Is it Christmas or Halloween or…? Tihar!

November  / December 2020

All the houses decked with brightly coloured lights, lots of candles and decorations.  Special festival songs; kids going round the houses singing and asking for treats or money; preparing for a special visitor to come into your house – a visitor who somehow manages to visit every house on the same day and who appreciates certain treats that you leave out. 

In October or November Nepal celebrates a beautiful festival called Tihar.  Some things are similar to Diwali, the festival of lights which is celebrated in India, but the meanings behind it seem to be different.  In my first experience, it certainly had the feeling of Christmas because of all the lights on the houses – but last year it was only October so it seemed far too early!  Still, it’s the time to soak up the Christmas feeling of joy and celebration because when it comes to Christmas here, only a few Christian homes will have lights.  There are five days to this festival, each worshipping a different animal or person – crows (seen as messengers of death) then dogs , cows, the goddess Laxmi and finally brothers. For crows, dogs and cows people give them food (even though every other day of the year crows and dogs might be shooed away) and people they give tikka (a red powder on the forehead for a blessing) to dogs, cows and brothers and put mallas (circles of flowers) round their necks. 

For ‘bhai tikka’ – worshipping brothers – sisters give them tikka and also fruits and nuts while the brothers also give their sisters gifts. (For those who have changed religion it becomes difficult because they can no longer perform this family ritual.)  

And in the Newar culture which is dominant in the Kathmandu Valley, people also celebrate self-puja or self-worship on one day which is also the Newari new year – different to both the Western and Nepali calendars! 

This year somehow I noticed more comparisons with Christmas.  Laxmi is the goddess of wealth so everyone wants to keep her happy and have her come into her homes – sounds a bit like telling kids to be good so that Santa will come to give lots of gifts and somehow visit every home in one night.  To encourage Laxmi to come, this is the spring-cleaning season – people selling brushes do a good trade.  After cleaning the house, people put strings of marigolds outside their homes or shops which stay there all year.  At first they look very bright, before they’re covered in dust or dry up.  Inside they have a display of fruits and nuts for Laxmi and make a special ring snack called Sel Roti, made out of rice flour and looks like a donut (they also get made for Christmas or any celebration).  Outside the home there might be a mandala decoration made with coloured powder, and then a little trail with lights running all the way into the house to encourage Laxmi in.  And these days, many houses have so many lights outside – hung down in vertical strings.  Somehow they pop up almost overnight and disappear after only a week – unlike the month or more in the UK!

And along with lights there are some fireworks and firecrackers – just a few, but enough give the feeling of Guy Fawkes night.  And then, there’s the singing and dancing!  There are special songs used during Tihar and traditionally people go round the homes singing them.  This year I only saw one or two groups of kids going round due to corona restrictions, but they were having fun and kept singing and also making up songs hoping for money or sel roti or other treats.  Somehow it feels like a mixture of Halloween trick or treat / guising plus the traditional carol singing when they demanded Figgy pudding!  I think this song singing culture helps to explain why Nepal has a whole collection of its own Christmas carols and people love to go round houses of Christians to sing carols and then eat a feast in the run up to Christmas.  I’m happy I got to join that craziness last year as this year, unsurprisingly, we were not allowed to squeeze 50 people into one small home, singing and dancing away. 

So there you have it, the Nepali Tihar which feels like two or three British festivals rolled into one!  You even can see the influence of Tihar decorations in how people celebrated 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence in November and December this year, through UMN’s work: www.umn.org.np/news/915

Winter in Nepal

Sunshine, freezing floors, fires and fresh-roasted peanuts – these are some of the features of a Nepali winter experience which feel different to the UK!  Last year was my first winter here, and now I’m rediscovering what it’s like – the joys and challenges.  We even recorded some winter experiences from UMN’s expat staff members which you can read here: https://www.umn.org.np/winter-stories .  Back at the end of November, my friend Clare messaged me from a field trip and staying at 2,300m (around 7,500 feet) saying: “I’m under two duvets with a hat, lots of layers and wearing my biggest down jacket” – at only 7:30pm!

On the streets we are getting lots of oranges and a return of carrots, sweet potatoes and saags (leafy greens).  A fun feature is freshly roasted peanuts – you get whole carts of them, roasted right there and served in a poke by a friendly person.  There are also red (and cream) poinsettia flower bushes (almost trees) rather than the small ones in pots which die off after Christmas – I love them but I never did manage to keep one alive! 

A big contrast is sunshine and the difference in temperatures between indoors and outdoors.  I don’t miss grey, wet windy UK winters one bit – it is a huge gift to have sun here almost every day.  So you see many people outdoors in the morning and daytime to warm up – drinking a cup of tea on the roof or street outside their home, standing in the sun.  Indoors is usually colder.  Many people have no heating or just a single heater. If you have a marble floor (like my flat in the hall, kitchen and stairs) then it becomes freezing at night!  And the bathroom too, since they are floored and lined with tiles. At night-time we frequently wear our coats indoors and often go to bed wearing extra layers.  Last year, I was intrigued that outside people would often light fires, not for cooking or burning garden waste but just to stay warm.  In villages, many homes use fires to cook too, and in winter this is really welcome (except for the smoke, which increases because you want to keep the windows and doors closed).  So, where would you prefer to live in winter?!

A woman’s work is never done…

Heating oil over the fan-assisted fire. Roti bowl in front.

January 2020

At the start of 2020 we finally did a village stay, in Bajhang in the Far West of Nepal. I had a room to myself in a concrete house with a comfortable bed and warm blankets. But the toilet was still outside, with no light and a low ceiling. The kitchen was in an old clay and wood building, upstairs, above the cow shed. There were two small windows, usually shut to keep it warm. I went there in the evenings to spend time with the wife of the family, learn how to cook and to stay warm! I enjoyed millet roti with nettle sauce! Very healthy apparently.  But my colleague couldn't cope to stay in there because of the smoke burning her eyes. There is no chimney, but everything is cooked on a wood fire. To bring gas for three hours along a bumpy road would be very expensive so it was rare. Cooking on a fire is perhaps more tasty (city people sometimes choose to do it occasionally) but takes twice as long - at least two hours often, because there is only one hob to cook rice then vegetables then daal, or vegetables and then roti breads. It requires fetching firewood, blowing the fire, smoke everywhere. The warmth was good in winter but wouldn't be so fun in summer. Our hostess laughed at first when we couldn't cope with the smoke. But after a few days she admitted she doesn't like it either, but what can she do, she has to cook! Morning and evening. 

When not cooking, there are always other jobs. Washing dishes, washing clothes, cutting and carrying firewood, cutting grass for the cows. Collecting firewood is a woman's job. Out of around 100 people we saw collecting firewood, only two were men. Some women get up at 4am to climb steep hills to get wood, returning at around noon and then selling a huge heavy basketload for less than £4. Sometimes they have to climb trees to cut it. Our hostess couldn't carry heavy loads after a difficult pregnancy and operations. She would collect a few bits locally and buy the rest.  Luckily her husband has a job so they had some money. She did have to cut grass though. In the dry season it took about an hour of scrambling up hills and past prickly bushes, cutting whatever grass or shrubs looked edible. I joined her one day and suddenly a patch of dry grass seemed a valuable item. The two young cows didn't even produce milk yet, only manure! And you can't eat cow meat here. 

What if our hostess was sick or had to go away to hospital, several days' travel away? Who would do all the work? Now she only has her husband and a son to care for. But in some families the wife had to work and cater for more than ten people including in-laws and everyone's negative comments. She can't afford to be ill. They can't afford to loose her. So her health may be sacrificed. And I haven't even mentioned work in the fields. In village Nepal, a woman's work is never done. 

Festivals in a foreign land!

November 2019

Fruits, nuts and flower garlands for sale during Tihar

The Christmas feeling starts early in Nepal – late September or early October to be precise!  It’s funny to sense that a festival is coming but it feels a long time before the UK’s main big festive season of Christmas and New Year.  It was not very cold but there was an autumn breeze, so it’s also the season when people fly kites and enjoy pings – huge swings made from 4 bamboo trunks.  They’re erected in open spaces only in this season and enjoyed until they break.  Dashain – the biggest festival in Nepal – is 10 days long and comes just before the rice harvest.  People eat a lot of meat.  I stayed with “my” Nepali family and I enjoyed my first taste of goat meat as well as pork and chicken.  On the 10^th day, those who are celebrating (Hindus) visit relatives and give and receive tika, a red mark on the forehead as a sign of blessing.  These are really big, often including rice.  The visiting lasts for several days to include different family members, with the most senior giving tika to their juniors.  This is when people might travel home to meet their family members.

The second festival a few weeks later is Tihar which was at the end of October. That feels very like Christmas because people decorate their houses with garlands of flowers, candles and strings of lights, but the lights only stay up for a few days.  There is even something like carol singing when young people go round houses and sing and people give them some snacks or money, like the figgy pudding idea but here it would be a round sweet ring called sel roti.  A big day is Laxmi puja when everyone cleans their home before making a coloured drawing outside and a path with lights into the home, inviting the goddess Laxmi to come in and bless them.  I was even invited into someone’s home at this time.  They had hardly any furnishings but a massive display of fruits and nuts and decorations in a room for the goddess.  On other days, dogs and crows are honoured and at the end, brothers and sisters bless each other.

We will celebrate Christmas too though… My Nepali youth group is organising a big invitation event on the 20^th with two dancing groups, one drama, one or two personal stories, some Christmas songs /worship and a meal.  They expect 200 people to come!!  Before that they’re going carol singing round church members’ homes – it sounds like the old days in the Christmas cards, but I’m sure we won’t get mince pies.  I’ve only seen one or two Christmas trees but there are poinsettia bushes / trees all over the place instead!  Maybe next month I’ll write about work, but I thought you’d like to get a taste of our different festivals!

Running around Nepal for mental health awareness

October 2019

Awareness walk in Bajhang, far west Nepal

Suicide is the leading cause of death among women in Nepal (at least, women of child-bearing age).  Isn’t that shocking?  And Nepal’s female suicide rate is the 3^rd highest in the world. 


World Mental Health Day on 10^th October had a theme of preventing suicide.  UMN has been promoting mental health awareness and treatment in many of its working areas across Nepal for several years.  This includes training health workers to recognise symptoms and refer people for treatment.  Only 10% of those suffering from mental health problems in Nepal receive treatment.  Sometimes this is because people live far from a health post that has psychiatric support.  To travel there, the sick person would need accompanying which means two people leaving the land or animals – their source of income.  And people might have to go regularly for counselling or have to pay for medicine.  People feel they can’t afford to get support.  Stigma and misunderstanding in the culture make it worse.  People with problems may be locked up or the illness blamed on their actions or their family’s actions, in this life or in a previous life.  And as with any illness, sometimes a traditional healer may be consulted who may falsely accuse a community member of being a witch/ putting a curse on the sufferer. 


We wanted to raise awareness of mental health through a fun event.  The idea was a 10k fun run in Kathmandu on 1^st October, for people to join and use to raise awareness.  This became most of my job – to organise it!  UMN has never organised a run before, never mind 10k.  And then our “clusters” – the working areas across Nepal – wanted to join with their own events.  So I was busy promoting, taking registrations, ordering T-shirts, arranging logistics etc.  It was a great atmosphere in the end and thankfully no-one was injured. Over 130 runners/walkers in Kathmandu, over 200 around Nepal and 20-30 virtual runners around the world, sharing the message that “Mental health is treatable and suicide is preventable”.  You can see photos and a video from this link: https://www.umn.org.np/news/801 and also our facebook page: www.facebook.com/umnnepal/ .

Being ‘birami’

August 2019 -
This weekend I’ve had a funny tummy – again!  So that’s the most obvious part of life to write about.  For the first 3 months I had no sickness or diarrhoea.  People here were surprised and told me I would get ill sometime.  In month 4 I had giardia but knew the weird signs and took the medicine before it got as far as diarrhoea.  Giardia is a parasite transmitted from contaminated water or food. Up to 20% of people in majority/ developing world countries can have ongoing infection from it.  After that I was almost alright for a month or so.  Then for most of August I’ve been not quite right, trying to avoid dairy (a complication from giardia) and had two lots of bad diarrhea a few weeks apart.  Before I’d never have told you, but as it’s become so familiar for me now I don’t mind – sorry if you’re on a lunch break!  


The fact that certain medicines are so cheap and readily available shows how common the problem is.  For less than 10p you can get rehydration salts – at least 3 varieties; I know my favourite now!  Also for around 10p is the giardia medicine.  And you can easily visit a small hospital or clinic to get a stool test for less than £1 – I had just learnt the Nepali for it in my textbook before I needed to try it out!  My tests showed nothing – kind of encouraging but doesn’t give you any answers.  I eventually took some more giardia medicine again (sometimes it doesn’t fully disappear with one dose) and then saw a doctor who gave me probiotics.  Still not improved, this week I took the worms medicine (also 10p) which we have to take every 6 months anyway.  I feel quite a lot better today although I think it could be a long time before I can eat a feast.  Meanwhile I am grateful for a Nepali invention called chiura – beaten rice (see photo with medicines).  You can eat it dry or I like to add warm water.  Very welcome when you’re birami like me – a sick person!  Be glad you have clean tap water and good hygiene and sanitation in the UK!

Nits, nosh and noises of my family stay

June 2019

Beauty, makai and mud

Greetings!  I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my month of family stay.  Boak lagyo (are you hungry)?  This was the first phrase I learnt here and it was never true!  We eat daal bhat tarkari for breakfast and evening meal – lentils, cooked rice and vegetable curry.  Before this there’s a cup of tea, bread or toast or porridge and maybe a boiled egg (i.e. continental breakfast followed by a full meal!).  In the afternoon we eat a snack (khaja) like noodles and then in the evening again another meal. Every week we’ve eaten out at least twice (once at a church housegroup and then by invitation from friends of family members) where we're presented with a huge plate of food – massive portion of rice and also chicken as well as the other items.  It’s yummy, I just eat it slowly and quickly learnt to say “pugyo” so that I don’t get given any more!  It does mean that most mornings I wake up still full though!


Often in Nepal, several families live together in the same house, which is part of the fun of a family stay.  Here my host family is at the top, their parents on the ground floor and the younger brother with his two children and 5 girls are living in the middle (they are here to study at school since they’ve lost one parent and in the village they would have to do housework rather than study).  I’m really happy to have children to hang out with for the first time in Nepal.  They think it’s a fun game to help me learn and are super encouraging when I get it right or manage to read something from their school books.  I soon discovered they had a big problem with “jumra” (Headlice).  I managed to find some headlice shampoo with a comb. They didn’t know about it as it’s probably new in Nepal - and then they were fighting over who went first to use it and then everyone crowded round trying to find the lice!! On a couple of younger girls we got at least 30 each the first time… I think they slept much better that night! (See attached a photo of one of the girls - she loves wearing heels even for bumpy roads and mud!)


This area is quieter and more rural than the city – we can quickly walk to some paddy fields and there are also mushroom farms (covered huts) and one time I went with my host to the river to get water from the tap when our drinking water ran out.  But there is rapid urbanisation here, and with development comes noise.  The local road is under construction.  They’re looking forward to less dust (which turns to mud in monsoon) but it’ll also bring more traffic.  The other day there was a total racket from a truck with a heavy load of stones.  Just an engine revving, no movement and lots of people watching, then more trucks came.  This accompanied the regular pashmina factory noise which is next door.  The first day it woke me up at 6am (in fact it starts at 5:30).  The problem is more trying to study language in the heat of the day with a soporiphic regular noise going on, as you need to keep the windows open because of the heat!  Also at 6am or before there’s a daily badminton session.  My host plays and sometimes wins boiled eggs and mango juice to bring back for breakfast!  Here's a morning video from my room, including a well, a cow, a lady watching hens and people on a roof. Enjoy!


https://tinyurl.com/8am-harisiddhi-dailylife