shut.

Peace

I don't condone any hatred towards DV lottery winners. But I can understand why some folks, myself EXcluded, feel a tinge of jealousy.

It is tough to live in the US. If you are out of status, you're pretty much screwed. If you are in status, you have to spend mucho dinero to stay in status. Forget Green Card, it is tough to get H1B visa. And to get Green Card, one has to go through much hoopla - from bribing Indian restaurant owner to marrying against your wishes - and yes, spend mucho mucho mucho dinero. And then, you are lucky if you get it.

None of this is DV lottery winner's fault!

But when one is struggling through this process, you see someone else get Green Card quite effortlessly, one is bound to feel some level of jealousy. It's just human.

Nah! I don't blame DV winners. Heck, more power to them. The way I see it, I get to meet more Nepalis, make more Nepali friends, have more fun.

What I am not in favor of is Bush's agenda to make illegal immigrants legal just like that. If I have been in line to live in this country, they better not cut in! But, heck, as if my opinion counts.

My wording above applies to LooteKukur as well. Don't be jealous big guy.

peace