When You Just Can’t Say No

Well, sometimes you literally cannot say, “No.” Nepali has no directly translated word for the English equivalent of ‘no.’ There are at least three words that portray some sort of negation or non-affirmative response: chhaina, hoina, and chhahudaina (Romanized spellings vary). These three words all sort of mean ‘no’ but also don’t entirely get the idea across. So, as a result you have to use a verb in the negative form to say no.

There are some interesting consequences of a culture where you can’t simply say no. For one, everyone always knows how to get everywhere even if they don’t. There are also lots of ways of saying and using body language to say ‘maybe.’ The sub-continent head wobble that is so popular is a good example. In my experience, receiving a head wobble as an answer to a question without any verbal assistance means one of four things: 1) Yes, 2) Maybe 3) I have no idea what you just said, or 4) I need a second to make something up because I can’t say no.

I have fully adopted the use of the head wobble (I recommend using it if you’ve never tried). Just don’t rely on it for directions.

Tihar: The Festival of Lights

Tihar is the Hindu festival of lights where the goddess of wealth, Laxmi, is worshipped. Many houses and businesses are dressed up with the equivalent of Christmas lights. The countryside pulses with reds, blues, and greens at night. The last day of the festival is known as 'Bhai tika' when sisters give tika (colors on the forehead) to all of their brothers. Sisters travel to the homes of their brothers and put 7 small dots of color on each brother's head. Then a massive amount of food is exchanged for cash and everyone eats their share of sweets.

Preparing the colored powders for giving tika.

Dried flowers are also given to the brothers.

Giving tika.

Everybody gets involved.

After the brothers foreheads are painted the sisters also receive tika from the eldest brother.

An artist putting the finishing touches on a mandala on a crowded street in Thamel, Kathmandu.