Nepali Culture

The special culture events I have joined during my volunteerwork. 

A majoring party of 2 boys: when the boys are between a age of 5 and 9 they get a majoring party, most of the time with their brothers but sometimes also with sons of friends from their parents. Before the party they have to go through rituals like saving their head. During the party the boys are sitting on a throne like little princes, everybody is come to them to give them presents and congratulate them. The rest of the party means a lot of food, the appetizer was like a main course for me but they expect you to eat a main course as well so I had that as well. You never eat enough in Nepal is what they told me. There is also a dancefloor and the second you step off that dancefloor you stop dancing. Only specific on the dancefloor people dance. The music that they play is not for little boys or older people but modern music for the youth which I think is really special. When we give a party for our younger children we play the music they like.

A wedding party: Wedding’s are so different in Nepal then in the Netherlands (and Europe). The weddings in Nepal take several days. The first day is the engagement which is already special because in Europe the engagement is months before the wedding. After that you have a party for only the woman who is going to get married, for all her friends and relatives. This is where I went. It’s not a small party but really all the people they know are invited. At this party there where around 500 people. The future bride is also sitting on a throne here and she is dressed in red with a lot of golden jewellery. She gets presents from everyone who is coming to the party. The most weirdest was that her husband is not invited to this party. Or actually now that I think about it, in Europe we have a bachelor party but that’s meant to be a party where you say goodbye to your wild life before you get married. The party from the future Nepali wife is actually eating a lot of food and after that you are able to drink and dance. All the Nepali party’s end around 10 o’clock pm! After that everybody goes to bed because they stand up again early (around 4 or 5 o’clock am). After this party (that is supposed to be close to the future wife her parents house) the husband throws a party near his house. The future wife is supposed to be here. The day after that there is one evening where the woman is supposed to cry for at least 3 hours. It’s still not totally clear where that is good for but I believe it’s their way to say goodbye to their life before they get married and to say goodbye to their life at their parents house. After the wedding she is going to live at here husbands house. The day after this they get married and have another party for this. Then she is going to live with the husband for a few days (3 or 4) and after that she is going back to her parents for 1 week I believe and then after that she is going to live with her husband for good.   

Ritual after someone’s husband died: Outside the house they offer some food to the gods. When you come inside the house to give your condolence the whole family starts fake crying because when they don’t do that it’s bad look for me. After that you are forced to eat or drink something. The mourning takes 12 days, in this time the wife always wears a white scarf. After the 12 days she has to wear white for 1 whole year. In the 12 days of mourning the wife is not allowed to leave the house and after the 12 days she first has to visit her own fathers house before she does other things outside. The husband who died in this situation was the breadwinner of the family and his wife was not schooled at all. Even for the cremation they had to borrow money. It’s really sad because they have nothing like a life insurance so the family had no money at all.