Ihi

Posted on December 4, 2011 | 3 comments

According to Newari tradition, girls are married three times in their lives.

First one is called ‘Ihi’ then ‘Bara Tayegu’ and then the real human marriage.

I am writing about the first marriage in Newar girl’s life which is called ‘Ihi’. “Ihi’ is also known as Bel Bibaha in Nepali. It is performed before a girl turns 13 years old. It is a compulsory ceremony every girl has to go through in most Newar community.

I too had the ceremony held for me but I can’t remember a lot about that day. I was quite small, I think 7 or so years old when the ‘Ihi’ was held for me.

In ‘Ihi’ ceremony, the girl is married to Lord Vishnu with the bel fruit (wood apple) as a witness. This ceremony is performed to save the girl from evil and malicious spirits but the most important reason is to protect the girl from unpleasant humiliation of widowhood.  As I mention in my post Widows in Nepal, it is really hard for the women in Nepal when they become widows. They had to take part in ‘Sati’ process in the old days, so in order to save their daughters from ‘becoming Sati’, Newars started a tradition in which they married their daughters to Lord Vishnu first. So even if her human husband dies in the course of her life, she doesn’t need to take part in ‘Sati’ ritual since her first husband, Lord Vishnu is still alive.

Some also believed this tradition allowed women to be more independent of their husbands. They can divorce or become widows without losing reputation.

Ihi is performed in mass over two days. It is normally organised by priests in their own house or backyard or someone can choose to host it in their house.

The first day is called Dusala Kriya. On this day, young girls have to bathe with pure water and are dressed like a bride in ankle length skirt, blouse and shawl. These days, you will see them as mini versions of traditional Nepali brides. Then all the girls will gather in the priest’s house. They sit on the floor in a long line with their mothers. Then the Puja begins where these girls go through sequences of ritual actions of purification. They have to worship images of Suvarna Kumara, the golden Bachelor which is an aspect of Lord Vishnu. It normally takes 5-6 hours for this ceremony to be over.

The second day is the most important day of the ritual  ‘Kanyadan’ (giving away of the daughter by the father) is performed on this day. For this day as well, the young girls are dressed as brides and taken for the Puja. On this day, they wear some special ornaments as well.

There will be a special person who cut toe nails for all the girls  and then paint the feet with red colour called ‘Alah’. Also at the end of the day, ‘Thaa bu’ , a plate which had eggs, yogurt, wine, fruits, Roti, meat, fish and much more for the girls to eat is served like in the real wedding.

There will be more Puja performed and the day will end by the father doing a ‘Kanyadan’ and giving away his daughter to Lord Vishnu in marriage with the Bel fruit as a witness.

‘Ihi’ is one of the many tradition the Newar community in Nepal follow and is unique to them.

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Posted in Nepal, Newari Culture

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Regular Pap test saves life

Posted on December 3, 2011 | 4 comments

 Wikipedia defines Pap test  as (also called Papanicolaou test, Pap smear, cervical smear, or smear test) a screening test used to detect pre-cancerous and cancerous processes in the endocervical canal (transformation zone) of the female reproductive system. Changes can be treated, thus preventing cervical cancer.

I have know about Pap test for a while as there are so many ads in the tv about the importance of getting a Pap test .

The information I am aware of so far about Pap smear is 

  • “If you are between the ages of 18 and 70 years and have ever been sexually active, you should have a Pap smear every two years. A Pap smear can find early warning signs long before cancer of the cervix (neck of the womb) develops. 
  • If women have regular Pap smears, 90% of cervical cancers can be prevented. A Pap smear can detect changes in your cervix and you can be monitored by your doctor to prevent it developing into cancer. 
  • Even if you no longer have periods, or you haven’t had sex for years, you still need to have a Pap smear.” 

Look at the ad below for Pap test.

 

I had booked one test a while ago in April 2011 but for some reason I couldn’t go. Everytime I visit my GP , they would ask me if I had one done but I kept telling them that I would do it soon. 

On Wednesday , I wasn’t feeling well so went and saw a GP near work. She was a young female doctor so I thought I will mention to her that I will need a Pap test as well. She asked me if I had one done before and my answer was no. 

So after so many months of putting it off, I had my first Pap test. 

It was really quick and I didn’t fell as uncomfortable as I thought I would. She just asked me to lie on a bed and examined my cervix. She place an instrument called a speculum and  took two swapes with wooden spatula which will be sent away to a lab for a test. All it took for the test was 5 minutes of my time. 

I feel like a fool now for not doing it sooner. My result will be available by next week. 

I am writing this post hoping that if any of my female reader is putting off doing a Pap test, then my experience will encourage you to go and book the appoinment. As I said before it is not as bad as it sounds and it can save your life.

4 Comments

Posted in Health

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Besan ko ladoo

Posted on December 2, 2011 | 1 comment

I made a Besan ko Ladoo for the first time in my life from a recipe I found on the internet. It turned out good so I am sharing the recipe here. It is taken from the website Manjula’s kitchen and the pictures are from my attempt to make them.

Ladoos are rich, sweet dessert-snack made from gently roasted gram flour (besan). This recipe will make approximately 16 ladoos.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups gram flour (basen)
  • 2 tablespoons semolina flour (fine sooji)
  • 1/2 cup unsalted melted butter
  • 3/4 cups sugar (I used only ½ cup sugar as I don’t like my ladoos too sweet)
  • 4 tablespoons sliced almonds (badam)
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarsely grounded cardamom seeds (ilaichi)

For Garnish

  • 1 tablespoon melted butter or ghee
  • 1 tablespoon sliced pistachios (pista)

Process

  1. Put the besan (gram flour), sooji, and melted butter in a large frying pan and mix.
  2. Turn on the stove to medium heat and begin to roast the besan mixture until besan becomes light golden brown in color.  Stir the mixture continuously with a spatula to prevent burning. Cooking on high heat will not allow the mixture to cook thoroughly.
  3. When the color has changed you will also start to smell the sweetness of roasted besan. This should take about 7 to 10 minutes.
  4. Remove the pan from the heat and let the besan cool until it is warm to the touch but don’t let it cool to room temperature.
  5. While the mixture is warm add and mix cardamom seeds, almonds, and sugar.
  6. To make the ladoos, take about 2 tablespoons of warm besan mixture into your palm. Gently press the mixture between your palms to form a smooth, round ball. The ladoos are usually about the size of a ping-pong ball, but you can adjust the size as you prefer.
  7. When you have finished making all of the ladoos, take one ladoo at a time and dip the ladoo  a quarter-inch into melted butter or ghee. Then lightly touch the part of the ladoo with the butter into the sliced pistachios just enough so that some pistachios stick to the ladoo.
  8. Put ladoos back on the plate with the pistachio side facing up.
  9. Leave the ladoos on the plate to cool to room temperature before putting into a covered container.

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Road trip to Canberra

Posted on December 2, 2011 | 2 comments

I love road trips. Just pack your bag and jump into the car and drive to destination unknown. I wanted to do one for a while but there was so much happening in our life that we couldn’t.  Luckily on last Friday, we decided to go on a road trip to Canberra. It is not far at all, around 3.5hrs drive from Sydney. 

I have a friend, PA, in Canberra. She is working for Australian Defence Force. Every time she comes down to Sydney, she asks us to visit her so this time we decided it was time to visit her too. 

On Friday, the weather was really bad here, wet and windy the whole day. I left work early and went to pick up AS and my friend SS. The traffic was really bad leaving Sydney but as soon as we hit Hume highway, it was cool. The weather was not on our side until we reached Canberra but it was fun to drive with the tourists (AS and SS). I have been to Canberra a few times before so I knew what to expect but AS and SS have never been there so it was fun to hear them talk about empty roads, their excitement in seeing horses and cows gazing on the fields, etc. 

Canberra

In some places, the rain was so bad that I couldn’t really see more than a few meters in front of us but finally we were in front of PA’s house. PA was on the way home from work so we waited for a while and there she came. As it was still raining we took our stuff and ran into the house. 

She shares a 4 bedroom house with a lady so me and AS got our own rooms and SS got her own room too. It was really nice to have a cuppa with a variety of bread from Bread Top after a long tiring drive. We just chatted for a while. It was still raining outside but we decided to go out and have dinner. 

We went to a Korean restaurant called Kimchi in the city centre. They served some nice food. We had kimchi pork, Squid and some dumplings. PA is pure vegetarian so she had vegetable fried rice. AS and SS also tried special Korean rice wine which looked like home-made ‘Tho’ in Nepal. 

The last time we met PA was a few weeks ago during AG’s hen’s night (post here) so we just ate, drank and talked until everyone was a bit tired. Then we headed home to our warm beds as it was till raining outside and quite chilly. 

On Saturday, we were lucky to have a bright sunny day. Once we had breakfast we decided to visit a few tourist places. 

First stop was Cockington Green. I have been there before and  I just love it. It has miniature towns as well as famous international landmarks. These displays are scaled versions of the real things around the world. I am sure it is really hard work to maintain the place as the gardener told us that all the trees and plants are real and maintained in their miniature size. 

Cockington Green

Next we stopped for lunch in the city centre food court. I thinking living in Sydney we are spoiled for choice but in Canberra I found it hard with just a few outlets. Anyway, we had a plate of Turkish food and were off again to the next stop, the Parliament House. 

Parliament House is situated in the middle of the city and it is free to tour. I really lovethe architecture of the place. On my previous tours with a guide I came to know that all the marbles used there were imported from Italy. This time we took our own tour. We went to The House of Representatives and the Senate. It was nice to visit the place where important decisions that affect our lives is made. I love the rooftop of the Parliament the best as it has a great view of the city and it also has green lawns to just sit on and relax. Best of all it has a big Australian flag flying over it. 

Top of Parliament House

Inside, one of the halls was decorated for a wedding reception. It was really beautiful. Can’t imagine how much they pay for the wedding in the Parliament House.

After taking a few photos we went to the Australian War Memorial. Each room in there tells a story of Australian men and women who fought for their country. There were really interesting displays of war-time with miniature soldiers and their surroundings. There were a number of military aircrafts and airplanes in display as well. 

Australian War Memorial wall

On the top floor, on both sides, there are names of all our fallen heroes and lots and lots of poppy flowers decorating them. I think it is a really emotional place for people whose ancestors have fought in the wars. 

After the Memorial we went to see Kangaroos. According to PA, if you are in Canberra you must see Kangaroos in the wild, and we saw so many of them. I have seen them before in the zoo and national parks but seeing them in the wild was a different experience. There were a lot of mothers with their Joeys (Baby kangaroos) in their tummy pouch. And they were not at all afraid of humans. 

As it was getting dark we decided to go home and rest for a while before going out for dinner. As soon as we reached the house, it started raining very heavily so we ended up cooking dinner at home. It was a typical Nepali dinner with rice, dal, kwati, chicken, pappad and tomato achar. 

All of us were in the dinning room till 2 am, talking, when we finally decided to go to bed. It was a really good fruitful day. 

On Sunday, we decided to have a big breakfast. We were all up and cooking bacon, mushrooms, eggs, toast and tea. After breakfast we went to the National Dinosaur Museum where we saw displays of dinosaurs, prehistoric fossils and lots of information about dinosaurs. It was a quick stop before we went to Lake Burley Griffin. The lake is surrounded by well maintained walking and biking paths and lots of greenery to just relax or have a picnic. It feels good to see so many well maintained parks in the centre of the city in Canberra. 

Telstra Tower

Then we drove around the Australian National University to go to the Telstra tower on top of a hill. The tower is not as tall as other towers I have been to but was a great place to see the whole Canberra city. There were open and closed observation decks on different floors. The main one has a café as well. With the glass surrounding, we were able to go around the tower and view and identify different landmarks. The view was amazing. The top observation desk was open and it was very windy, it felt like the wind was strong enough to blow us off the tower. Thank god none of us girls were wearing skirts!. We just went around once very quickly and came back inside. 

Enjoying lunch

After that we returned to the city and had our lunch is an Italian café. I had chicken risotto, PA had spinach penne pasta, SS had chilly penne and AS had Calzone. After lunch we just enjoyed the weather and relaxed for a while.

We were in the middle of the city and the there was no traffic except an occasional bus and some few cars. It was really nice to be away from busy Sydney life style for a change. Finally it was time for us to return to Sydney. We bid adieu to PA and the three of us were back on the road home.  

Please click here for more photos. 

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Posted in Canberra - Australia

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When is the right time to put up the Christmas tree?

Posted on December 1, 2011 | 2 comments

At work today everyone had their own opinion on when to put up our Christmas tree. It has been up for the last few months in the shopping malls. They even have Christmas carols going on the loud speaker. I guess they just want us to shop for Christmas early.

In Sydney, every year there is a big event for the Martin Place Tree Lighting & Christmas Concert in Hyde Park. It happened on 24th of  November this year.

I really like the giant tree they have every year and especially the lights they have on Sydney Town Hall. It is colourful and in the evenings it brightens up the city.

In most suburbs, most houses have their Christmas lights up as well. There are some suburbs where they have so many decorations in the garden that people drive by just to look at the decorations and lights.

At work every department have their own tree and I am in charge of putting the tree up for our department. So when I told the boys that we need to put up our tree today, they said it was too early. But then all the girls including my boss were ok to have our tree up today.

Anyway I did some research and found that different people have a different opinion. Most suggested that Christmas tree should be up only 12 days before Christmas and until 12 days after Christmas. Do you know when is the right time for putting up the tree?

The problem at work is most of us take time off around Christmas which means that the last week before Christmas and first week after New Year , there is hardly anyone around.  There is no point in having decorations if there is no one around to appreciate them.

So finally we decided as it is 1st of December today, the tree should be put up today. We spent few hours decorating the tree and now it looks a lot like Christmas in our department.Holiday season is here and I am really enjoying it. I need to go around different departments now and see what they are up to for Christmas decorations.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

2 Comments

Posted in Australia, Holidays

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