Economy, migration & marriages

When I was doing my schooling living in my maternal uncle’s home in Shillong, Meghalaya, India, in the 1990s, it was quite common to see young Nepali men and women returning to Nepal to take up jobs, particularly in Kathmandu. Responding to the dearth of opportunities here in the country under the Rana regime and later in the Panchayat era, hundreds and thousands of Nepalis had migrated to the north-eastern Indian state and, ironically, decades later their children and grandchildren were doing the same for exactly the same reason.

Meghalaya of yore provided the Nepali migrants with a multitude of opportunities. In and around the bustling city of Shillong, capital of Meghalaya and the then undivided Assam that now forms seven states, many Nepalis took to dairy farming. They had a ready market in Shillong but the products found its way much beyond to other parts of India as well. Many Nepalis worked in the state’s coal mines while others as laborers in the commercial city, a place that found favor even among Britishers, who dubbed it as the “Scotland of the East’ because of the amazing similarity in the weather between the two places.

In the 1980s and until the later years of the 1990s, India really was not the place to be for young, educated, aspiring and ambitious young men and women. The social democratic policies since independence in 1947 to 1991 had stifled the economy and jobs were hard to come by. Children and the grandchildren of the migrants, who had received education in the English-medium schools and grown up to become young men and women during this period, thus felt unable to spread their wings and realize their potential. But they saw hope in Nepal, a country that had just broken free from the shackles of the restrictive Panchayat polity. Many returned and found employment in the mushrooming private schools and financial institutions, among other sectors. Many returnees set-up their own business. But this phenomenon did not last for long.

Following the economic reforms, India kept on taking giant economic strides but Nepal had to grapple with non-ending political instability, not least of them being the decade-long Maoist insurgency, stifling its march forward. The opportunities provided by the market today in India, one of the fastest growing economies in the world, is in no way comparable to what Nepal has to offer. While jobs are far and between here, as is evident from the rapid and continuous rise in the number of people migrating for work abroad, India is a minefield of options. The gap between the two countries in terms of opportunities is so wide that the trend of reverse migration has by now come to a full stop.

While jobs are far and between here in Nepal, as is evident from the rapid and continuous rise in the number of people migrating for work abroad, India is a minefield of options. The gap between the two countries in terms of opportunities is so wide that the trend of reverse migration seen in the 1990s has by now come to a full stop.

ECONOMICS OF MARRIAGE

The divide between the economies of the two neighboring countries has interestingly affected the marriage market too. While it was quite common to see marriages taking place between Nepali-speaking boys of this side of the border with girls from places where there is a sizeable Nepali community in India such as Meghalaya, Assam and Manipur, it has now become a rarity.

Since the girl has to come and live in the husband’s home in the Nepali custom, families are reluctant to give away their daughter’s hand in marriage to someone from a place where uncertainty has become the norm rather than an exception and opportunities are limited at best. I can tell this with certainty because I too have been at the receiving end of this thought process (no pun intended). But a sane mind would empathize with the girl and her family.

A competent graduate in India can begin her career with anything between Nepali rupees 30,000-40,000 as the starting salary. Thereafter, the sky is the limit in terms of avenues, options, remuneration and growth. Why would the girl and her family want to compromise on that when there is no dearth of eligible bachelors back in India as well. It would be interesting to read whether or not cross-border marriages between the non-Nepali speaking communities in the border towns and villages of India and Nepal have been affected by this ever widening economic divide. If, so far, it has not, the phenomenal and rapid rise of Bihar might change that pretty soon. Curse Nitish Kumar. I wish we had a Nitish Kumar to curse.

bhuwan@myrepublica.com