Interview Report 2 (Niraj Sitaula)

Interview Report 2: Niraj Sitaula from Nepal

Preparations

For this interview I found it unnecessary to do more research on Nepal, considering that my first interviewee was from Nepal and I had already acquired an appropriate amount of background information. I did however add a few more question to my list of questions after learning a few things from my first interviewee. As with the first interview the questions were structured to cover a wide range of subjects involving Nepalese culture, any difficulties Niraj may have had coming to the US and more. Here is the list of question that I created for the interview including the new questions in italics:

· What is your name? How old are you?

· Where did you grow up? What is your native language?

· What was it like growing up in Nepal?

· What kind of games did you play when you were growing up? What did you do for fun?

· What is the main food staple in Nepal? What types of food did you eat most commonly when you were a kid? Do you still follow the custom of eating with your right hand only? Why is this custom important in Nepal?

· What was school like in Nepal?

· When did you learn English?

· How long have you been in the US?

· Do you miss Nepal and your family?

· Why did you decide to come to the US?

· Did you have any problems coming to the US?

· Did you feel any culture shock when you came to the US?

· How do you feel about the school system here in the US?

· If you follow a religion, what religion do you follow?

· What ethnic group do you feel you were part of in Nepal?

· What holidays did you celebrate when you were growing up?

· Did you ever have a job in Nepal and if you did, what was your job?

· How do you feel about the current political system in Nepal?

· Did you like or dislike the monarchy before it was dissolved? Did you like the royal family? Did you like King Gyanendra?

· How do you feel about the caste system in Nepal? Has it ever affected you personally?

· Are there any civil rights issues in Nepal and if so, have any of them affected you personally?

· How do you feel about arranged marriages?

· Did your parents have an arranged marriage?

· Would you prefer to have an arranged marriage over other methods? Why or why not?

· What is your opinion on the tragedy in 2001 in which the royal family was massacred?

Finding an Interviewee

Niraj is the friend of my first interviewee Saraub. He is also in my racial relations course (CMTY 111). As with Saraub I had asked Niraj if he would like to be interviewed and he agreed immediately.

Conducting the Interview

The second interview was scheduled to be at 2:30 in the Miller Learning Center on Thursday, October 29th. We met on time and found a quiet corner in the library. After getting Niraj’s consent to record the audio of the interview, I prepared my computer to record and set it beside us on the table. This time I had a handheld microphone for the interview so as to avoid the mistake of the first interview and be able to understand the recording later. We introduced ourselves to each other again for the recording and began. I started with basic questions his personal biography to get an idea about who he is and create a more comfortable atmosphere for the interview. A little ways into the interview, Niraj started to mention the strained political situation in Nepal which lead the interview into talking about Nepal's politics.

As the interview progressed we started talking about his transition from Nepal to the USA. He told me then that the transition was not that difficult considering the large community of Nepali students at SCSU. He did have some trouble with pronunciation with the English that we speak here compared to the English he learned at home though. But all in all he could eat the foods he ate at home for the most part and practice at least the majority of traditions and celebrations that he practiced at home.

The conversation then lead into talking about the social systems in Nepal. Niraj told me that while there is a caste system in Nepal, the caste system is fading out in the urban areas. the younger generations in Nepal's urban areas are paying less attention to things like castes but older generations and people in rural areas still practice castes and arranged marriage. Arranged marriage is also something that is being phased out in Nepal's urban areas. Niraj's parents in fact met before arranging a marriage and thus have broken the tradition to point themselves. But after this point the interview kind of went back and forth at this point as we talked about sports and food in Nepal and the US.

Towards the end of the interview I allowed him to ask me some questions and he asked me about my image of Nepal. I told him that the first things I think about when I think about Nepal are the Himalayas and Mt. Everest as well as India because of their close proximity. But over all I had not stereotypes that I could think of that related to Nepal in particular. At this point we pretty much ended the interview as we had nothing else to talk about on the subject.

Niraj Sitaula’s Biographical Abstract

Niraj is 22 years old and has been in the US about 2 years. He grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal, Nepal’s capitol. School kept him busy in Nepal so he does not have any strong opinions of the political situation in Nepal. He came to St. Cloud State University because he felt that there were some great opportunities here, but also because he already had a brother and a cousin going toe SCSU. He is majoring in electronic engineering and is hoping to bring his degree home to create a good career in Nepal.

Interview Process from My Perspective

I enjoyed this interview as much as the first if not more because we were not cut short. Niraj was very nice during the interview and very willing to talk about his story. I was intrigued to learn about the differences in culture between the rural and urban areas in Nepal. I was also rather surprised to hear that we had such a large Nepali community here in St. Cloud. I had not noticed it before. But there were also a few points in the interview that I felt went a bit off track. We talked about sports and food and other subject that, while still interesting, I felt didn't pertain entirely to the subject of the interview. I would say though that I was most likely the cause for these offshoots in conversation considering the my choice in questions at certain times in the interview.

Nepal: A Short Report

Nepal is located in Southern Asia, between India and China, on the Himalayan mountain range. There has been a long standing history of Hindu and Buddhist culture in Nepal and for about the last 250 years Nepal has had a Monarchial government. In the 1970’s, the monarchy established a parliament within its power to help govern the people. In 1996 Maoist rebels started a civil war that lasted for 10 years. Tragedy struck the royal family in 2001 as every member of the family, except the brother of the previously standing king and his family, was murdered. The former king’s brother took power and almost immediately dissolved parliament, but by 2006 protest pressured the king in to reestablishing parliament. An election was held in 2008 and parliament met for the first time by may. In this first meeting, parliament dissolved the monarchy that had controlled Nepal for nearly 250 years.

Nepal has a primarily Hindu/Buddhist culture but also includes many other religious communities. There are over 30 different ethnic groups in Nepal each based on an individual’s caste and location in Nepal, but recently these ethnic groups have started to merge. Nepal has had a caste system for centuries, but recently the government has been attempting to make bridges between the castes and eliminate the system all together. Some of these attempts at dissolving the caste system included creating government positions to represent people from lower castes and creating equal job opportunities for all castes. Younger generations, mainly in urban areas, are no longer holding the traditions associated with the caste system, such as limiting social contact to within your caste, or acting in a manner that is suitable towards your caste. But older generations are finding it hard to let go of these age old traditions. Rural areas have not removed any of the old traditions at all in fact.

There are many languages in Nepal, but the primary language is Nepali. In some grade schools in Nepal English is the primary language instead of Nepali. This is done to help the students learn English by artificially placing them in a situation in which English is the only language they can use. The school system is rather similar to the system in the US as it has a k-12 system, but differs in the style of progression. There is no grading system in the Nepalese school system; instead a comprehensive test is taken at the end of each year of schooling to progress to the next year of schooling. Niraj, like many other urban Nepalese students, decided to study abroad for college. Recently it has become common for Nepalese students from the urban areas to study abroad for college. This is due to a couple of factors including the political distress in Nepal.