Sign of the times

SEP 10 -
Two weeks ago, my aunt called me to her house to baby-sit her two-year-old daughter; she had to go to a Teej party organised by a labour union at her office. A week later, when I was at her house, she was busy matching her jewellery with her red sari. I asked her where she was going, she replied, "I am attending a Teej party organised by another group at my office."

Compare that with what my great-grandmother had to say about Teej. "During our time, it was really difficult to fast. We were allowed to eat dar the day before Teej until midnight, then we bathed early in the morning, wore fresh clothes, went to a Shiva temple, and fasted throughout the day without drinking even a single drop of water."

The grandeur of Teej is no longer limited to the traditional values and essence of the festival. Instead, it is now a month-long celebration that begins long before the actual festival itself. The festival itself is a ritual that calls for wives to pray for their husbands' long lives through fasting. Now, women have started drinking water and taking short meals, especially fruits. Even the activities that surround the festival have changed. Teej was initially a ritual that allowed a girl's parents and relatives to send her gifts. The whole family would then come together to exchange gifts and have dar. "But this happened only a day before Teej, not a whole month," my great-grandmother said, sardonically.

She may have been horrified by what Teej has come to denote today, with Teej parties happening left, right and centre, besides Teej melas and special discounts. Nevertheless, the festival is now as much a commercial celebration as much as it is a religious one.

"The crowds seem to be increasing every year," says Riyaj Udin, the owner of a bead shop at Indra Chowk. Besides new saris, the Teej shopping list includes pote, bangles, and bindis. Indra Chowk is popular for beads and women buy a variety of products from Riyaz's shop--from simple beads to thick necklaces with gold-plated tilahiri ranging in price from Rs. 10 to Rs. 2,000. Riyaz says that during the month of Teej, sales almost double and his shop's revenue cross Rs 2,500 per day sometimes. Sari shop owners say their six-month 'season of sales' starts with Teej. Most sari retailers agree that women find it necessary to buy red cotton saris--not only to follow the rituals of giving gifts to their nearest and dearest, but also because they have to be dressed in new clothes for the fasting ceremony. Pradumna Shrestha, who owns a clothing store in Min Bhawan, says that sales can reach up to Rs. 40,000 per day around Teej. He believes that people try to follow what others are doing, a sort-of-a conspicuous consumption that adds to the extravagant expenditure.

After the end of the Nepali month of Shrawan--nearly a month before Teej--various groups and organisations began organising Teej festivals. "Women can find all the necessary items at one venue, and it is fun when they come together. Moreover, the funds collected will be spent for social causes," says Sumitra Adhikari from Sangini Sanstha, which organised a three day Teej festival at Begam Party Palace in Tangal recently. Other organizations also tag a similar social cause to such programmes, while others says these events are held to make Teej goodies available for women at a central location. No matter the reason behind organising these get-togethers, it cannot be denied that Teej is becoming more commercialised--which means good news for party venues and catering businesses.

Kamal Gurung, manager of Begam Restaurant, will confirm that. His restaurant, which has a large hall, has been booked for two Teej fêtes and five to 10 groups have booked the venue for dar parties with guest lists ranging from 50 to 200 per party. He agrees that the trend of hosting parties at restaurants is new and is only about five years old. Gurung estimates that his revenue from Teej parties this year will be around Rs. 1 million, almost double of what he earned last year during the same festival. 

Kamal Prava Kharel, president of Inner Wheel Club of Bagmati and a Teej party organiser, says Teej parties are a good way to have fun. "The members of our club got together, had fun and also selected our own Mrs. Teej--Mrs. Srijana K.C.," she says. Kharel believes that one reason Teej parties are on the rise is because there are more women who are working now. Nevertheless, Kharel adds, "But it is not good when women leave their jobs and families to indulge in parties during this time." Kharel is critical of the extravagant expenditure such parties can entail, but clarifies her own parties are only "get-togethers".

There are women who tend to disregard the commercialization of Teej as an aberration, a corruption of a festival that originally celebrated womanhood. Nevertheless, the increasing festivity mood surrounding the festival also highlights another important sociological shift in attitudes: Urban Nepali women are asserting themselves more than ever before. This subtle social shift may be an undercurrent, but all the criticism of commercialization will not stop women from understanding Teej to be a month-long party.