Today is the brother "worshipping" day in Nepal. Formally this day is called the "Bhai Tika" day. Since the Nepalese are spread out all over the world in this very globalised world, the tradition of celebrating Bhai Tika has come in Canada, too.
But my family doesn't follow the tradition. We left Nepal a long time ago and lived in the societies where there were no other Nepalese until fairly recently. Besides, we didn't follow many of the traditions even in Nepal. So, not worshiping doesn't make me sad, but I do make a point of remembering all the brothers I did worshipped when I was in Nepal on this very auspicious day.
As usual, I called my brother--the one I was paired with by my parents--last night. I call this brother "Mailodai". While talking with Mailodai and wishing him longevity and wellbeing, a cousin's name came out of my mouth, suddenly. Since this cousin didn't have his own sister, I used to take him as my own brother and bless him on this day, also.
Unfortunately, this cousin died of cancer about 5 years ago. I had not talked about him with other brothers on this day. Why did his name came to me yesterday? I felt a bit uneasy after we ended out conversation with Mailodai last night!
Then, this morning I send my blessing to another brother of mine who lives in California. This brother I adopted when I was in my teen age. By this time my cousin brother had adopted another sister. So, we both had new brother and new sister for Bhai Tika.
I've a few other cousin brothers also, but I wasn't as close with them as I was with this one. This cousin was only 6 hours younger to me and we did so many things together. Later when we grew up, he took me around the town in his motorcycle and made other ladies of my age very jealous!
So, what made my cousin take another sister? And, why did my "new" brother asked me to adopt him? These questions came to my mind for the first time this morning after all these years.
The truth was, my cousin was forced to adopt the other sister by his father, my uncle. My uncle thought my cousin would benefit from the new sister because her social status was much higher than mine.
But as the saying goes: God works mysteriously, my cousin came to England in his early 20s, and his adopted sister stayed in Nepal. On the other hand, I came to Canada and my adopted brother moved to the US. This brother of mine was also my husband 's classmate in college.
So, we're in contact with this brother and his wonderful wife. We're making two week's cruse in Europe together. His wife and my husband are as excited as my adopted brother and I are! All of us are really looking forward to this trip together.
But my family doesn't follow the tradition. We left Nepal a long time ago and lived in the societies where there were no other Nepalese until fairly recently. Besides, we didn't follow many of the traditions even in Nepal. So, not worshiping doesn't make me sad, but I do make a point of remembering all the brothers I did worshipped when I was in Nepal on this very auspicious day.
As usual, I called my brother--the one I was paired with by my parents--last night. I call this brother "Mailodai". While talking with Mailodai and wishing him longevity and wellbeing, a cousin's name came out of my mouth, suddenly. Since this cousin didn't have his own sister, I used to take him as my own brother and bless him on this day, also.
Unfortunately, this cousin died of cancer about 5 years ago. I had not talked about him with other brothers on this day. Why did his name came to me yesterday? I felt a bit uneasy after we ended out conversation with Mailodai last night!
Then, this morning I send my blessing to another brother of mine who lives in California. This brother I adopted when I was in my teen age. By this time my cousin brother had adopted another sister. So, we both had new brother and new sister for Bhai Tika.
I've a few other cousin brothers also, but I wasn't as close with them as I was with this one. This cousin was only 6 hours younger to me and we did so many things together. Later when we grew up, he took me around the town in his motorcycle and made other ladies of my age very jealous!
So, what made my cousin take another sister? And, why did my "new" brother asked me to adopt him? These questions came to my mind for the first time this morning after all these years.
The truth was, my cousin was forced to adopt the other sister by his father, my uncle. My uncle thought my cousin would benefit from the new sister because her social status was much higher than mine.
But as the saying goes: God works mysteriously, my cousin came to England in his early 20s, and his adopted sister stayed in Nepal. On the other hand, I came to Canada and my adopted brother moved to the US. This brother of mine was also my husband 's classmate in college.
So, we're in contact with this brother and his wonderful wife. We're making two week's cruse in Europe together. His wife and my husband are as excited as my adopted brother and I are! All of us are really looking forward to this trip together.
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