1. The Culture of Nepal
Alexis Daniels
MCS 238-Dress and Society
April 23, 2015

2. While attending the international student night in the tonk Idecided to geta henna tattoo
along with another student in my class. The girls who did it were very nice and introduced us to
some other students from their country as well. One of the girls had on the traditional dress of
their country and the other was regular clothing similar to what would be associated with the
United States clothing. I asked the young girl without her native attire on if I could interview her
for my class and she gladly said yes. Her hair was short and very, she had on a blue shirt and
matching athletic tights as well. She wore no makeup and had pretty tan skin. She spoke English
very well and rarely had an accent in my opinion. I alsonoticed that while speaking to each other,
they quickly went back to their nation’s language which is called Nepali.
The student I interviewed was from Nepal and her name is Jyotsaana Parajuli. She is
twenty three years old, she has been in school 4 years and has lived in the United States for 4
years also. Her dad, mom, and one of her two sisters are back in Nepal. Her other sister is here
in the states as well. I met her while getting a henna tattoo at their country’s booth/table. The
ideal woman of their culture sort of varies with each person preferences but she said if she had
to say it would most likely be a tall, thin lady, with long hair and a bubbly personality. For the
men of the country, she expressed that she would prefer a muscular build but back home they
probably would like a tall, slender, and very educated man. They do participate in arranged
marriages and when looking for a spousefor their children they testthe man’s intelligencebefore
anything else. It is what is most important to them. The younger generation and the older
generation that lives in the city wears clothes just likethe kids in America but the older generation
that resides in the country side wear traditional clothing. Married women wear a necklace called
a “Pote” and red powder in their hairline sometimes called “Sindoor” to signify they are married.

3. It is not as easy to tell if the men are married because some do and some don’t wear wedding
rings. People of certain social class do not wear anything in particular to show that they have
more money, the only way to tell is if they have expensive things like a nice car or a big house or
something. Tattooing is growing in acceptance and popularity in the younger generation but still
is not favored by the elders. Body piercing are very common and nose rings are even traditional
to have. A lot of the same ear piercings are popular there as they are in America but belly button
rings are not as common.
They have many holidays that they celebrate and their calendar year is alsodifferent from
ours. This year their New Years was April 12th. They also don’t celebrate Christmas but instead
celebrate something calledDashain.To some special occasions they were traditional clothing and
others they don’t dress up for. To weddings, the ladies were something calledaKurtha. This looks
like a long dress with a shawl like throw over one shoulder and across the front. To funerals,
everyone wear white including the widow. However, women do not attend the actual funeral,
they may go to the deceased person house and meet with the family instead. Bodies are
cremated and thrown into a river during a funeral like ceremony. The ashes must be thrown into
a holy river. This applies to all Hindu’s. When they go to school the girls must wear a skirt, a shirt
and socks in a specific color and a tie. Their hair must be braided and they were black shoes.
Education is not really funded by the government even though there is a “government” and a
private school system. The government school is cheaper but is also significantly less popular.
Most students attend a private school. Babies usually start some sort of school while being one
year old and they got to nursery, kinder 1 (2 years old), and kinder 2 (3 years old). They then start
first grade when they are five years old. Grade school continues up until the tenth grade. There

4. is no high school but instead after the 10th grade is they attend 2 years of what they call college
and then after that 4 years of what they call university. Students in Nepal usually finish school at
the age of 24 with or without a bachelor’s degree I believe. Many do not go for their master’s.
As far as consumption patterns go, she told me that it depends on the person. If the
individual has the money to buy a lot at one time and they want to then they do. Others may not
share the same desire to spend so much and they don’t.
The cow is like the most important animal of their country/religion so they do not eat
beef. Rice is their main food and they usually eat it twice a day back home. Once for breakfast
and again at dinner. They have late lunches that consist of noodles and biscuits. Vegetables,
beans, certain meats and other things can be added to the rice and noodles. The people from
Nepal that have moved to America usually eat rice maybe once a day instead of twice. Some
families are stricter in religion than others and the main religion is Hindu by the way. One thing
that I thought was particularly interesting was that her grandfather would not eat food that was
touched by someone other than his wife, daughter, or daughter in law. Her grandfather is apriest
and is in the Brahmin Caste group.
My feelings when approaching the young girls was very excited and nervous at the same
time. I am glad that I decided to get the henna tattoo, I think that this sort of broke the ice and
made it easier for me to ask one of them to do an interview with me. I also found that after
getting the henna done they were naturally very helpful and automatically asked “do you want
me to write for you” or “do you want me to read the questions myself?” I declined from both of
these offers seeing as how it was me who was supposed ti be doing the work but I felt that it was
really nice of them to be so helpful. I got the feeling that they were raised that way and I dont

5. think all cultures are. Some similarities between my country and theirs is what we (the younger
generation) wear, both countries start school around the same age. Some differences are that
the girls have to braid their hair when going to school, private schools are attended more than
public schools. In America, public schools are actually funded by the government/state and have
a higher enrolment rate, going to private school here is very expensive and only a select few go
there. Their cultural structures are very different and are stricter than ours but I feel that our
social structures are very similar. Some appearance factors I found to be interesting were that
the older generations wore different clothing depending on where they lived. I thought it was
kinds neat that they wore all white to funerals instead of all black like we do in America. Also, I
found it kind of unfair that women can clearly be distinguished as married or not but the men
could still wear regular or decide not to wear a ring if they choose. If I were from Nepal and
moved to America I think I would like it. T this age, I would not have to change what I wear.
However, I would imagine that the change in food would be a big adjustment. Beef is not a part
of most of their diet’s at all, so for the ones that strictly practice their beliefs, I think it would be
hard for them to see beef everywhere here. I would try to keep the majority of my cultural
identity, not just for me but for my future kids as well. Also, I wouldn’t want to lose my sense of
self and my uniqueness that comes along with it. However, it would be pretty hard to keep up
with allpractices and some American ways are very contagious. I wouldn’t mind having a mixture
of both.
Overall, I really enjoyed talking to all of the girls. They were all very pretty to me and had nice
personalities. I tried really hard not to be awkward about it and to try not to just read questions
off of a page. Jyotsaana gave great answers and explained that she is used to doing this by now.

6. After it was over, I realized that they are not all that different from us. They like tattoos and
piercings like the American kids and wear similar clothing as well. Their languages are different
and their holidays/calendar are nowhere near the same as our but the idea is the same. Also,
their religion is probably much more a part of their life than it is here in ours in the United States.