Youth : liberated or captivated

Living in my early twenties I was often told “youth is the best phase of your life, treasure it.” But never did they tell me about the ugly side of being the youth. I was left with the entire unanswered question. And no I am not talking about anxiety or depression. Not to be mistaken those are one of the main issues as you reach different phase of life. But being a citizenship of developing countries, we have to go through many troubles in our day to day livelihood. I am 20 years old girl currently doing my bachelor in civil engineering, here in capital of the country, Kathmandu. Today I am going to talk about some major issues we youth face even while living in the capital.

To begin from the beginning I shall start with the education system. Those who are in mid teens might be a little astonished but those who are in their late teens or early twenties or beyond can feel my pain. Yes education system of nepal, especially of Kathmandu is one big pile of trash. You might wonder why. Here is why it is a trash. The education system inside valley has managed to turn itself into a profit-oriented cooperate business while motto of evolving knowledge and wisdom has vanished in between. If you want “good quality” education you will have to pay big sum of money.  If you want to be rich just establish a school or colleges. And bam, you are rich in no time. It is the fastest money growing industries in today’s society. As being born in typical nepali family if you are slightly above average the expectation from your family and relatives will be either you are going to be doctor or an engineer. I am not saying this is a problem. The problem arises during admission as all the NAMES or PEA students cannot get scholarship. The minimum expense to study medicine in today’s date is 40 lakh and for engineers its 10 to 12 lakhs.

 Money wouldn’t be a big of deal if all those investment would be worth at the end. But sadly this is not how life of youth works here in Kathmandu. You pay lakhs for a semester and after investing whatever your parents have earned their whole life, you somehow manage to complete your studies. But just when you think life is going to change completely, start day dreaming about better livelihood and settlement life kicks you hard in your stomach. Bringing you back to harsh reality “Unemployment”. Ha ha ! Youth is the best moment of your life, treasure it. So yes welcome to reality youngster. This is what we face as youth. We complete our studies with flying color but those 80 90 percent won’t buy us any foods or clothes. Youths are then compelled to work for underpaid job. This creates frustration, anxiety and depression. This is how youth become victim of that mental illness. And the only option left with them will be going abroad. Although they want to serve nation they are forced to pack their bags collect our visa and password leave for any European countries. Almost 1500 youths fly overseas every day.  Also with such vast amount of people with nothing to do, criminal activities are bound to flourish.

Furthermore to makes the matter worse, the existing dust and smog formation in the air adds fuel to the already present misery. You might be all very familiar with this saying, “Kathmandu sahara herda lagxa rahar, fohorai fohor ko sahara”.  This isn’t problem of just youth in Kathmandu but it is the problem for all the residence of Kathmandu. The city is literally covered in dust.  The construction work in the ring road has left the city in ocean of dust and smog.  Air quality index has reached to 151 which has become major health concern in Kathmandu city

The misery is not just for those who are unemployed. People with jobs face huge troubles every single day. Unmanaged road construction, narrow roads compels people to get stuck in traffic jam in almost every chowks. To worsen the condition, the poor drainage system in road makes people difficult even to survive at times. During monsoons due to poor drainage there is overflow of water in the road making it  difficult to ride.

 Another major challenge here is disposal and garbage management. It has been known that kmc alone generates 457 metric tons of solid waste per day. However we don’t have proper resource and management for the systematic disposal of these waste. The misery doesn’t stop here. Apart from these , other challenges we have to face includes rental charge, inflated market price, shortage of drinking water, puddle formation etc. to make it worse than it already is Kathmandu city is 3^rd most expensive city of south asia. The big fat bills don’t make it any easier to live in this city. When summarized it as being a vicious web of varieties of misery. Be it a youth or grown up, one can easily get frusated with these flaws of Kathmandu city. The desire of going far away can be totally understandable.

So as a youth living in Kathmandu city, have you faced any of the above challenges? Do you feel liberated or captivated having to live in the capital?