Author Archive

Discussion on migration in the Nepali context is more often focused on the economic aspect. Looking at how much the country relies on remittances received from migrant laborers, this may not seem so strange. In his post in the UK Guardian on what motivates migrant workers, Jonathan Glennie remarked that: […]

The first time I had to explain my nationality to  a stranger was back in 1996. I was a 15 year old high school student then, hundreds of miles away from home. My Keralite school mate had never heard of a country by the name of “Nepal”, she thought I […]

What is a welfare state? Merriam-Webster defines it as “a social system based on the assumption by a political state of primary responsibility for the individual and social welfare of its citizens”. Put in a more straightforward way, a welfare state is like a parent and citizens are its children. […]

  Ensuring that every citizen has access to healthcare is a huge financial undertaking for any nation. In the United States, the debate over universal access to healthcare still rages on in a debate on the financial strain this represents to an already overburdened system that is marked by major […]

As Hurricane Sandy made landfall in my home state of New Jersey, eight members of my immediate family and myself were huddled in our basement. Power was out and there was no heat. When I went to my room on the second floor to get blankets for my daughter, I […]