Tihar

Its been a rollercoaster past few days. They have the Tihar (like Diwali in India), a festival of lights and so schools have been closed and there has been celebrations and feasting. This was coupled with the birthday of Dhiraj, one my host brothers, last Saturday. He turned 6 and his dad splashed out on a nice chocolate cake. The whole Thapa (that's the family name) clan was there plus other friends who brought lots of presents and cash. A pretty loaded 6yr old at the end of the day! The Thapa extended family have so many kids, its almost impossible to remember who is whose sister or brother. And the fact that there is no concept of calling each other a cousin makes things even more complicated.

The Tihar festivities have been going on since last Wednesday. Each day has a theme. Weds: the Crow, Thu: the Dog, Fri: the Cow, Sat:(can't remember), Sun: Brothers and Sisters. I got it all confused. Wikipedia gives a quirkier explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tihar:

Tihar Day 1 - Kag Tihar - worshiping of crows - feed them and keep them happy for whole 1 year. Day 2 - Kukur Tihar - worshiping of dogs - the protector of our homes Day 3 - Cow Tika - worshiping of cows Day 3 - Laxmi Puja - worshiping of Fortune Goddess Day 3 - Tihar Songs: Bhailini - girls sing an unique song! Day 4 - Various Puja and Tihar Song: Deusi - boys sing Deusi, a popular Tihar song! Day 4 - Tihar Songs : Deusi - Pujas and singing Tihar's special song Day 5 - Tika Day (Final Day) - tika for a long life!

All the creatures/persons connected to the theme get to wear tikkas (coloured dyes) and garlands so it was pretty comical to see dogs and cows walking around with flowers and red dyes on their furs/hides looking regal but going about their business of browsing and grazing.

Another feature is kids going from house to house singing traditional songs and dancing. They get gifts from the households in the form of sweets or money. Some singing/dancing troupes are so well organised that they carry amplifiers, tapes and speakers with them turning it into a mini concert! I got some pics from this holiday period that I hope to put on the website soonish. Some kids do dirty tricks, especially on touristy routes like the path to the World Peace Pagoda (it overlooks Phewa Tal, the Pokhara lake). They hold hands to barricade the path and demand money from tourists. Its all good natured but I had to bulldoze the kid barrier!

On one of the latter days, the brothers and sisters give gifts to each other so I splashed out on my 3 "sisters" and I got some goodies too. It a very feasty day and I had plenty of goat meat and rice rotis that day (burp!).

Just a quick snippet of the Tihar experience. I hope to write more on the science lab project progress and volleyball tournament, the villagers, some village development issues, my day working in the rice fields and the Sarangkot mountain viewpoint.

Also I shall be doing the Annapurna Base Camp Trek with my friend, Jason, instead of Everest because of time and cost constraints.

C u!

K.