The Culture of Nepal

Alexis Daniels

MCS 238-Dress and Society

April 23, 2015

While attending the international student night in the tonk I decided to get a henna

tattoo along with another student in my class. The girls who did it were very nice and

introduced us to some other students from their country as well. One of the girls had on the

traditional dress of their country and the other was regular clothing similar to what would be

associated with the United States clothing. I asked the young girl without her native attire on if I

could interview her for my class and she gladly said yes. Her hair was short and very, she had on

a blue shirt and matching athletic tights as well. She wore no makeup and had pretty tan skin.

She spoke English very well and rarely had an accent in my opinion. I also noticed that while

speaking to each other, they quickly went back to their nation’s language which is called Nepali.

The student I interviewed was from Nepal and her name is Jyotsaana Parajuli. She is

twenty three years old, she has been in school 4 years and has lived in the United States for 4

years also. Her dad, mom, and one of her two sisters are back in Nepal. Her other sister is here

in the states as well. I met her while getting a henna tattoo at their country’s booth/table. The

ideal woman of their culture sort of varies with each person preferences but she said if she had

to say it would most likely be a tall, thin lady, with long hair and a bubbly personality. For the

men of the country, she expressed that she would prefer a muscular build but back home they

probably would like a tall, slender, and very educated man. They do participate in arranged

marriages and when looking for a spouse for their children they test the man’s intelligence

before anything else. It is what is most important to them. The younger generation and the

older generation that lives in the city wears clothes just like the kids in America but the older

generation that resides in the country side wear traditional clothing. Married women wear a

necklace called a “Pote” and red powder in their hairline sometimes called “Sindoor” to signify

they are married. It is not as easy to tell if the men are married because some do and some

don’t wear wedding rings. People of certain social class do not wear anything in particular to

show that they have more money, the only way to tell is if they have expensive things like a

nice car or a big house or something. Tattooing is growing in acceptance and popularity in the

younger generation but still is not favored by the elders. Body piercing are very common and

nose rings are even traditional to have. A lot of the same ear piercings are popular there as they

are in America but belly button rings are not as common.

They have many holidays that they celebrate and their calendar year is also different

from ours. This year their New Years was April 12th. They also don’t celebrate Christmas but

instead celebrate something called Dashain. To some special occasions they were traditional

clothing and others they don’t dress up for. To weddings, the ladies were something called a

Kurtha. This looks like a long dress with a shawl like throw over one shoulder and across the

front. To funerals, everyone wear white including the widow. However, women do not attend

the actual funeral, they may go to the deceased person house and meet with the family

instead. Bodies are cremated and thrown into a river during a funeral like ceremony. The ashes

must be thrown into a holy river. This applies to all Hindu’s. When they go to school the girls

must wear a skirt, a shirt and socks in a specific color and a tie. Their hair must be braided and

they were black shoes. Education is not really funded by the government even though there is a

“government” and a private school system. The government school is cheaper but is also

significantly less popular. Most students attend a private school. Babies usually start some sort

of school while being one year old and they got to nursery, kinder 1 (2 years old), and kinder 2

(3 years old). They then start first grade when they are five years old. Grade school continues

up until the tenth grade. There is no high school but instead after the 10th grade is they attend 2

years of what they call college and then after that 4 years of what they call university. Students

in Nepal usually finish school at the age of 24 with or without a bachelor’s degree I believe.

Many do not go for their master’s.

As far as consumption patterns go, she told me that it depends on the person. If the

individual has the money to buy a lot at one time and they want to then they do. Others may

not share the same desire to spend so much and they don’t.

The cow is like the most important animal of their country/religion so they do not eat

beef. Rice is their main food and they usually eat it twice a day back home. Once for breakfast

and again at dinner. They have late lunches that consist of noodles and biscuits. Vegetables,

beans, certain meats and other things can be added to the rice and noodles. The people from

Nepal that have moved to America usually eat rice maybe once a day instead of twice. Some

families are stricter in religion than others and the main religion is Hindu by the way. One thing

that I thought was particularly interesting was that her grandfather would not eat food that was

touched by someone other than his wife, daughter, or daughter in law. Her grandfather is a

priest and is in the Brahmin Caste group.

My feelings when approaching the young girls was very excited and nervous at the same

time. I am glad that I decided to get the henna tattoo, I think that this sort of broke the ice and

made it easier for me to ask one of them to do an interview with me. I also found that after

getting the henna done they were naturally very helpful and automatically asked “do you want

me to write for you” or “do you want me to read the questions myself?” I declined from both of

these offers seeing as how it was me who was supposed ti be doing the work but I felt that it

was really nice of them to be so helpful. I got the feeling that they were raised that way and I

dont think all cultures are. Some similarities between my country and theirs is what we (the

younger generation) wear, both countries start school around the same age. Some differences

are that the girls have to braid their hair when going to school, private schools are attended

more than public schools. In America, public schools are actually funded by the

government/state and have a higher enrolment rate, going to private school here is very

expensive and only a select few go there. Their cultural structures are very different and are

stricter than ours but I feel that our social structures are very similar. Some appearance factors I

found to be interesting were that the older generations wore different clothing depending on

where they lived. I thought it was kinds neat that they wore all white to funerals instead of all

black like we do in America. Also, I found it kind of unfair that women can clearly be

distinguished as married or not but the men could still wear regular or decide not to wear a ring

if they choose. If I were from Nepal and moved to America I think I would like it. T this age, I

would not have to change what I wear. However, I would imagine that the change in food

would be a big adjustment. Beef is not a part of most of their diet’s at all, so for the ones that

strictly practice their beliefs, I think it would be hard for them to see beef everywhere here. I

would try to keep the majority of my cultural identity, not just for me but for my future kids as

well. Also, I wouldn’t want to lose my sense of self and my uniqueness that comes along with it.

However, it would be pretty hard to keep up with all practices and some American ways are

very contagious. I wouldn’t mind having a mixture of both.

Overall, I really enjoyed talking to all of the girls. They were all very pretty to me and had nice

personalities. I tried really hard not to be awkward about it and to try not to just read questions

off of a page. Jyotsaana gave great answers and explained that she is used to doing this by now.

After it was over, I realized that they are not all that different from us. They like tattoos and

piercings like the American kids and wear similar clothing as well. Their languages are different

and their holidays/calendar are nowhere near the same as our but the idea is the same. Also,

their religion is probably much more a part of their life than it is here in ours in the United

States.