-Bhagwan Giri
Portugal, December 26 : Portugal has been an attractive labour destination among Nepalis, mostly in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors. And one among them is Dhanraj Sherpa of Gaurishankar-7 in Dolakha district, who arrived here 10 years ago and worked in different capacities for 33 months, before turning himself into an entrepreneur here.
He runs a restaurant named ‘Mt Everest’ and is promoting Nepali cuisine besides creating jobs for fellow Nepali migrant workers with culinary skills and acumen. His restaurant mostly prioritizes the Nepali traditional cuisines like Dhindo, Gundruk, Soybean Salad (Bhatmas Sadheko) and the like that attract a considerable number of Nepali migrant workers who want to feel ‘at home’ abroad through food experience, shared the restaurateur. He advises the aspiring Nepali migrant workers to seek greener pasture only after having proper ‘training, set of skills and thematic knowledge’ on certain disciplines.
The Nepali dishes in his restaurant have been luring migrant workers from India and Bangladesh besides the local food connoisseurs here, according to Sherpa, who attributed his rise from employee to entrepreneur to his ‘sheer will power, skill and knowledge.’ “Anyone with strong will power could make fortune anywhere. I, for instance, was doing a blue color job in a carpet factory in Nepal. In prospect of better future, I came to Portugal and started everything from scratch as a worker here again,” narrated Sherpa, philosophizing, “Anything is possible with willingness and readiness.”
Never had this Nepali youth, who comes from the community known for their climbing prowess given their upbringing in the himalaya areas or and involvement in mountaineering back in Nepal, imagined that he would scale this height in his career.
He credits his success to Portugal which taught him ‘dignity of labour and value of time.’ He explained,” Portugal taught me how to hone my skills and talents and capitalize on them for being industrious.” He urged the aspiring Nepalis youth considering foreign employment not to come Portugal illegally, paying hefty money to the ‘middlemen’. Sherpa, instead, advises them to come to Portugal legally with adequate preparations and skills. “It does not take forever to make a fortune in Portugal dubbed as the ‘land of dreamers’ if anyone works diligently. Keep working and your destiny will chart its own course.” He is proud that he has named his restaurant after the highest mountain in the world, Mt Everest, (locally known as Sagarmatha) which his country houses.
“I am glad that I have been able to introduce and promote Nepal and Nepali dishes here.” His restaurant has been a drawing a good number of Chinese, Brazilians and Africans migrants too as Portugal is poplar labour destination for them as well. Sherpa expressed his happiness that he could promote Nepal and its dishes to the migrant workers from these countries. When the enterprising Sherpa is not running his restaurant, he engages himself in charitable works here, mostly focusing the people from his country who are in dire straits. “I try my level best to lend a helping hand to the Nepali youths here who are left in the lurch and I feel immensely grateful in doing so,” gushingly said Sherpa, underlining the need for a broad unity among the Nepali diaspora here. RSS
