Aunt and her niece, cooking a meal

Aunt and her niece, cooking a meal
Janakpur, Nepal, October 21st, 2015

Urmila (in orange) and her niece Ram Kala work to prepare a meal.
Urmila is one of my friend’s maternal aunts, and Ram Kala is a cousin.

With the punitive months-long Indian blockade of fuel and supplies, cooking gas is almost impossible to come by and so meals are cooked over wood fires. Because of the smoke inherent with wood fires, families try to cook outside if possible. Cooking times are lengthened, and with only one stove “burner”, each part of the meal (lentils, rice, tea, et cetera) must wait it’s turn to be cooked.

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Though the small rectangular stool in the lower-left is only a couple of inches tall, it can make all the difference comfort-wise when one is squatting by the fire for an hour or more.

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Relatives catch up during the Dashain festival

Relatives catch up during the Dashain festival
Janakpur, Nepal, October 22nd, 2015

Chandar (in red) is the maternal aunt of my friend.
Dukhni is the daughter of my friend’s paternal uncle.
(so, Dukhni is my friend’s cousin).

This was during the Dashain festival, when people go home to visit their relatives.
The neighborhood was flooded with Nepali and Bollywood music, which was being belted skyward by loudspeakers mounted on roofs; the goal being to play nice music to please the gods.

In Janakpur (which is only a few kilometers from the Indian border) you seem to see far more saris than in Kathmandu proper. Though a dry and dusty area, the myriad fabrics the women wear make it a colorful place—I wish I could have stayed longer.

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Four friends

Four friends
Manamaiju, Kathmandu, October 28th, 2015

Siblings Sachem and Subashna (in the blue and yellow) with their friends. In the sideyard entryway of their apartment building.

One of the first times I met Sachem and Subashna, they motioned me to bend down like they wanted to tell me a secret. I leaned down and canted my head to hear better, and they kissed my cheeks.

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Friends in the doorway of a beauty shop

Friends in the doorway of a beauty shop
Manamaiju, Kathmandu, October 28th, 2015

Perhaps one-hundred-and-fifty meters past Manamajiju Temple, the main street thins as it enters an area of older buildings built closer together.

On your right, as the road thins, there is a small two-doorway’ed beauty shop where I met these friends enjoying each others company.

Pantee (in purple),
Sujina (in the background) and
Kashari (in the red head scarf).

I believe it is Kashari’s shop.

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Teachers at Niharika school

Teachers at Niharika school
Balaju, Kathmandu, October 4th, 2015

Three teachers that work with the youngest children at Niharika school—Anupama, Purna and Beli.

A candid taken between a series of posed photos.

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Friends harvesting

Friends harvesting
Phutung, Kathmandu, October 28th, 2015

After Nag Pokhari [snake pond, so-called for the statue of a naga in the middle], there is a S-curved jog in the road with fields of rice on both sides.

In the field to my left, I could see the familiar face of Ramita (in the head-scarf), so I hopped down to the field (it's about three feet lower than the road) and walked over.

A tarp or canvas had been laid out on the ground and they were taking clumps of cut rice stalks and beating them on the ground to shake off the rice kernels. When the stalks were empty, they were handed to Siddhi who would arrange them on the stack.

I asked them if they wanted a group photo and they were up for it, so I politely told them basnush, basnush [sit, take it easy] and joked with them while I took a few photos. 

From left to right, they are Gita, Bishnu-maya, Ramita, and Sarlina.
Siddhi is standing on top of the haystack.

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Doma

Doma
Balaju, Kathmandu, 2002

I forget how exactly I met Doma, but probably from walking by her house. Doma was such a sweetheart, so friendly, and I always made sure to stop by her house if I was walking to or from Balaju Bypass.

On my next visit three years later, I stopped by to see her family, but they had moved and the neighbors didn't know where to.

I am sure that wherever sweet Doma is today, she is making people’s days brighter just by being there. How I would love to see her again.

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Raman and Sushmita

Raman and Sushmita
Manamaiju, Kathmandu, October 2015

I arrived at Sushmita’s house and she pulled me aside and asked me "Guess who this is". I searched my mind, but I couldn't think of who it could be. Then she told me "Remember the baby you held [back in 2002]?"

Her nephew Raman is thirteen now—a lot taller than I remember.

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Holding Raman back in 2002.

Sangam and Shreejesh

Sangam and Shreejesh
Dadagaun, Kathmandu, October 16th, 2015

There is a short-cut I sometimes take, when I want to get over to Manamaiju without walking all the way up to the hairpin curve by Nag Pokhari. The path starts as a bit of an alley, that then leads down to cross the floor of a small valley. Right before the valley there is a small plot of a garden opposite a tall house that looks out over all. In the past, I have taken photos of Ritisha and her parents, who live in the house. Sometimes as I am walking across the valley I will hear my name called, and look up to see Ritisha and her sister on the roof, and we exchange funny faces back and forth.

On the day of this photo, Shreejesh walked up and asked if he could have his photo taken as well (his house has a large barky dog, so I don't often go by it). I said sure. Shreejesh is ten years old, and his friend Sangam is six.

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Arju and Puja

Arju and Puja
Manamaiju Marg, Manamaiju, Kathmandu, October 18th, 2015

I was walking down Manamaiju Marg, watching children play on the ping [swing] to my right, when I saw Arju giving her sister Puja a ride on their bike.

A week later, when I found their house to give them their photos, their mother said one word: "Beautiful".

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