My travels and my mom's rituals

Last year has been a lot of traveling to and forth the two cities I call my homes. It has been overwhelming. It is very funny but everytime I switch places, I tend to forget the former place I was in. I mean when I am in Birgunj, I barely think about my life in Kathmandu. It is like it doesn't exist. I start having trouble relating myself to it. It must also be because everytime I am in Birgunj, I am just too busy in the mundane affairs of the house to even think about anything. Kathmandu ceases to exist for me. I forget that I have lived here for more than eight years. During the times that I am working, I forget that I have a job. Sometimes, I even forget that I have friends in Kathmandu. I know its weird. Oh, thats what I can be at times.

This post however, is not about this. It is about the little things that I enjoy during my travels, especially from Birgunj. My mom is old-fashioned (and I love her that way), especially when it comes to traveling. She makes her calculations when any of us is traveling. She will not let us travel on certain days of the week, certain days on the lunar calendar. For instance, we are not not allowed to travel on Wednesdays and on the night of New Moon . My married sisters cant leave their in-laws' house on Saturdays. Though I find all of it stupid, I secretly enjoy these auspices.

Second, everytime I am leaving home, my mom will put Tika on my forehead and give me something sweet to eat, mostly jaggery. If I am leaving early in the morning, she will wake up long before I wake up, take a bath, prepare the thali with red vermilion, rice, jaggery and that 500 rupee note :) She will wake me up, ask me what I want to eat for breakfast, and what I want to carry for the road. She will cook anything I ask her to. Even if i am not hungry, she will coerce me to finish off what is on my plate because it is not auspicious to leave home without eating.

While I am ready to hop inside the car or take a rickshaw, she is always busy looking for a good sign. Over the years, I have learnt of few of them. For example, it is a very good sign to see green vegetables. If a vegetable seller is passing by, she will instantly buy some greens from him and put them in my bag. It is also a good omen to see sweepers, road cleaners, and the like. If she sees them, she is more than happy to give them some money. Also, it is very auspicious to see a married woman.

After I have left, she will come back inside the house, take two lotas (water vessels), go to a public tap, fill them with water, bring them back in the house and put them in the kitchen. The vessels remain in the kitchen until the time I have called her to let her know that I have reached safely.

On the day I leave, she will not deep-fry anything, will not use broom, not wash her hair, and not eat beaten rice. She follows all these rules with the kind of faith that I want to believe in. All these might have no meaning. Following or not following them might have no connection with my safety during the travels, but I love it when she does all this for me. I have grown up see her follow these rituals and over the years I have come to love the beauty of it all.

I might not follow all of them myself as I grow old, but I will carry in my heart the memory of these beautiful little things that my mother did for me and all of us! <3