9781422278888

CUSTOMS AND CULTURES OF THE WORLD

MY TEENAGE LIFE IN

NEPAL

CUSTOMS AND CULTURES OF THE WORLD

My Teenage Life in AUSTRALIA My Teenage Life in BRAZIL My Teenage Life in CHINA My Teenage Life in EGYPT My Teenage Life in GREECE

My Teenage Life in INDIA My Teenage Life in JAPAN My Teenage Life in MEXICO My Teenage Life in NEPAL My Teenage Life in RUSSIA My Teenage Life in SOUTH AFRICA Our Teenage Life in the NAVAJO NATION

CUSTOMS AND CULTURES OF THE WORLD

MY TEENAGE LIFE IN

By Diane Bailey with Purneema Chhetri Series Foreword by Kum-Kum Bhavnani NEPAL

MASON CREST

Mason Crest 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D Broomall, PA 19008 www.masoncrest.com

© 2018 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

First printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-3899-8 ISBN: 978-1-4222-3909-4 ebook ISBN: 978-1-4222-7888-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Bailey, Diane, 1966- author. | Chhetri, Purneema, author. Title: My teenage life in Nepal / by Diane Bailey with Purneema Chhetri.

Description: Broomall, PA : Mason Crest, [2017] | Series: Customs and cultures of the world | Includes index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017003627| ISBN 9781422239094 (hardback) | ISBN 9781422238998 (series) | ISBN 9781422278888 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Nepal--Social life and customs--Juvenile literature. Classification: LCC DS485.N4 B17 2017 | DDC 305.235095496--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc. gov/2017003627

Developed and Produced by Shoreline Publishing Group. Editor: James Buckley, Jr. Design: Tom Carling, Carling Design Inc. Production : Sandy Gordon www.shorelinepublishing.com

Front cover: Dreamstime.com/Alain Lacroix

QR Codes disclaimer:

You may gain access to certain third party content (“Third-Party Sites”) by scanning and using the QR Codes that appear in this publication (the “QR Codes”). We do not operate or control in any respect any information, products, or services on such Third-Party Sites linked to by us via the QR Codes included in this publication, and we assume no responsibility for any materials you may access using the QR Codes. Your use of the QR Codes may be subject to terms, limitations, or restrictions set forth in the applicable terms of use or otherwise established by the owners of the Third-Party Sites. Our linking to such Third-Party Sites via the QR Codes does not imply an endorsement or sponsorship of such Third-Party Sites, or the information, products, or services offered on or through the Third-Party Sites, nor does it imply an endorsement or sponsorship of this publication by the owners of such Third-Party Sites.

N E P A L

C ontents

Series Foreword by Kum-Kum Bhavnani, UCSB..................... 6

Nepalese Customs............................. 32 Purneema’S Free Time.......................40 Nepal’s Economy and Politics............ 42 Purneema’s Faith.............................. 50 The Future of Nepal............................ 52 Purneema’s Country....................... 58

Meet Purneema!................................... 8 Nepal: An Introduction....................... 10 Purneema’S School Life....................18 Time to Eat!.........................................22 Nepalese Culture................................ 24 Purneema’S Village...........................30

Text-Dependent Questions..................................................... 60 Research Projects.................................................................. 61 Find Out More......................................................................... 62 Series Glossary of Key Terms................................................ 63 Index/Author........................................................................... 64

Key Icons to Look For

Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text, while building vocabulary skills.

Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much more! Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented here. Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

N E P A L

S eries F oreword Culture: Parts =Whole C ulture makes us human. Many of us think of culture

Culture is also about how we live our lives. It is about our lived experiences of our societies and of all theworldswe inhabit. And in this series—CustomsandCulturesof the World—you will meet young people who will share their experiences of the cultures andworlds they inhabit. How does a teenager growing up in South Africa make sense of the history of apartheid, the 1994 democratic elections, and of what is happening now? That is as integral to ourworld’s culture as the ancient ruins in Greece, the pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China, the Himalayas above Nepal, and the Amazon rain forests in Brazil. But these examples are not enough. Greece is also known for its financial uncertainties, Egypt is

assomethingthatbelongstoaperson, a group or even a country. We talk about the food of a region as being part of its culture (tacos, pupusas, tamales, and burritos all are part of ourunderstandingof food fromMex- ico, andSouthandCentralAmerica). We might also talk about the clothes asbeing important toculture (saris in India, kimonos in Japan, hijabs or gallibayas in Egypt, or beaded shirts in theNavajoNation). Imaginetryingtosumup“American” cultureusingjustexampleslikethese! Yet culture does not just belong to a personorevenacountry. It isnot only about food and clothes or music and art, because those things by them- selves cannot tell the whole story.

6

known for the uprisings in Tahrir Square, China is known for its rapid developmentof megacities,Australia is known for its amazing animals, andBrazil isknown for theOlympics and its football [soccer] team. And there are many more examples for eachnation, region, andperson, and some of these examples are featured in these books. The question is: how do you, growing up in a particular country, view your own culture? What do you think of as culture? What is your lived experience of it? Howdo you come to understand and engage with cultures that are not familiar to you? And, perhaps most importantly, why do you/wewant to do this?Andhowdoes reading about andexperiencingother cultureshelp you understand your own? It is perhaps a cliché to say culture forms the central core of our humanity and our dignity. If that’s true, how do young adults talk about your own cultures? How do you simultaneously understand how people apparently “different” fromyou live their lives, and engage

with their cultures? One way is to read the stories in this series. The “authors” are just like you, even though they live in different places and in different cultures. We com- municatedwith these youngwriters over the Internet, whichhas become the greatest gathering of cultures ever. The Internet is now central to the culture of almost everyone, with youngpeople leading thewayonhow to use it to expand the horizons of all of us. From those of us born in earlier generations, thank you for opening that cultural avenue! Let me finish by saying that culture allows us to open ourminds, think about worlds different to the ones we live in and to imagine how people very different to us live their lives. This series of books is just the startof theprocess,butacrucialstart. I hope you enjoy them. —Kum-Kum Bhavnani Professor of sociology and feminist and global studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an award-winning international filmmaker.

7

N E P A L Meet Purneema!

The Reader

Me and My Family

I’m fifteen years old and my birthday is on September 13. My family is small, but it is wonderful and we are very close to each other. We are five in all: my parents, my elder sister Sujina, my younger brother Kshitij, and me. My mother’s name is Mana. She is a housewife. She used to be a teacher, but now she does all the household works. She’s gone through a lot of things in her life but has kept a good spirit. My mother means life to me. She gave life to me! I have let her down many times, but she never stops loving and caring for me. She always helps and supports me in every situation. My father’s name is Sunil. He is 42 years old. He is awesome. He is a teacher by profession and is very friendly. His helping nature makes him sympathetic towards others. He never worries too much. He always inspires and motivates even if we are having a bad time.

My sister never stops bothering me! But, really, she is my solution to many problems. My sister means comfort to me, even in odd situations.

8

My brother is sometimes naughty. His hobbies are playing games and eating out! He is supportive of me, too, though.

HOME!

9

N E P A L

Nepal: An Introduction

N epal sitsquite literallyat the topof theworld. TheHimalayaMountains stretch across its northern boundary, with the snow-capped peak of the tallest mountain in the world, Sagarmartha (known as Mount Everest in English), towering over the country. At 56,827 square miles (147,200 sq km), Nepal is a long, narrowcountrywith an area roughly the size of Iowa, but within its borders are some 31 million people linked by a jumble of languages, religions, and cultures. India cradles Nepal on the east, south, and west, while Tibet lies to the north. Sandwiched in between the two, Nepal has long been a buffer zone—and sometimes a battleground—for the political wrestling of its Words to Understand caste  one of several classes of people, each of which has a distinct position and status in society dynasty  a family with a succession of rulers who control a country for a long time faction  a group of people within a whole, often in dissension or conflict infrastructure  buildings, roads, services, and other things that are necessary for a society to function

1 0

The sprawling and snow-covered range of the mighty Himalaya mountains dominates the landscape and the horizon from almost anywhere in Nepal.

giant neighbors. Nepal is a dream destination for tourists seeking spec- tacular scenery or a glimpse into unfamiliar lifestyles, but for those who live there, the country embodies a much more complicated reality. A Long History Archaeological evidence for human habitation in the country now called Nepal dates back thousands of years, while written records show that the area began to be controlled by family dynasties about the fourth or fifth century CE. The Malla dynasty was particularly long-lived, beginning in the 12th century and enduring until the 18th century. During this time, three main kingdoms were created in central Nepal—Bhadgaon, Patan,

1 1

N E P A L

and Kathmandu—which influenced the Nep- alese culture for centuries to come. Although previous dynasties had followed the Hindu faith, the Malla were especially zealous in promoting it among the people. It was under the Malla that the caste system became widespread throughout the

Gurkhas In their war with Nepal in

the early 1800s, British soldiers often found themselves on the wrong end of a kukri —a long, curved knife carried by Gurkhas, Nepalese soldiers who came from the Gurkha district of the country. Gurkhas proved to be some of the toughest, most dedicated warriors the British had ever encountered. After the British won the war, they made sure the peace treaty with Nepal included a provision that allowed them to recruit Gur- khas into their own army. It’s a tradition that’s endured for more than 200 years. Today, the selection process to become a Gurkha is extremely difficult. One trial is the famous “doko race,” during which participants run uphill for more than three miles (five kilometers), carrying a load that weighs 55 pounds (25 kilograms). Despite the grueling admissions process, there’s still fierce competition among Nepalese men (and a few women) to gain one of just 200 spots per year, since the pay is far better than what ordi- nary citizens earn.

country. Under this system, differ- ent classes of people have varying degrees of social status. Most of Nepalwas controlled bytheMallakingdoms,butseveral other independent areas coexist- edwith themajor regions.Oneof

these, Gurkha, became especially powerful. While the kings of the three Malla regions feudedamongthemselves, therulerof Gurkha, Prithvi Narayan Shah, gradually conquered areaafter area, including theprizedKathman- du Valley in central Nepal in 1768. Nepal’s size and strength initially grew under the Shah family, but therewas pressure from foreign countries, primarily China and Britain. Nepal lost control of Tibet to China in the late 1700s, and also lost a war with the British in 1816 for control over parts of India, which at the time was a British colony. Stung by these defeats, Nepal retreated into itself, closing its borders to outsiders

1 2

until the middle of the 20th century. (Even today, foreigners may not own land within Nepal and can only stay a set period of time.) With no foreign wars to fight, the leaders of various regions inNepal turned on each other, and another power upset occurred in 1846. Jung Bahadur Rana, the leader of a political faction , killed several of his enemies and then appointed himself as prime minister of the country. His family retained control of Nepal until 1951.

This illustration, based on a photo, shows Jung Badahur Rana, whose family controlled leadership of Nepal for more than a century.

1 3

N E P A L

A Developing Nation Since then, Nepal has undergone various transformations in its govern- ment. It’s currently a representative democracy, but an unsteady one. The nation struggles with a government that is often described as ineffective at best and corrupt at worst, and its citizens have paid the price. Nepal consistently ranks at the bottomof the pack inmajor categories that measure human achievement and comfort. Those include literacy rates, poverty rates, hunger, and various health measures such as life

Life in the foothills can be difficult for some Nepalese. Geography makes travel difficult and some communities can be cut off from the wider world.

1 4