I met Roshani at her sister’s wedding under rather strange circumstances. Matt and Shana had phoned and said they were coming from Narayanghat with the Godmother, our codename for the elderly didi who oversaw everything at Shana’s home, like when fans could be turned on or just passing through Shana’s kitchen to collect a couple [...]
For the past two weeks I’ve started becoming rather familiar with the underground world of primary schools in Birganj.
For the next year I’ll be working with primary English teachers, helping them to develop their teaching and English skills. At the moment this requires lots of visits to my cluster of schools, roughly 26 in the [...]
Holi came and Holi went. I’ll be honest by saying I have no idea why this festival is celebrated or what greater significance the throwing and smearing of colored tikka powder is.
I don’t even understand why Holi is called Falgun Purnima on my calendar. I can say, though, that it was a lot of fun.
Basically, [...]
I remember how my host family explained Maha Shivaratri to me a year ago when I was living in Gaidankot.
I asked how they would celebrate and they just shook her hand, grimaced, and non-verbally said, We don’t.
It’s a gesture that might mean alcoholic or tipsy in America. Basically, the hand is extended vertically and shaken, [...]
