“One of my father’s friends told him that Nepal could be a good place to run small businesses,” says Nitin, as he settles down to talk about his first visit to Nepal. In 1998, he came to Nepal for the first time with his father who was scouring for business ideas. “Then, I didn’t even last a week. Despite of my father’s insistence that I stay, I went home,” he says. When he looks back now, Nitin confesses that it wasn’t easy for a 19-year-old to be away from his family and home. “My mind used to be in Delhi all the time,” he reminisces. [break]
But he had no other option than to come back and stay in Nepal. Among five children, he was the first one to settle in Nepal to help his father with his business. “Now, even though I visit Delhi, I go for a very short time. After living here for fifteen years, with my business and friends in Nepal, I like this place a lot,” he says.
Photos: Keshab Thoker
Nitin Maddan, 31, has been running "Priyanka Shringar Pasal", a cosmetic shop named after his youngest sister at Makhan for the past eight years.
Nepal is famous for being one of the top-picked touristic destinations around the world. But apart from catering to various tourists, it’s also home to many foreigners who have been carrying out different business ventures. Though, there are people from different parts of the world, India being in close proximity with Nepal in terms of distance, and religious and cultural values, it’s mostly Indians who find their way to Nepal.
“We are Hindu Punjabis, so all the festivals celebrated in Nepal are similar to ours. We had the least difficulty in adjusting here culture wise,” says Nitin.
But according to Riyaz Ahmed, 38, who’s originally from Kashmir and follows Islam, it isn’t just the cultural similarity that attracts people of his community to Nepal. “The people here in Nepal are very friendly, welcoming and easy to deal with. The society here is also fairly open-minded,” he says.
He came to Nepal in 1988 to visit his brother-in-law, who was working for a Kashmiri handicraft company based here. “I came to Nepal as soon as I passed high school and stayed for a year,” he says.
After that, he kept visiting Nepal and worked as a salesperson with his brother-in-law during those visits. But the turning point in his life came when he fell in love with a Nepali girl, Indira Neupane. “We were neighbors who later became lovers,” says Riyaz with a big smile.
As they figured out that both their families wouldn’t accept their relationship, they fled to Kashmir and got married. But after a year, Indira’s family accepted Riyaz and invited the two of them back to Nepal.
“I came back and opened my own handicraft business and settled here with my wife and son,” he says.
Another Kashmiri, Adnan Khan, 42, Riyaz’s acquaintance says that he has visited many countries but it’s still Nepal that attracts him. “Riyaz has settled here for good. He has his own family. But even for people like me, whose family is still back in Kashmir, Nepal never seizes to feel like home,” says Adnan who like Riyaz is fluent in Nepali.
When many Nepalis are voicing their concern over the social and political instability, it’s surprising to get this sort of assurance from foreign business people. “The business isn’t always successful. There’re low times as well. But if you look at the overall situation, Nepal is one the best places to establish a business,” says Riyaz.
Nitin also has a similar opinion about the business prospects in Nepal. “In India, when one establishes a business, there’s very high competition and even though the sales are good, there isn’t much profit,” he says.
Due to his expanding business, Nitin says that his elder brother, who has been running a boutique in Delhi, is also planning to come to Nepal to help him with the cosmetic business. His eldest brother Kamal is already running a bike accessories shop at Naradevi.
Both Nitin and Kamal, along with their youngest sister Priyanka, who assists Nitin at his cosmetic shop, have not only looked at the Nepali society as a business medium but have made efforts to be a part of it. “Even in Newar communities, many younger generations cannot pronounce some particular words that I’ve learnt and speak fluently with my Newar friends,” says Nitin. Learning a local language, however, is always a means of goodwill for a businessperson.
But they all agree that setting up a business is not an easy task. “There’re many hardships one has to face while establishing their own business, but you should never give up,” says Riyaz, who faced huge losses at some point of time.
Nitin also has a similar story to share. “We stuck with a hardware business for two years but had to face a huge loss,” he says. Despite the hard work, he says that, the same friend of his father’s, who had suggested they set up their business in Nepal, embezzled their profits.
“But a Nepali friend, Bishnu Kumar Thapa, helped us a lot to survive in the foreign land. He waived six months’ rent and also loaned us money to start afresh,” he says. It was with his help that the Maddan family was able to establish the cosmetic business.
Apart from the friendly people, Riyaz, Adnan and Nitin point out that the weather of Kathmandu is one of the biggest advantages. “There’s a variety in the weather, none of which escalates to the extreme. The weather here is absolute bliss,” says Nitin even as he fans himself to cool off remarking that it’s nothing compared to the heat back in his hometown.
Be it the business environment, friendly ties or somewhat glorious weather, these businessmen see themselves working in Nepal for the rest of their lives. While many Nepalis are looking for jobs in foreign countries, these people set an example of the possibilities of self-employment in Nepal and make us wonder if Nepalis might have just been ignoring the opportunities that surround them. Perhaps, like the saying goes, “the grass is always greener on the other side.”
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