By Ashutosh Tiwari

After finding out where I went to university in the United States, most Nepalis ask me the same question: "So, why did you return to Nepal?" Their question is quite legitimate.

They all know that most young urban Nepalis want to get out of Nepal to study, live and work, preferably in America, Europe or Australia. Given this, the fact that someone who could have lived a life filled with quiet suburban bliss in Anywhereville, USA chose to return home strikes them as both foolish and fascinating. Foolish, because, on the surface, the risks to one's career prospects in Nepal appear large; while the rewards, so small. And fascinating, because why would anyone really throw away a more stable blanket of security in America to embrace comparatively greater uncertainties and unknowns in Nepal?

Scanning the faces of my questioners, I usually sense one of these two reactions. The first is knee-jerk patriotism. These friends want me to re-validate their affection for the country. Taking their cue, I am supposed to launch into a variation of: "Janani janma bhoomi, swarga dapi gariyeshi . . . I returned to serve the motherland. There is no place on earth like our Nepal. I am back to put my education to use for the development of our country."

The second reaction belongs to friends who are habitual critics. Trying hard not to smile too broadly at my probable discomfiture, they make sure that the trap they have set up in the course of our conversation is in place. Their satisfaction emanates not so much from any legitimate answer that I might provide. It comes by way of their expectation to see me perhaps try to maneuver a way out of this conversational cul-de-sac with defensive explanations. Something, I almost hear their eyes say, must have gone terribly wrong in your life for you to have come back to Nepal from the US. Now tell us what it was and let us enjoy your discomfort. OK, this is deliberately dramatic; but you get the idea.

To be sure, with the passage of time, most people care less and less about the reasons of your return. They will be far more interested in your career achievements or lack thereof. But initially, as a fresh returnee, what did strike me was how people just assumed negative things on to interpret why a young upwardly mobile Nepali professional would come back to Nepal from the US. And over the years, that and other observations have made me think more about this related question: Uniquely individual differences aside, are there general reasons why such Nepalis come back?

Temperament: I would think that, on some psychological level, temperament plays a big role. There are many who are comfortable being system-pluggers (SPs), and there are those who enjoy being system-builders (SBs). The SPs tend to do well where there's comfort, security, predictability and control over how they spend their time and talents. Put them in a system that someone else has designed, and they are happy finding a niche as a productive worker.

The SBs, on the other hand, have a greater tolerance for ambiguities, and they relish the challenge of building something from scratch. Chaos, uncertainties and inevitable frustrations are raw materials which they use to set up their own system of doing things. Viewed this way, it's arguable that Nepal offers easier and plenty of opportunities � in business, academia, media, non-profits etc -- to those who see themselves as SBs, while the SPs do their best work in the US, where systems are well-established but need a regular supply of professionals to keep them working fine.

Financial situation: In our context, if one has a noticeably upper-class background (i.e. a house or two in Kathmandu, family members in top civil/civic service positions, etc), then one is more likely to return home from abroad. After all, why give up relatively higher privileges here only to toil away in obscurity abroad? Granted, the opposite could also be true. That is, one might well choose to work abroad and struggle there on one's own terms precisely because one wants to avoid the easy paths available here.

Still, given Nepal's situation, it's arguable that someone born and brought up in Syangja or Baitadi is less likely to return from the US than someone born and brought up in Kathmandu. That's to say, an existing secure financial situation in Nepal acts provides an incentive for some to come back.

Global career: This, I know, sounds paradoxical. But what I have increasingly noticed is this. Most Nepali professionals in the US appear to be so busy working as low-level to mid-level managers at US firms that most have hardly the time or the money for overseas travel or to chase opportunities to work as globally demanded professionals. Yes, most are first-generation immigrants, still figuring out the rules of the game in corporate America. In contrast, their peers back in Nepal might earn a fraction of the salary, but are increasingly well-traveled and globally very connected for opportunities for career advancement.

This is already a true scenario for ambitious Nepalis at internationally-oriented non-profit/development agencies. And in this age of multinationals, it's getting to be true in private corporate settings in Nepal too. What all this signals is that regardless of why one returned to Nepal -- with hard work, talents, networks and a little dose of luck � the pipeline to globally mobile careers in today�s Flat World (to borrow Thomas Friedman�s phrase) for some foreign-trained Nepali professionals could be more secure from Nepal than from the US.

Again, these are three general observations. Putting aside stories of uniquely personal life circumstances of the returnees, these serve as some reasons as to why those Nepalis who return, return.

That said, these days, I get asked another question a lot: "So, when are you going back for your PhD?" Truth be told, I myself didn't know that I wanted a PhD in these times when I see that the supply of PhDs is greater than the demand for them in Nepal, and that most PhDs (or at least the ones I know) are, despite the momentary prestige, underemployed. But then, a detailed answer would be the basis for another Thinking Aloud piece someday.

(Originally published in The BOSS, a business monthly in Nepal in March 2006)