NEW YORK?A group of Nepalis in Queens, New York, was gathering at the street corner to discuss the victory of Pushpa Kamal Dahal. It could have been anywhere in Nepal, with the same Nepali logic and the same old guffaws. What was interesting was that none in the crowd were Nepalis who had been born in the US or had gone there at a young age.

The Beed has always found the diaspora an interesting breed to research, be it on the streets of New York or around Chungking Mansions in Hong Kong. A couple of stark issues are always instantly noticeable. First is the question of Nepali identity. What is this Nepali identity and why can't it be part of a South Asian identity?

The diaspora is disappointed to have Tarai leaders as President and Vice President, since it increases the effort required to distance oneself from the Indian community. In the US, Nepalis prefer to be identified as Mexicans rather than as Indians. In Hong Kong, they prefer to be called Japanese or even Thai, rather than anything close to being an Indian. The identity issue has revived the Gorkhaland movement in the Indian state of West Bengal, and it's possible the quest for an elusive Nepali identity will never cease.

Second, one sees among the diaspora that people from places outside the Kathmandu valley have been more enterprising and done far better than those from within the valley. It would be interesting for a social scientist to do some research on this. There could also be a similar correlation between Nepalis and other South Asians and a desire to be an employee rather than an employer.

Lastly, it would be interesting to see how second-generation Nepalis in the diaspora turn out. We are already seeing children of those who emigrated in the 1970s and 1980s starting to do well, with some of them getting into Ivy League schools and landing good jobs or launching successful careers.

There are thousands of Nepali children in different schools and colleges who will be starting their careers in the next 10 years. Will they find?like the Indians have?the region hotting up economically, and decide to make a life for themselves back in the land of their parents? Or will they be like the Irish, who preferred never to go back? Nepal's future, in terms of economic investment and human capabilities, may depend to a great extent on what the children of the diaspora decide to do.

However, one thing the new government really must do is to sell Nepal to those outside. Our country needs to sell itself as a unique nation that has been able to deal with its monarchy and Maoism and is now ready to rebuild itself as the 40th most populous country in the world. We need to make a lot more noise in the corridors of Washington and other global capitals and revive our embassies abroad, which for so long have been moribund institutions.

The government needs to work with the diaspora to ensure that the Nepali dream emerges, and the time has come for the world to help Nepal do better that it ever did before. We need to create an air of optimism, an air of hope that will also entice the next generation of fortunate Nepalis to contribute to the rebuilding of the state.

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