Menstruation & our bizzare traditions

Rekha Shrestha

When Srijana Rasaili, a 15-year-old high school student from Chisapani village in Makawanpur district, had her first ever menstruation a few months back her mother rushed her to a relative’s house a few kilometers away from her home. Her mother covered her face with a shawl making sure that her brothers didn’t see her face. And once at the house, she was kept in a dingy room for 15 days. She saw her first menstruation as a disorder because she was told that the menstrual flow was impure blood from her body. She found it extremely difficult to adjust to a new atmosphere kept in her relative’s house when she had her first period. She felt as if she was being tortured as she couldn’t go to school, couldn’t talk to her brothers and father and couldn’t even be with her own family. She says she missed many important lessons at school and felt very homesick.

"I missed so many things during those days, and I felt as if I was tortured," she recalls and says, "I couldn’t talk with my family members and my school mates. Moreover, I was looked down upon as someone who has committed crime. ..This is like a useless barrier placed in our way. I see no point in following such traditions. Timely changes are a must, if our parents really want us (daughters) to excel in our life." Adds Maya, another girl from Morang, "Girls in our society continue to be discriminated against in the name of outdated traditions. Sometimes because they are menstruating, sometimes because she is pregnant, and at other times just because she is a girl or a woman."

And Srijana is not the only teenager girl who underwent such a "painful ritual" during her first menstruation period. Actually, all the girls of her age regardless of caste or community have to follow such rituals. And, interestingly, almost all of them we interviewed during the course of our three-week-long research (in a total of 27 VDCs of Kathmandu Valley, Morang, Makawanpur and Kaski districts) think that this should change for the good of Nepali women. They think that girls, or women, should not be looked down upon as someone who is impure or untouchable during the four days of their monthly menstruation cycle.

The research, conducted by Family Planning Association of Nepal this year, was a base line study on Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH). Our target groups were the adolescent boys and girl of the age between 13 to 24 years. As enumerators, we had to interview the young people individually to get the right information on SRH. The respondents from almost all the communities of Nepal was that "yes the girls are not touched" by their menfolk during their periods.

The girls are not only subjected to virtual isolation, they are not even allowed to see the roofs of their houses, especially during their first menstruation cycle. And after the period is completely over, usually a ritual - such as Surya Puja - is conducted before she is allowed to return indoors. She is now regarded as a lady - not a girl - eligible for marriage.

This is something which is prevalent in Brahmin-Chhetri-dominated communities of the country. But it does not mean that people belonging to other castes do not follow a bizzarre tradition like the one we discussed above. Equally famous is the "gufa-basne", which literally means cave stay, tradition which is followed mainly by Newari people of the Kathmandu Valley. Soon after a girl menstruates for the first time she is taken to the top floor of her house (gufa)where she is kept for several days. The Newari tradition, however, is not as discriminatory as that of Brahmin-Chhetris’. Unlike them, the Newars, in most cases, do not regard their womenfolk as someone who is "untouchable" every time she menstruates.

It is indeed very sad that even at the dawn of the twenty first century traditions like these are practiced - if not promoted - in most parts of our country.

According to science, menstruation occurs in adult females every month throughout the child bearing period, starting from the age of menarche to menopause. When the ovum is not fertilized, the high level of progesterone in the blood restrains the activity of the pituitary gland and secretion of LH (luteinizing hormone) is reduced . At the same time the secretion of progesterone is also considerably reduced. Then the endometrium degenerates and breaks down and menstruation begins. The menstrual flow consists of the extra secretions, endometrial cells, blood from the broken down capillaries and the unfertilized ovum.

And there are youngsters who take menstruation as a natural process and don’t care what the purists or the traditional Hindus have to say about it. "Menstruation is a natural phenomenon, I don’t perceive it through the wrong angle," says Siddhant Pokhral, a ninth grader of St. Joseph Higher Secondary School, Biratnagar. Many other young boys like Pokharel have the same attitude. But easier said than done. Says his friend (girl) Priyanka Sitaula, "Though no such ritual is followed at my home, I have seen and I know many who continue to follow this tradition. I don’t like it since girls are locked up in a room for several days. She not only misses her lessons, but also undergoes a deep mental trauma."

This is not the end of the story surrounding Nepali women. In some remote areas of Nepal, pregnant or menstruating women are forced to stay in goths (cowsheds) for several days without food. And there are incidents when newly married girls’ virginity tests have been conducted by her menfolk who know little or nothing about the science of female hymen breaking. However, not a single man has ever been required or asked to undergo his virginity test.There are many other deep-rooted beliefs in our society, such as during pregnancy a woman is not permitted to touch small kids (of her sister or neighbour). If she does, it is believed by many that the kids get sick.

And we still get to hear news reports which narrate the harrowing tale of women charged with practising witchcraft ruthlessly beaten by family members or relatives. Ironically, we have many so called witches but not a single sorcerer in our society. Is it fair? Males are physically stronger but it doesn’t mean that society should continue to remain a patriarchal one. But the reality is different.

We are surrounded by people who, despite their knowledge, continue to agree with and follow such awful old beliefs which in most cases do not have a valid scientific basis. However, some clever respondents participating in the research said, "there are some scientific reasons too that suggest that women need proper rest during her menstruation period". Nilam Prasad Gautam, a college student of Morang, says "Menstruation is a natural process, but certain values of society have to be followed and preserved as these cannot be changed overnight."

Granted, but why women - who during the menstruation period feel physically uncomfortable and desire rest - are continued to be mistreated and abused to such an extent that they end up with various forms of mental disorder. Let them rest and take care of them and make sure that they are feeling comfortable. Yes, it is right to follow the societal norms and values and traditions no matter how outdated they prove in today’s context. But isn’t it high time each and every Hindu fundamentalist started taking the matter seriously?

Kachhadiya
An ethnic minority

Kachhadiya is one of the minority ethnic groups of the central plain of Nepal.

Historically they inhabited the central Terai districts of Nepal, especially, Bara and Rautahat. Before the initiation of the process of migration and social rehabilitation in the area that occurred more rapidly after the Anglo-Nepali war, Kachhadiyas were the sole community residing in the forest plains of Churiya, in the districts of Bara and Rautahat. Ritually and culturally they seem to be a peculiar ethnic group. Regardless of modernization and several other socio-economic effects some of the defining characteristics that contribute to shaping their indigenous identities appears to remain in some sub-groups of the community.

Traditionally the male members of the community would wear a white loin cloth (Kachhad) and the females the Lehanga –Choli. The male’s pattern of wearing the Kachaad might have contributed to the name Kachhadiya.

Until 1950 the community lived in their traditional areas by practising fallow land cultivation and fishing and making their thatched houses out of bamboo, straw and leaf litters. Their household needs would be performed by a barter system and clothes were made using indigenous technologies through the locally available materials, like hemp. Rituals, cultural practices, fishing, cultivation, looming, dancing and singing were the main characteristics of their daily life.

The life pattern of this community gradually started to change after the initiation of the Malaria Eradication Programme in the Terai and land mapping surveys which brought unexpected migration from the hilly regions especially from the neighbouring districts. The implementation of the East-West Highway (Mahendra Rajmarga) further enhanced the process of migration. Gradually, changes occurred in their life style. They were adversely influenced by the attraction of the purchasing capacity of money. As a result, they moved away from their old nature-based agrarian life and started to sell their land and spend the money on non-productive activities. As a precaution to this measure, the government, to preserve the community from their wrong decision of selling land haphazardly, made legal provisions of restricting the community in selling their land. But the provision could not be effective due to practical difficulties. As a result, today, they have been found living as a minority group in their indigenous area.

The major sub-ethnic titles of the community are Kunwar, Chaudhari, Singh, Kachhadiya etc. They follow an extended family system. The community observes and celebrates several rituals and cultural practices from birth to death. They celebrate the new-born rituals after the sixth day of a child’s birth in a family by performing different cultural ceremonies. The community prefers to marry within the ken. Lack of sexual rigidity on social norms especially in regard to sexuality is reflected in the community by the widely held practice of widow marriage, multiple marriage. There is a system of give and take among the community while performing marriages. In the case of funeral rites they cremate the dead body on the bank of a river or forest and mourn for up-to thirteen days.

They follow Hinduism and especially worship Brahma on special occasions like birth, marriage, during harvesting etc. The practice of animal sacrifice is also carried out during famine, natural calamities and epidemics. The females decorate themselves with tattoos in different parts of their body and wear coin necklaces. Traditionally personal hygiene and sanitation in their locality is quite good.

Fish is considered to be an essential item to be included in their daily meal. It is said that the people don’t even hesitate to eat water moss or cook the soup from a mossed stone if there is a lack of fish in their meal. Besides, they are also very fond of eating snails (Ghong) but avoid buff and pork.

Although reluctant to mix with other communities, gradually the community has integrated into the social institutions outside their community. The establishment of local NGOS and even INGOS besides the educational institutions, have contributed on creating awareness about the need for education among the community. An increasing number of school children, health workers and volunteers, teachers, jobholders and businessmen etc. are from the Kachhadiyas. This shows their desire to be integrated into the mainstream of society. Further anthropological studies among the community may help to enlarge knowledge not only in regard to the cultural aspects but also the historical and archaeological significance of the Churiya hill and the foot hills of central Nepal which is apparently related to the time of the Nalapaani War between British India and Nepal during 1814-1831 A.D.

Blend of Hip-hop and classical dance

- D.T

The world has seen many forms of Eastern and Western music fusion. It is not uncommon. But the fusion of dance is indeed a rarer thing. Something like the dance fusion of Kathak, Bharatnatyam and Hip-Hop is probably unheard of in Kathmandu, or for that matter in most places, and could be something new and fresh. Especially for Nepal considering its stultifying cultural scene.

So on Nov 25 at the Royal Nepal Academy, home of whatever Nepal has to offer culturally, the current mix of the French and Indian dance group Accrorap is going to perform. Accrorap, a well known hip-hop dance group in France promise to blend the cutting edge of Hip-Hop with the more, if you like, cerebral moves of classical Indian dance. Founded by Kader Attou, of Algerian descent, the group have been performing since the start of the last decade, carrying their meditative work into this new millennium. The aim of the group, picked up from their performances and their talk, has been cross cultural fertilisation and the coming together of different forms and styles of movement, if you like, different identities under the great and good umbrella of dance.

The coming performance, entitled Anokha – dance of Gods and Men, will join Indian traditional dance with Hip-Hop. Three classically trained Indian dancers, Vaishali Trivedi, Rukmini Chatterjee and Prashant Shah, will make up the team for the one off show. The message will revolve around the theme of non-violence. A dialogue between the dance of gods and the dance of men. The show promises to be a contrast between Indian dance and the more energetic Hip-Hop, sold and marketed by MTV in the 80’s but born with its roots in African tribal rhythms shot through with ghetto-blasters.

With the show comes a dance workshop slated for the 24th at the Alliance Française.

Vidyapati
The great poet of Mithila

Ram Dayal Rakesh

Mithila is renowned as a mysterious, miraculous and marvelous part of Nepal. Once Janak was the King of Mithila. Maithili is the second most spoken language of Nepal. Vidyapati was the pioneer poet of Maithili Literature. He wrote many poetic works in Sanskrit which are very famous.

He also wrote two books in Abahatta language namely Kirtilata and Kirti Pataka but he became famous for his poetic work in Maithili. He composed only one verse book which made him immortal and at the same time popular. That’s why he is called l the Nightingale of Mithila. The name of the book is Vidyapati’s Padavali (verses of Vidyapati).

Vidyapati is a poet of passion. he is well-versed in depicting varied moods of Lord Krishna and his beloved Radha.

Sometimes they are incorrectly termed as vulgar and erotic in their nature. Dr Grierson has called him a poet of devotion but it is not true. All critics with one voice have termed him as a poet of vigour, love and beauty. That’s why he could move from a court poet to the status of public poet.

Vidyapati, was born at Bisapi a village in Madhubani, on the eastern side of north Bihar. A hundred miles north of Biosapi on the low foot-hills of Nepal. The country of Madhubani is a part of Mithila, long renowned for its learning and culture. Its people are known as Maithils, it was in this part of India that Vidyapati, a Maithil Brahmin, spent most of his life as courtier, scholar, writer and poet.

Although much discussed the exact year of his birth is still uncertain but opinion would now favour the year 1352. At this time, Mithila was ruled by Hindu Kings whose court adjoined present-day Darbhanga.

It is said that Vidyapati also stayed at Rajbanauli in Nepal for some time and wrote some lyrical verses. Some of his manuscripts are still available in the National Archives. Their authenticity has been verified by many research scholars, W.G. Archer also justifies this statement. He writes, "At Rajabanauli in Nepal he lived in lonely isolation, completing in 1408 for the local Raja a Sanskrit work, the Likhanavali (How to write letters in Sanskrit). Ten years later, he made a complete copy in his own hand of a manuscript of the Bhagavat Purana. In 1418, Padma Sinha succeeded Lakhima Devi as ruler of Mithila and about this time Vidyapati seems once again to have joined the court."

Vidyapati’s Padavali is very famous and popular. His melodious songs are sung all over Mithila on various auspicious occasions.

He is known as a poet of eternal beauty. Especially in his depiction of Radha in her youth.

Since Vidyapati was a court-poet of King Shiva Singh he was called on to praise him and his beautiful queen Lakhima Devi. He won the hearts of the royal couple by his melodious and lyrical songs and tried his best to please them by praising their love for literature and their vigorous deeds.

He was especially a poet of the Shringar Ras. He spent most of his time inside the four walls of the royal palace and sang for his favourite King and Queen. He possesses a deep psychological perception and a subtle vision and depicts the different mental states of Krishna and Radha in love affairs.

He also presented many magnificent pictures of gloomy and painful days when she was compelled to live out those lonely and long periods of separation.

Vidyapati proved himself a versatile genius for presenting the colourful meetings of Radha and Krishna in many of his poems. He was also criticised for describing the naked, voluptuous and romantic gestures and postures of Radha and Krishna vividly.

Vidyapati included Shiva Singh as patron in his love songs. He personified Krishna as via Singh and Radha as Lakhima Devi because he was a court-poet. W.G. Archer is right,

"The senior queen was Lakhima Devi and it was perhaps to entertain and delight the ladies of Shiva Singh as well as the prince himself that Vidyapati not only wrote songs but wrote in Maithili, a language which they could immediately understand."

Once Shiva Singh was summoned to Delhi by the then Muslim emperor to answer a charge leveled against him. Vidyapati also went with him. He pleaded in favour of his patron and requested the emperor to release him. The emperor locked the poet in a wooden box and sent him to bathe in the river Ganga by his courtesans. When the bathing was over, Vidyapati was released and asked to describe the bathing scene. Then and there he recited one of his poems describing a beautiful lady at her bath.

Vidyapati was quite aware of the social evils of his contemporary age. He passes satirical remarks on child marriage which is still in vogue in the Nepal Terai. He has insight, vivid vision and a broad outlook towards the burning problems of his age.

Vidyapati also composed devotional songs which are very popular and sung throughout Mithila. He wrote devotional songs like Maheshvani and Nachari which are sung in the early hours of the day. He was also a devotee of the Goddess Kali to whom he wrote a number of devotional songs. His prayer song to the river Ganga is also praise worthy.

To sum up, all his rich experience, his power of observation and sense of beauty went to make and mould his poetry. Vidyapati’s poetry ministers at first to the worldly sensuous but step by step it rises to a plane which goes beyond all material limitations.

The tempos hopes belied

Damakant Jayshi

They are everywhere. They move along all the time. They are fast becoming a symbol of the Kathmandu Valley, much to the chagrin of heritage lovers who feel the aesthetic beauty of this traditional city, which is already losing its old time’s charm, is being destroyed. Couple it with the Valley’s fast march towards becoming a concrete jungle.

I am talking about the ubiquitous three-wheelers or popularly called the tempos. Many are gas-driven while almost an equal number of them are operated by batteries.

The traffic police consider them a nightmare, officially at least. In reality, these tempos are such a welcome boon to our cops who are always on the prowl, like a tiger looking for its prey. I am sure you know what I mean.

Probably the recent ban imposed by police Chief Rana on hafta or mahina (weekly and monthly extortion of money for ‘protection’) does not apply to those who sweat it out on the road. The IGP should have considered the inflation before issuing his noble directive. I am sure he would not like to see a poll result on how many are sharing his pious intention.

On the other hand, the tempo owners and their foreign donors always display a trump card : That the three-wheelers, which have converted Kathmandu and Lalitpur into a veritable tempo mine, are environmentally friendly.

Besides, the police (which officially, at least, consider the tempo a nuisance) bus and taxi people too detest its presence.

In the battle between the supporters and the opponents of these familiar objects on the roads of the valley, no one seems to spare a thought or two about those who should matter most - we the passengers.

To borrow an oft-repeated phrase, there are two sides on every coin. Tempos too are no exception.

Of late, a number of new routes have opened and there are reports that more are in the offing. So one does not have to go to Sundhara to go to Kalanki or Kupondole/Jawalakhel from Koteshwore or New Baneshwore and vice versa. Similarly, there are many such routes that have made changing vehicles a thing of the past.

There is a flip side too to this rosy cosy scenario. A tempo ride is almost becoming a nightmare. While travellers like me prefer, or should I say preferred, the tempos for their now-disappearing quality of not lingering at stops for ages as buses and their mini sisters do, their very advantage is becoming a liability.

I am thinking of an alternative, though it is easier said than done.

Why look for an alternative?

Once these vehicles were so handy. But now they keep stopping at every conceivable and non-existent stop. The driver is always on the look out for his tempo to be filled to its capacity. If any seat is vacant, he seems to forget that there are passengers who need to reach their destination on time. He just has to see people waiting on pavements and his leg hits the brakes.

The ride becomes traumatic when passengers get down and a situation arises when the tempo is stopped every now and then, for some to alight and others to board the tempo. And so it goes on and on or rather I should say stops off and on.

It is not only the drivers who are alone to be blamed. Passengers must share an equal part of it. These passengers, not all of them, would wish to make the tempo stop wherever they want. The scenario is something like this : A passenger alights at a stop; no sooner does the tempo start, than there is a knock for a stop. Why? Because the gentleman or the lady concerned do not like to walk a few steps more. They might as well take the tempo right in front of their door-step via several alleys had that been possible. If you raise any objection, they have a liscensed reply : It’s a tempo, not a bus. Just like the tempo driver’s answer when he is asked why he stops so often. A case of mutual understanding, who cares for others’ discomfort or traffic rules.

When it happened for the first time, I ignored it, thinking it to be an exception. But my attempt to ignore the writing on the wall did not last long. The honeymoon with the tempo has been too short-lived a one. A pity, since it promised to be a very comfortable means of transport.

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