Monthly Archives: May 2012

Just because you think you are right, doesn’t make me wrong!!!

Posted on May 12, 2012 | 16 comments

I am sorry to bring the topic of babies again to my blog but my life revolves around babies these days. Only last week one of the friends who had a baby girl in December has a Pasni (Rice feeding ceremony), Nepali version on Christening. It was a fun event and I was happy for the excuse to wear sari and also to share in their happiness.

I am attending another Pasni tonight for another friend’s baby boy. I have more baby showers, Pasnis and babies’ birthdays this year than I can ever remember.

I am always happy to be a part of my friends’ happiness which includes their little ones. It is so nice to see the babies growing up so cute and adorable. It is nice to listen to their experience and share their joy. There are at least five of my friends pregnant right now.

But what I do not like when I go to these functions is everyone asking me when I am going to have a baby. I think that is a valid question but I still don’t want to be constantly bothered when I have already told then that it’ll still be a few years before I have a baby.

One of my friends who is pregnant said, “There is a right time for babies so if you don’t have in now, you may regret it later”. I was really annoyed when she said that because it is my and my husband’s choice to decide on when to have a baby and we decided to wait a few years. Come on, I haven’t even had my first marriage anniversary yet. Why don’t everyone leave me alone and let me enjoy my time with my husband. Just because she is pregnant now and heading towards motherhood, doesn’t mean I need to follow in her footsteps. And just because she thought that it is the right time for her, my choice of not having a baby right now doesn’t make me wrong.

The other day, in a similar conversation, another friend of ours told us that she got pregnant because she thinks that it is the right time and implied that we need to think about it as well.

My friends may think that they are doing us a favour by suggesting to us to have a baby but I don’t want to be pressured into having a baby just because they are pregnant now. Me and my husband have a plan and we want to move according to this plan. We don’t want to follow other people’s plan and definitely don’t want to be pressured to have baby.

When I got married last year, I thought the pressure of having a baby will come from my parents and his parents. But amazingly other than his grandfather, no one else has nagged me about not being pregnant yet. We had told both our families that we have a plan and they are happy for us to follow the plan and have babies when we decide to. But we are getting more pressure from our friends and only from those friends who are already pregnant or have a baby.

I’d love to be a mum one day. I believe that motherhood is a wonderful experience but at the same time I want to be well prepared before we have a baby.

Right now I just want to be with my husband and enjoy my life. And I will have a baby when I am ready. Please don’t tell me that our decision not to have a baby right now is wrong.

If you have a baby please do keep this in mind when you suggest someone else to have a baby. If you’re married and don’t have a baby yet I’m sure you know how I’m feeling 🙂

16 Comments

Posted in Social Issue

Tagged , , , , ,

Chatamari

Posted on May 11, 2012 | 7 comments

Chatamari is a special Newari dish which is like a crepe made of rice flour and optionally topped with mince meat with seasoning or vegetables.

Use non stick pan so that Chatamari doesn’t stick to the pan.

Ingredients 

For Rice Base

  • 2 cups rice flour
  • 3 eggs (beaten)
  • 1 cup water (depends on consistency)
  • 1 cup ghee or butter
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup of peas
  • A bunch of coriander leaves chopped

For Toppings

  • 250 grams minced chicken
  • ½ cup finely chopped onions
  • ½ cup diced tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon ginger, minced
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons curry powder
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil

Steps

  • Mix minced meat, salt, pepper, onion, tomato, oil, peas, curry powder, coriander leaves, garlic and ginger in a big bowl and put aside. This will be the topping for the Chatamari.
  • Mix rice flour, eggs, water and salt to make batter.
  • You may need to add more water if necessary to achieve the consistency similar to the batter for crepes.
  • Heat a non stick pan.
  • Pour in some batter and spread out into a thin crust. Cover the pan and cook just on one side for a few minutes. Don’t flip onto the other side.
  • Put the toppings on top of the Chatamari and cook for a few minutes by covering the lid.
  • If you like your meat well done, take the Chatamari and put it in the oven on low heat for 2 minutes. But this tends to dry the Chatamari. Alternately you can pre-cook the minced meat mix and then add it to the Chatamari in this step.
  • For vegetarian options, topping can be made with potatoes, onions and tomatoes or if you eat eggs just use scrambled eggs for toppings.
  • Serve hot with spicy achar or your favourite sauce.

You may also like :

* *Goat curry *Momo

7 Comments

Posted in Nepal, Nepali food, Newari Food, Recipe

Tagged , , , ,

Learn Nepal Bhasa / Newari – Chapter 7

Posted on May 10, 2012 | 7 comments

 

English Nepal Basa
What is that? Wa chuu khah?
What do you mean by ______? ___________dhaah-gu-chhu?
What is this called? Thaw-yaa-ta-chuu dhaai?
Can I use your phone? Phone chha-kah yaa-ye jiu laa?
What time is it? Gu-li-ba-je-ju-la?
What is this for? Thaw chuu yaa-ye-ta?
What is the matter? Chhu ju-la?
What are you doing? Chuu yaa-naa chwa-naa di-yaa?
Open the door. Khaa-paa chaa-ye-ki.
Close the window. Jhyaah tiu.
The door is locked. Khaa-paay yaa-lann gwa-yaa tah-gu du. (door locked)
Turn on the TV. TV chaa-ye-ki.
Who is there at the door? Ku-ne su wah-gu?
There is somebody to see you. Chhanta naa-pa-laah wa-la.
Did anybody phone me? Ji-tah su-naa-nann phone yaah laa?
The letter has not arrived. Chi-thi ma-thyann-ni.

Please click here for previous chapters.

7 Comments

Posted in Learn Nepal Bhasa / Newari, Nepal

Tagged , , , ,

Blue passport green passport

Posted on May 8, 2012 | 15 comments

Whoever said ‘All men are created equal’ hasn’t lived in the real world. I am saying this because I have seen it time and time again that there is so such things as – we all are equal and we definitely are not treated equally. If you have different skin colour, you are treated differently, if you have different accent, you are treated differently and definitely you are treated differently if you have different passport colour.

I am planning a holiday with my husband. The problem is he holds a green passport so he is required to apply for visa while I hold a blue passport so I don’t need visa for the places we are going.

It is fair that you can ask someone to apply for visa to travel but the worst part is that they really make it difficult. Me and my husband have the same financial circumstance but while nothing is checked for me, he is required to provide a long list of documents to prove that he is cable of travelling to these countries just because he holds a passport from a country which is considered third world.

The list consists

  • Flight ticket
  • Property paper or tenancy certificate
  • 3 months of you financial statements from your saving account
  • Letter form your employer
  • Utilities bill
  • Pay slips
  • Tax return paper
  • Proof establishing the purpose of your trip, for example a letter of invitation.
  • Copy of marriage certificate if you are married
  • Proof of accommodation, i.e. hotel reservation. If you are staying with family or friends you should submit a letter of invitation

And the list keeps on growing. Then you have to fill out a visa form which is so complicated. Seriously, there are some questions there for which I have no idea what they really mean.

I know they want to make sure only genuine people get tourist visas but if anyone gets a few weeks off and decided to go away for a vacation, they can’t as it takes a while for these visas to be processed.  In most of the embassies, we need to make appointments months in advance so if you hold a passport that requires a visa, you are forced to plan months in advance just to make sure you get all the paperwork and visas ready before you travel.

In some countries, the information you require to apply for visa is hidden somewhere and you will be frustrated searching for it. Then you call the agents and every person you get on the other side of the phone will give you different ideas on what they think you should do. Seriously, if I don’t have a relative/friend in this country and I still want to visit, there should be an easy solution. I shouldn’t be forced to find people or pay ridicules amount of money to visit the place.

Thankfully all visas for my husband have been sorted out and we are looking forward to our holiday but the period when he applied for visas and the time they took to make decision, I was going through nightmares thinking the worst. Because, you need to show your tickets, accommodations and tours which are non refundable so for any reason if you don’t get a visa, all your dream holiday is gone down the drain along with all the money you spent for the holiday.

I know there are lots of problem in every county including Australia due to illegal immigrants but that is really making it difficult for a genuine traveller to get away and have some relaxing time.

I know my good friend Tash from Life through Kaleidoscope had a prolonged wait for her visa and she was just going for her graduation. Fortunately, everything has been sorted out and she is enjoying a great break in the UK along with her graduation ceremony.

One of my cousin’s parents applied for a tourist visa to come and visit their son here in Australia but it was rejected. They are in their 60’s but the rejection letter claimed that they believed, they won’t return to Nepal so the visa was rejected.

The funny thing is, they are making it so hard for all genuine people to enter the country while there are lots of illegal immigrants enjoying their time freely. I hope there will be a time when one has to just scan the passport and pay for visa fee to enter another country no matter which country’s passport you hold.

15 Comments

Posted in Travel

Tagged , , , ,

Learn Nepal Bhasa / Newari – Chapter 6 – Time

Posted on May 7, 2012 | 2 comments

 

English Nepal Basa
Today Thaunn
Tomorrow Ka-nhay
Yesterday Mhi-gah
Atmidnight Chaa-nhay
At night Ba-ha-ni-i
Day after tomorrow Kann-sa
Day before yesterday Mhi-i-ga
Early Nhaa-paann
Everyday Nhinn-nhinn
Now Aah
Immediately Thaa-thenn
In the day Nhi-nay
In the evening Sa-ni-lay
In the morning Su-thay
Last year Tha-gu-ne
Late li-baa-ka
Later li-paa
Moments ago Nak-ti-ni
Never Ga-ba-lenn
Full moon Pu-nhi
New moon aa-maai
Next week Ne-gu waa-lay
Next year aa-ki-wann
This year Thu-gu-si-i
Sometimes Ga-ba-lenn
Time Ii (as in ee)

Please click here for previous chapters.

2 Comments

Posted in Learn Nepal Bhasa / Newari, Nepal

Tagged , , , ,