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For Nepali women, cultural and religious rituals are expected to be part of our daily lives. Major festivals like Teej, Chhath, Swasthani Brata, Gaura Parva among others, punctuate the year. This year, the recitation of Swasthani Brata Katha, which is dedicated to Goddess Swasthani, started on Poush Shukla Purnima ( Jan 21, a full moon day) and ended on Magh Shukla Purnima (Feb 19, 2019, another full moon day). The month-long Swasthani celebrations were marked by daily fasts and recitation of mythological stories.

These festivals, including Swasthani, require women to perform all sorts of rituals, including strict fasting in the name of god, our families, our husbands, and our children. I have always questioned these practices in my own life. Why don’t the men fast in the name of their wives and children? On these festivals, I choose to go out and take photographs. I talk to women and ask them questions about why they are doing what they are doing.

Q. What’s an opinion you hold that most people would dis­agree with?

A. Fries should be eaten without ketchup.

Q. What are you proud of but never have an excuse to talk about?

A. My cooking skills.

Q. Your alternate career choice?

A. An army officer.

Q. A Nepali singer you would like to collab­orate with?

A. Astha Tamang Mas­key.

Q. Which country would you like to go for a concert tour?

A. The USA.

Q. If you could pick a day to relive, which day would it be?

A. My first ever concert at Pragya Pratisthan.

Q. You were star-struck when you met?

A. Respected Sujil Karm­acharya Dai.

Q. What’s one super­power you would not want?

A. To be able to read people’s mind.

Q. What would you like to be remem­bered about you?

A. I want people to remember me for my music and my songs.

If there is one overarching message of our five-part APEX Series ‘Women in politics’, it is that good legislation alone does not ensure gender balance in key state organs and political decision-making bodies. Perhaps it’s a matter of time. The sea-change brought about by the 2006 movement for democracy was rather abrupt. For one, it was difficult for Nepalis to get used to a country without the monarchy, which had been around for nearly 250 years. Nor did our politicians and legislators know what to do with their newfound powers after the transfer of complete sovereignty to the people.

Post-2006, women’s representation in state organs shot up dramatically. First the interim constitution (2007) and then the new constitution (2015) guaranteed at least 33 percent representation of women in state legislatures and in political parties’ key decision-making bodies. Nepal’s legislature suddenly became among the most inclusive in the world. Perhaps women’s lead role in the Maoist rebellion had a big hand in changing the perception that women should be confined to their homes. Yet after the Maoists were brought into the political mainstream, the male political leaders who controlled the national polity were still reluctant to see women in leadership roles.

As a result, whether in political parties’ decision-making bodies, or in state institutions, or in local elected bodies, women got secondary roles as deputies to men. Or they were excluded outright: all four of our national parties are illegitimate as they don’t have the mandatory 33 percent women’s participation in party organs. Time may change this imbalance. But given the entrenched patriarchy, it may not.  

What will work better is sustained pressure on our politicians and legislators to continue to make the country more inclusive and fairer. Women’s participation has been shown to contribute to better institutional decision-making, and even to peace and social harmony. If we are to thrive as a country, and to attain the double-digit growth the prime minister likes to dream about, women’s greater participation is mandatory. The most prosperous countries like Norway and Switzerland are also the most gender-inclusive, while poor and unstable ones like Afghanistan and South Sudan are among the most hostile to women. That gender equality brings peace and prosperity is no wild theory. It is now solid science.

Want to see 30 national and international plays, performed by theater groups from nine countries, and in seven theaters? The Nepal International Theatre Festival 2019 is set to kick off on Feb 25 in Mandala Theater, heralding an eight-day festival of performances and workshops. With the slogan ‘Theater for Social Transformation: An Artistic Voyage’, the festival aims to strengthen communal harmony, respectfulness for social diversity and to contribute in the preservation of intangible cultural heritage through social awareness, art and exchange. The festival will take place in Janakpur, Pokhara and Biratnagar. Among the countries participating in the festival are Macedonia, Denmark, Sri Lanka, Norway, Afghanistan, Italy, Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. For further information: https://nitfest.org/

Celebrate

Social Cafe Anniversary Party

6 pm, Friday, Feb 22

Social Cafe

Gairidhara, Kathmandu

Celebrate the second anniversary of the Social Café with live music by Sareen Deoja (Monkey Temple), Dipesh Shrestha and Nikesh Manandhar. Plus a lot of chit-chat between likeminded entrepreneurs, meet-and-greet with popular musicians and delicious food are on offer at this free event.

Learn

Masterclass: Art of cinematography with Eric Valli

12 pm, Saturday, Feb 23

Rastriya Sabhagriha

Exhibition Road, Kathmandu

Learn more about the art of cinematography from award-winning director/cinematographer/photographer Eric Valli. He is a twice-nominated director for the Oscars, and the director of 'Himalaya', Nepal’s first nomination for the Academy Awards.

Entry fee: FREE

Taste

Dumpling Festival

11 am, Saturday, Feb 23

Chimes Restaurant

Milap Road, Lalitpur

Attention: Momos and dumpling lovers unite! Enjoy the family-friendly Dumpling Festival at Chimes with over 10 varieties of delicious dumplings from all around the world. Free entry!

Attend

Doodle Dash Workshop

10 am, Saturday, Feb 23

Sattya Media Arts Collective

Jawalakhel, Nepal

Doodle Dash is a workshop for anyone who wants to take baby steps to art-making using random patterns, scribbles, shapes, forms, etc. At the end of the workshop participants will be able to create basic doodle works.

Fees: Rs 800  

Chanmati Batala, 68, of Bherimalika municipality-1 Kalegaun has been without support in her old age after her only son Deepak Batala was killed during the Maoist insurgency. In 1998, Deepak, then 24, was killed by security personnel because of his ‘involvement’ in the insurgency.

The Maoists had started a ‘people’s war’ 23 years ago on February 13, 1996, ostensibly for the liberation of Nepal and its citizens. Districts in the mid-western hills, including Jajarkot, Rukum, Rolpa and Kalikot, were Maoist strongholds.

At the time, Deepak was a student at Tribhuvan Secondary School and was involved with a student union close to the Maoists. His involvement with the union led to his arrest and killing by security personnel. Chanmati’s husband had passed away by then. Four of her daughters are married. She now lives with a disabled daughter.

Says Chanmati, “Thousands of Nepalis like my son lost their lives at a young age in the name of the Maoist war. The political system changed, but now there is nobody to support us.” She laments that the Maoists did not keep the promises they made during the war. “Politicians got people to kill each other in order to advance their agenda. But what happened? More than war, Nepalis need good governance, development, peace and stability,” she says. “May Nepalis never kill each other like they did back then.”

It’s been more than 12 years since the war ended. It seems like a remote, even fictional, story for the new generation. But for those who endured the atrocities of the war, the pain remains raw.

The Maoists made Congres cadres stand in a line and started hacking them to death

It was around 17 years ago during the conflict that Bhadra Bir Rana, also from Bherimalika municipality, was captured by security personnel. His wife Bali Rana still does not know his whereabouts, but she hasn’t given up hope that he will come back. “The Maoists used to come to our home, eat the food we cooked and take him to their events. That led to his arrest and disappearance,” she says.

Following the capture of the District Police Office in Laha on June 12, 1999, the Maoists made four Nepali Congress cadres stand in a line and started hacking them to death. Ram Bahadur Khatri, a Laha local, was one of the four. He says a chill runs down his spine whenever he remembers the incident.

“I was the last guy in the line. They started the slaughter from the top of the line. I thought I would rather try running away than be killed like that, consequences be damned. I managed to escape, and came to the district headquarters and hid there. I have not been back to the village since,” he recounts.

Rajendra Bikram Shah, a local civic leader, says ordinary citizens were troubled by both sides during the war. “Security personnel used to target them for feeding the Maoists, attending their programs, giving them donations, etc. But if they did not do as the Maoists told them, they feared that the insurgents would harm them.”

“In the decade-long war, many lost their husbands or their parents. Many others were maimed. Youngsters who were involved in the war are severely disappointed,” says Shah. “They joined the war with the hope of improving the country’s socio-economic conditions but their own conditions are now so bleak that they are forced to go to Gulf countries for work.”

Over 370 people from Jajarkot lost their lives during the war and hundreds were displaced or maimed. Dozens of government structures were demolished. Many victims have got neither justice nor compensation.

 The El Mediterraneo restaurant and tapas bar at Jhamsikhel, Lalitpur has been in operation since 2012 and claims to be the first Spanish restaurant in Kathmandu, and probably the only one thus far. The quaint little premise of the El Mediterraneo is right on the main road from Pulchowk to Sanepa and is a hub for Spanish food lovers, or anyone who wants to try new cuisines. The normal tapas menu at El Mediterraneo fea­tures Gazpacho, Patata Brava, Bomba Patata, Solomillo a la plancha and other Spanish delicacies while the main course has a wide range of pastas and rice dishes. (Don’t get intimidated by the names though, the menu at El Mediterraneo does have English translations and details of all the food items it serves.)

 THE MENU

Chef’s Special:

- Risotto

- Jamon Serrano Y Pan Con Tomate

- Grilled Prawns

Opening hours: 12:30 - 9 pm

Location: Jhamsikhel, Lalitpur

Cards: Accepted

Meal for 2: Rs 2,500

Reservations: 01-5527059

The Weeping Banyan is an exhibition of 10 artworks by American Visual Artist Maureen Drdak, a Fulbright scholar pursuing her fellow­ship in Nepal. Seven of her artworks employ lapis lazuli (a gem) and palladium and blend them with graphite draw­ings. The other three employ a more complicated combi­nation of copper repousse metal integrated with paint­ing, ‘a material synthesis’ pioneered through her study with Master Rabindra Shakya of Patan.

At first, one could be bewil­dered trying to decipher the meaning behind the art­works. But on introspection, what appears to be a random stroke of brushes gradually make sense.

The exhibition is a “visual meditation on environmental degradation” inspired by a banyan tree Maureen saw in the nearby Kalikasthan. Con­strained from growing into its natural form, the tree’s roots became hanging appendage of tree mass. Maureen drew a parallel with Kathmandu’s development and its spite for nature. The result: the Weep­ing Banyan.

The exhibit at the Contem­porary Art Gallery, Taragaon Museum, runs through Feb 24.