Photo: Pushkar Shrestha interacting with the students Photo Courtesy: Anushka Maharjan

DWIT has always been different from other colleges and believes in being innovative in every field to make students ready to deal with real world problems. As  part of this, there are many clubs in DWIT run by students. DeerExpress club is one of them which conducts talk programs every Thursday and Friday. Every Thursday, a guest speaker is invited to share his/her journey in life. They mainly talk about their experiences and difficulties they overcame. Knowing only IT and programming is not enough to succeed in life; these speakers talk about the additional necessities that need to be harnessed to go out there in the real world.

This week, a man who believes in doing social good and is interested in tourism of Nepal, Mr. Pushkar Shrestha was invited to talk about his experience so far. At a very young age he left Nepal and went to USA to continue his studies. He studied Computer Science for a while before changing his major to Business, and then finally decided to study Environmental Engineering. When he was 27 years old he had to decide if he should live in America and continue what he was doing or should he return. After spending much time in USA, he came back to Nepal.  He volunteered for CIUD (Center for Integrated Urban Development) for a couple of years, but he wasn’t satisfied there. Then, he met one of the founders of Room to Read, John Wood, who used to be the marketing Director for Microsoft for global Asia region.

[caption id="attachment_5528" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Photo: Pushkar Shrestha talking to the DWIT students
Photo Courtesy: Anushka Maharjan[/caption]

Shrestha, at the beginning of program said, “I will be sharing what I learnt from 40 years of my life, how I worked, where I am today and where I will head.” He started with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets  as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” This means that you should enjoy your work and work to perfection so that you will be remembered for your good work.

He mainly focused on “social good and responsibility.” He said that, “can we think for social good while we do what we enjoy?” We should be responsible towards our society and always try to give something good to our society. We should contribute to the society so that our successors will be able to get the best out of our work; instant result is not the only option.  His suggestion to everyone was “to begin with the end in mind” i.e. begin with something having planned. Set a vision prior to your work.  He showed different aspects of learning in Nepal; we do not document, that is where the problem starts from.

[caption id="attachment_5523" align="aligncenter" width="614"] Photo: Vice-President of DeerExpress Club thanking Pushkar Shrestha with a souvenir for his presence in the program
Photo Courtesy: Anushka Maharjan[/caption]

Shrestha is promoting girls education and supporting 3500 girls to study in Nepal only through his organization. His suggestion to the students who are studying Information Technology is to think tech with society.  After spending many years of life in the field of environment, society and education, now he has entered the field of tourism in order to promote tourism in Nepal. He has opened Gorkha Gaun, a Nepali resort with Nepali soul; using local resources to give glimpse of real Nepal.”