Its Teej time here. Teej is a Nepali Hindu holiday celebrated by women over 3 days. As I was told, single women celebrate that they may find a good husband and married women celebrate the life and well-being of their spouse.
The festival combines fasting and feasting (the latter of which I partake in happily) and women wear red and dance to celebrate.
On the first day of Teej, the women often gather in the evening at a matriarchs home, where they eat all their favourite foods, including Khir (Nepali rice pudding). On the second day, married women fast and often go to the temple where they dance and celebrate Shiva. As a Nepali friend told me, the married women pray to Shiva and fast for their husbands to live a long healthy life. In the evening, the women do Puja and wait for their husbands to allow them to eat, at which time the women will have water or milk.
"But the men aren't invited to the parties, so how can they tell their wives?" I asked.
"Oh, Ali-Ji, nowadays they just send a text!" Said my friend. Ha.
I was fortunate to be invited to two pre-Teej parties on the same day, one for parents at the kindergarten, and the other for the teachers and staff. I went to both. Unfortunately, I had a difficult time coming up with something red, as the outfit I wore last year would no longer fit over my protruding belly. So what to do? Buy a new outfit or get one made or..... wear a sari! perfect, as a sari can be wrapped to fit any size belly.
Thank you to Roma and her daughter who sourced me out a beautiful sari borrowed from a relative. And it was no ordinary sari, but a red, luxurious, bejewelled, spectacle that was given to the borrower by her father on her wedding day. Clearly, wearing this would be an honour.
After a hot and frustrating process that involved 2 helpers, many safety pins, and at least 45 minutes, Roma and her daughter had me adorned.
Even U got to wear red, and was fawned over by her many admirers at the kindergarten.
The parties were lots of fun, and included singing, dancing, and of course - feasting. I relished the opportunity to socialise with many of the teachers at the Kindergarten who I see frequently but rarely outside of school. I think they were impressed with my (rather bold) move to wear a sari. As a pregnant foreigner I definitely did not blend in. !
I admit that when my friend first explained the principle of the Teej holiday to me, I was initially shocked and dismayed to hear that the festival women celebrate was not about women at all, but about the husbands who they had or hoped to have. Of course this would be my western, feminist, agnostic identity shining through...
However, in my (albeit limited) experience of Teej, in witnessing two parties, and talking with many women who celebrate the festival, it seems to me that it has become a space where women come together, in an unrestricted and free sort of way, to dance and celebrate as sisters. Really beautiful.
The festival combines fasting and feasting (the latter of which I partake in happily) and women wear red and dance to celebrate.
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| Ladies at a Teej party - Red! |
On the first day of Teej, the women often gather in the evening at a matriarchs home, where they eat all their favourite foods, including Khir (Nepali rice pudding). On the second day, married women fast and often go to the temple where they dance and celebrate Shiva. As a Nepali friend told me, the married women pray to Shiva and fast for their husbands to live a long healthy life. In the evening, the women do Puja and wait for their husbands to allow them to eat, at which time the women will have water or milk.
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| My foray into sari-wearing |
"Oh, Ali-Ji, nowadays they just send a text!" Said my friend. Ha.
I was fortunate to be invited to two pre-Teej parties on the same day, one for parents at the kindergarten, and the other for the teachers and staff. I went to both. Unfortunately, I had a difficult time coming up with something red, as the outfit I wore last year would no longer fit over my protruding belly. So what to do? Buy a new outfit or get one made or..... wear a sari! perfect, as a sari can be wrapped to fit any size belly.
Thank you to Roma and her daughter who sourced me out a beautiful sari borrowed from a relative. And it was no ordinary sari, but a red, luxurious, bejewelled, spectacle that was given to the borrower by her father on her wedding day. Clearly, wearing this would be an honour.
After a hot and frustrating process that involved 2 helpers, many safety pins, and at least 45 minutes, Roma and her daughter had me adorned.
 |
| U being adored |
The parties were lots of fun, and included singing, dancing, and of course - feasting. I relished the opportunity to socialise with many of the teachers at the Kindergarten who I see frequently but rarely outside of school. I think they were impressed with my (rather bold) move to wear a sari. As a pregnant foreigner I definitely did not blend in. !
I admit that when my friend first explained the principle of the Teej holiday to me, I was initially shocked and dismayed to hear that the festival women celebrate was not about women at all, but about the husbands who they had or hoped to have. Of course this would be my western, feminist, agnostic identity shining through...
However, in my (albeit limited) experience of Teej, in witnessing two parties, and talking with many women who celebrate the festival, it seems to me that it has become a space where women come together, in an unrestricted and free sort of way, to dance and celebrate as sisters. Really beautiful.
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| celebrating Teej |
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