{{This article was originally posted on December 5, 2018. Lost and found, it is reposted here.}}
Few days back I visited a school (SetiDevi School) in Sindhupalchowk on the banks of the river Indrawati. It was as part of the “One Day in a school” program of Teach for Nepal.
I got to talk for a little over an hour with students in classes 6,7 and 8 – a total of 40 kids.
Among other things, one question I asked was “What do you want to become in your lives?” About 90% of the boys wanted to become Diver (Nepali localized pronounciation of Driver) and almost all the girls wanted to become teachers. Girls wanted to have a secure, well respected career that did not have the hardship of agriculture. Also they wanted to express what they had learned. So it was reasonable for them to say that.
But Boys! Why Diver? Why not farmer, why not engineer, why not even going aboard for work? To put into topic, one the boys said he wanted to be a farmer. I tried giving his various options, he was hell bent on farming and didn’t listen to anything I had to say.
But others! Not only did they want to be divers, they has already dressing up and appearing like one.
Few answers I got from boys on why be a driver included easy job, get to go around to places and the financial success they have seen in the villages of drivers. This sounded very logical to me as this is the best they have seen and heard.
On the return journey, I expressed this to others who had travelled with me and most had had the same experience.
Few personal thoughts on possibly why they wanted to become drivers:
— lack of Heros to dream about
— concentrated on their views of only what they see
— Nepali folk music and Dohari’s romantisization of the relation of drivers and girls
— drivers being the epitome of success in their villages
When I ended the classes, some of the students got together and wrote a Thank you card and handed to me. One of the boys that really interacted with me had written “I want to be like you”.
Maybe they just have not had the exposure to people’s life stories?