Chhedingmo was my name

I used to wear
A strange dress
Called ghalek and lungi.
I looked strange
While others around me
Flaunted their gunyu choli
I always thought
Why only me?
Why do I look so alien?

My vernacular words
Seemed tongue twisters
To my new neighbours
So I thought of
Learning their language
And ended up
Speaking their tongue.

My culture and tradition
Started looking ages-old
And I don't know
How I started following
New customs and traditions.
It all happened
Gradually and gradually
Till I lost
My own identity.

So,
One day I decided
To get rid of
My old fashioned name
Chhedingmo
And started callling myself
Parvati.

***
Parvati Kunda is a religious high altitude wetland in Rasuwa district of Nepal bordering China. It's called Chhedingmo by Tamangs, the indigenous people of that region.

Republished from my Instagram account.

The rice fields and the wells

During the cold winter days
Whenever I talked
About the vibrant market
And the facilities in the city,
My grandma would say:
Child, a market is temporary
But the rice fields are permanent.
A spring is interim
But the wells are everlasting.

The job,
That pays for your bag of rice
That you're so proud of,
Will offer you pink slip someday.
The spring,
The source of bottled water
That you're so proud of,
Will run dry someday.

Then you'll
Return to your native place
In search of
Food and water,
Friends and relatives.
You'll then realize
The importance of
The rice fields and the wells.

Republished from my Instagram account.