This year
was my second time celebrating teej. I never knew the essence of this fiesta
until last year. Even though born and raised in Nepal, I had never celebrated
nor had I bothered to know about this festival in detail. I just knew the fact
that women on this particular day, dress pretty and get together for singing
and dancing. Now that I am away from home, I always search for opportunities
that will allow me to learn and be engaged in our cultural activities. Living
foreign has taught me to appreciate different cultures and at the same time has
enhanced my own cultural skills.
For those
of you who do not know what teej is, Teej is an annual festival, which lasts
around three days. First day is an eating day. Women cook lots of different
varieties of foods and can eat until midnight. Second day
is a fasting day. Historical aspect of fasting on teej is related to Lord
Shiva. There is a belief that if on one of these days, women worship Lord Shiva
and go through an intensive fasting without even drinking a drop of water,
their husband will have a long and healthy life. For those unmarried, this
belief applies to their husband to be. Finally, third day is a worshipping day,
where ladies perform “teej puja”. This day is called “Rishi Panchami” in Nepal.
Now on to what we did on teej this
year. This year was much fun because there were more girls to
celebrate than last year. We had planned a pot-luck at my place and I was so surprised to see
so many delicious foods for our gathering. I must commend on cooking skills
these girls have. There was everything from a special “Happy Teej Cake” to
something that I had never herd or imagined “The Pineapple Curry.” Ah
everything was superb!! Dress code for the day was Nepali and most of us wore
sari and we only played teej songs. We ate, danced, took tons of pictures and
of course gossiped a lot ;) ;).
It was so exciting to see everyone happy and pretty. This day resembled so many
things about our culture and I felt so at home. Here are some glimpses of Teej
Celebration this year. Enjoy and feel free to share your experiences in the
comment box below. Also, click here for updates on 2014 Teej Celebration :)
