Nepalese mark Dashain

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By Thomas Geyer | Monday, October 9, 2006 11:52 PM CDT | () comments

Thomas Geyer/QUAD-CITY TIMES Sabitri Bastola and her husband, Dev, of Bettendorf receive the traditional tikka from Guma Jaishi, right, who was visiting from Nepal. Receiving the tikka, or red mark, from the elders is part of the country’s traditional annual celebration of Dashain.

Dev Bastola and his wife, Sabitri, are pioneers of sorts.

When they moved to the Quad-Cities about eight years ago, they were among the first Nepalese to live in Davenport.

“Today, there are between 70 and 100 Nepalese families in the Quad-City region,” Dev Bastola said.

Dev spoke in the living room of his Bettendorf home amid the din of fellow Nepalese celebrating Dashain, the longest and most auspicious festival in the Nepalese annual calendar.

“I’ve been in the U.S. for 17 years,” Dev Bastola said. “We lived for seven years in Los Angeles, where I studied computer science.”

But he was ready to leave the stress of such a big city. He and Sabitri moved to the Quad-Cities and have opened five convenience stores in the region, including the Sara Mini Mart on River Drive in Davenport, as well as stores in Burlington, Iowa, and in Wisconsin.

Looking around at more than 30 people gathered in his home on a recent Saturday, he explained that “this is our Christmas.”

Dashain is a 15-day celebration of the gods over the wicked demons, according to the Nepal home page on the Web. It is held during the month of Kartik in the Bikram Sambat calendar, which is late September and early October. The main celebration glorifies the triumph of good over evil and is symbolized by goddess Durga slaying the terrible demon Mahisasur, who terrorized the earth in the guise of a brutal water buffalo.

At this time of year, every home is cleansed and beautifully decorated, painted as an invitation to the mother goddess, so that she may visit and bless the house with good fortune.

At the fireplace is the kalash that Deb and Sabitri planted on the first day of Dashain, which is called Ghatasthapana, which literally means pot establishing.

Sabitri explained that the kalash is planted with grains in the sand. The kalash and the sand are sprinkled with holy water every day.

By about the 10th day of Dashain, the yellow grass will have grown to 6 inches long. The sacred yellow grass is called Jamara. It is bestowed by the elders atop the heads of those younger than them during the last five days when the red mark called a tikka is put on the forehead.

The red tikka is placed on the forehead by an elder, as the elders are highly respected in Nepal as well as in other Hindu countries such as India.

Among the revelers was Kusum Pradhan, who worked for 17 years at the American embassy in Kathmandu and who now lives in Iowa City with her two sons, one 19 and the other 13.

She said she received her green card from the embassy and moved to California. Coming to the United States, like most other Nepalese who immigrate, is all about finding an opportunity for the children.

“The main reason we come here is the kids,” said Pradhan, who works as the office coordinator for social, patient and family services at University Hospitals, Iowa City. She has been in the United States for 7½ years. “I had a good job at the embassy, but there are no opportunities for the kids.”

Jangbir Thakur and his brothers, Jasbir Thakur, both of Bettendorf, and Ranbir Thakur, of Davenport, own a number of convenience stores, gas stations and liquor stores in the Quad-City region and elsewhere, including a Mobil station in Rock Island and a BP station on 4th Avenue in Moline.

Jangbir was a captain in the Indian army for nine years, Jasbir Thakur points out. And Jasbir himself at one time drove a taxi in New York.

Now, they are the business owners, Jasbir said. But it is hard work.

“We have to work hard to survive,” Jasbir Thakur said, adding that contrary to popular belief, gasoline, beer and cigarettes do not make money for convenience stores.

The days are at least 12 hours long at work, seven days a week, he said.

Moving to the United States, it was culture shock, he added.

“Those born here know the language and the culture,” Jasbir Thakur said. “So we have to work harder.”

Everything is focused on the children, he added. “We work so they can have a good life.”

And work is a must. In the Nepali culture, Jasbir Thakur said it is a disgrace to accept a handout from the government. And everyone is taught that the good things in life are earned.

Dhananjay Mudbhary, who now lives in Chicago, and is a computer consultant, said Nepal is a “community-based, family-based society. Grandmothers, grandfathers, fathers, mothers, everybody lives in the same house.

“The parents help the kids as much as they can with education and growing up,” he said. “When the parents are old, it is the kids’ turn to take care of them.”

Dev said the Nepali community in the Quad-City area is close-knit. Everybody in the house knew each other, although they have lived in different parts of the United States for a number of years.

When immigrants come to town, he said, “I help them with an apartment and with a car. I give them a job with good pay. I always take care of them, and they do their jobs. We all work hard. And in the process we’re successful.”

About Nepal

Location: Nepal is located in southern Asia between India and China. It is a country of 147,181 total square miles, or just slightly larger than the state of Arkansas.

High points: Nepal contains eight of the world’s highest 10 mountain peaks including the highest, Mount Everest.

Population: The country’s estimated population is 28,287,147, with 38.7 percent under age 14 and 57.6 percent being 15-64 years old. Only 3.7 percent is 65 or older.

Religions: Hindu, 80.6 percent; Buddhist, 10.7 percent; Muslim, 4.2 percent; Kirant, 3.6 percent; other, 0.9 percent, according to the 2001 census. It is the only official Hindu state in the world.

Capital: Kathmandu.

Government: Parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy.

Source: World Fact Book produced by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency at www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook.

Thomas Geyer can be contacted at (563) 383-2328 or tgeyer@qctimes.com.