Embarrassed dogs, Diwali, a first for me and school
Happy Diwali to everyone!
Well, here it's the Tihar festival, also known as Diwali and Deepawali. This festival lasts for several days, and each day is associated with some activity or another. Friday was the day on which dogs are decorated with garlands of Marigolds, have tika placed on their foreheads (if they can stay still for long enough) and are fed well and are generally a lot better treated than they are the rest of the year. So you do get a lot of embarrassed looking dogs wandering around. One I saw had obviously been far too traumatised by the whole process and consequently had managed to get its Marigold garland tangled round its nether regions instead, which I would imagine would be far more embarrassing to any self-respecting canine than having it around its neck.
Yesterday was Laxmi Puja day when signs are painted outside each shop and house and hotel and Marigold garlands and lights hung or placed outside to welcome the goddess Laxmi who will bring wealth for the coming year. We went into Thamel yesterday evening (the tourist part of Kathmandu) and spent ages wandering around. Another tradition is that children go to different houses and shops and sing and dance traditionally, and for this they receive money. So there were lots of children standing in shop doorways singing, lots of activity everywhere, and it was a fun evening altogether. Later on in the week it will be the day for brothers and sisters where sisters place Tika on their brothers' foreheads, and receive money and other gifts. We will be back in Nagarkot by then, but there will also be a group of students staying at the cottage so there will be some festivities arranged for them.
To get to the "first" part of this post, I have been on a motorbike for the first time ever in my life. We had to go across Kathmandu to buy some desserts for Diwali, so our friend Bhakta offered to take us to the best place in town. So off he and I went on his bike. It was absolutely great. The traffic in Kathmandu is crazy at the best of time, but the day before the start of Diwali was particularly busy and we had to weave in and out of the traffic. It was so nice being on the back of a bike and staring at the people in cars and motor buses just as much as they were staring at me. Do they have crash helmets? Yes, of course they do, but only the driver of the motorbike has one - everyone else on the bike (and it may well be more than one person) has to take their chance. It was fun anyway - one of those things I must do again some time.
Before I go any further I must just write a little about the driving system in Nepal. The rules seem to be as follows:
1) All traffic drives on the left hand side of the road, unless there's a perfectly good reason for not doing so (which is most of the time). So you might well find yourself facing something coming towards you in your lane, even though there's no obvious reason why - potholes in the road seem to be a good enough excuse though.
2) Traffic lights are mainly only found in Kathmandu. Red means stop of course, but unless there's a traffic policeman there, it doesn't automatically follow that everyone will. I have yet to work out what the flashing amber light means, but then I think most of the drivers are still working that one out too.
3) Roundabouts are generally for going the wrong way round - I think we have only been round one roundabout where we actually went the right way.
4) Pedestrian crossings give you a slightly better chance of not being run over than otherwise - but it is only slight as most of the time if you're driving you can't see them anyway, and in general people cross the road wherever they feel like it.
5) Modes of transport are there to get as much use as possible. Three people on a bike or motorbike is not unusual, I'm sure the Nepalis would be world firsts at getting as many people into a car as possible, and I think I've already mentioned the buses.
Now to go back a bit. School last week was fine - more grammar for the year 9s, but not so much for the year 12s as it's harvest time and the students have to help with the harvest. So I spent quite a bit of time talking to one of the students - Sokhul - who is of one of the lower castes and whose family don't have any land, therefore no harvest. He's a very bright lad, and his English is very good. The pity is that he won't be able to go on to do any further education as his family can't afford it. If he did, he would have to go to Kathmandu and live there, and so would have to pay for accommodation and food as well as for his studies and books etc. In fact, the only reason he has been able to stay on at school is because a) one of his brothers has encouraged him to do so and supports him in doing it and b) he has some sponsorship from a family in Holland. He also contributes to the family income by doing some private tutoring for about 8 younger children. It seems such a waste that someone who is obviously bright and enthusiastic about education can't pursue their dream because of lack of money and also, because he's lower caste, because he doesn't have any contacts who could help him. Anyway, I've had a chat to Semanta at Nagarkot Cottage, and he's going to invite him for lunch one Saturday and talk to him. Something may come of it - you never know. I do hope so.
Well, that's my contribution to blogging for now. I did actually write something yesterday, but then couldn't post it. Ke Garni? (as they say in Nepal).
Take care of yourselves.
Love, Vivienne
Well, here it's the Tihar festival, also known as Diwali and Deepawali. This festival lasts for several days, and each day is associated with some activity or another. Friday was the day on which dogs are decorated with garlands of Marigolds, have tika placed on their foreheads (if they can stay still for long enough) and are fed well and are generally a lot better treated than they are the rest of the year. So you do get a lot of embarrassed looking dogs wandering around. One I saw had obviously been far too traumatised by the whole process and consequently had managed to get its Marigold garland tangled round its nether regions instead, which I would imagine would be far more embarrassing to any self-respecting canine than having it around its neck.
Yesterday was Laxmi Puja day when signs are painted outside each shop and house and hotel and Marigold garlands and lights hung or placed outside to welcome the goddess Laxmi who will bring wealth for the coming year. We went into Thamel yesterday evening (the tourist part of Kathmandu) and spent ages wandering around. Another tradition is that children go to different houses and shops and sing and dance traditionally, and for this they receive money. So there were lots of children standing in shop doorways singing, lots of activity everywhere, and it was a fun evening altogether. Later on in the week it will be the day for brothers and sisters where sisters place Tika on their brothers' foreheads, and receive money and other gifts. We will be back in Nagarkot by then, but there will also be a group of students staying at the cottage so there will be some festivities arranged for them.
To get to the "first" part of this post, I have been on a motorbike for the first time ever in my life. We had to go across Kathmandu to buy some desserts for Diwali, so our friend Bhakta offered to take us to the best place in town. So off he and I went on his bike. It was absolutely great. The traffic in Kathmandu is crazy at the best of time, but the day before the start of Diwali was particularly busy and we had to weave in and out of the traffic. It was so nice being on the back of a bike and staring at the people in cars and motor buses just as much as they were staring at me. Do they have crash helmets? Yes, of course they do, but only the driver of the motorbike has one - everyone else on the bike (and it may well be more than one person) has to take their chance. It was fun anyway - one of those things I must do again some time.
Before I go any further I must just write a little about the driving system in Nepal. The rules seem to be as follows:
1) All traffic drives on the left hand side of the road, unless there's a perfectly good reason for not doing so (which is most of the time). So you might well find yourself facing something coming towards you in your lane, even though there's no obvious reason why - potholes in the road seem to be a good enough excuse though.
2) Traffic lights are mainly only found in Kathmandu. Red means stop of course, but unless there's a traffic policeman there, it doesn't automatically follow that everyone will. I have yet to work out what the flashing amber light means, but then I think most of the drivers are still working that one out too.
3) Roundabouts are generally for going the wrong way round - I think we have only been round one roundabout where we actually went the right way.
4) Pedestrian crossings give you a slightly better chance of not being run over than otherwise - but it is only slight as most of the time if you're driving you can't see them anyway, and in general people cross the road wherever they feel like it.
5) Modes of transport are there to get as much use as possible. Three people on a bike or motorbike is not unusual, I'm sure the Nepalis would be world firsts at getting as many people into a car as possible, and I think I've already mentioned the buses.
Now to go back a bit. School last week was fine - more grammar for the year 9s, but not so much for the year 12s as it's harvest time and the students have to help with the harvest. So I spent quite a bit of time talking to one of the students - Sokhul - who is of one of the lower castes and whose family don't have any land, therefore no harvest. He's a very bright lad, and his English is very good. The pity is that he won't be able to go on to do any further education as his family can't afford it. If he did, he would have to go to Kathmandu and live there, and so would have to pay for accommodation and food as well as for his studies and books etc. In fact, the only reason he has been able to stay on at school is because a) one of his brothers has encouraged him to do so and supports him in doing it and b) he has some sponsorship from a family in Holland. He also contributes to the family income by doing some private tutoring for about 8 younger children. It seems such a waste that someone who is obviously bright and enthusiastic about education can't pursue their dream because of lack of money and also, because he's lower caste, because he doesn't have any contacts who could help him. Anyway, I've had a chat to Semanta at Nagarkot Cottage, and he's going to invite him for lunch one Saturday and talk to him. Something may come of it - you never know. I do hope so.
Well, that's my contribution to blogging for now. I did actually write something yesterday, but then couldn't post it. Ke Garni? (as they say in Nepal).
Take care of yourselves.
Love, Vivienne
posted by Jill and Viv | 10:03 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home