Artist Profile: Shakuntala Pandey

When I asked her about her age, Sakuntala could not tell since her birth has not been recorded anywhere and no one has cared about her age so far. Why would anyone living in a village, doing household chores, taking care of children and feeding the cattle need to know one's age?

She is a mother of four children, three elder daughters and a son being the youngest of all. She explained that she need to have a son because he would carry the family name and when she and her husband died in future, he would incinerate their body, giving them safe passage to heaven. She also explained further that it was difficult to feed her four children but it was a small price to pay if she wanted a son.

Her eldest daughter was married off at an age of fifteen few hours away from Halkhori village. She said that she had the burden of marrying off two more daughters. She seemed little worried about getting resources for the dowry that she would have to pay during her daughters' marriages. However, she exclaimed that she was happy to be at the Jurshital Institute, which took her away from her usual family worries and responsibilities. She said that at the Institute she had time for herself and her beautiful creations of Mithila art.

Artist Profile: Kamani Devi

Kamani lives with her husband, Raman, two sons and a mother in law. However, her elder son lives four hours away with her sister in a village that has a better education facilities. The only source of income for her family is agriculture.

Years ago, her husband's elder brother, Chumman, was working as an illegal agent for sending laborers for manual jobs to countries such as Iran, Iraq, Dubai, Qatar, South Arabia, etc. Months later, the international immigration laws became highly strict due to September 11 tragic event, making it almost impossible for laborers to travel internationally. Hence, Chumman could not send most of his men to foreign countries though he had already taken huge amount of frees from them. As a result, all those people wanted their money back and Chumman fled from the village, leaving behind Kamani's family to pay back his loans. Hence, they had to sell most of their farmland and it took them years of extreme hard work and saving to recover and reacquire farmland for survival.

Kamani Devi was married at an age of fifteen. Due to early marriage, she bore her first child at an age of sixteen, who was born a sick girl child. It cost Kamani lots of money and resources for the treatment of her daughter but she died at an age of five. After that she gave birth to two more girls and they died as well.

However, she finally gave birth to two sons at later age of about twenty and twenty two. Due to these safer ages of bearing children, both her child were born healthy and she is now happy as a mother of two healthy sons. She is glad to have joined Jurshital Institute, as she hopes to gain some extra money to send her second son to her sister in law's house as well for a better education. She thinks that access to better education to both her sons will result into a better future of her family.

LifeStyle: Storage/Organization

Coming to the second chapter of lifestyle of Mithila Culture, I have put up two pictures. In the picture that is on the right, a mud built rack can been seen. These racks are made by mixing together soil, water, finely cut straw and small percentage of cow dung. They are mixed well and left for couple days so that there is elasticity in the mixed mud. Then the structure is started from the base and up. Meaning, first the base is built, left for couple days (or more depending on the weather) to semi-dry and then more pile of mud is added, adding to the height of the rack. Different shapes are made depending upon the desire and creativity of the Mithila women making them. After the rack is fully dry, it becomes ready for putting things in/on it. The topmost layer is used to keep bigger size objects, for example, the pots in the picture, while the middle/bottom layers are used to store light small objects such as yarn, oil bottle, make up kits, etc.

Similarly, the picture on the left is also made for keeping things in the house organized. This one in particular which is made around a pillar is at an higher reach and hence it is used for things that should be kept away from children, for instance, money, medications, sweets, yogurt, etc. The structure behind the pillar is called Kothi in Maithili language, which is simply a mod build round (sometimes rectangular) box used for storing grains such as lentils, paddy, rice, wheat, etc. All these things are made mostly by women. Men usually do not get involved in any activities that requires dealing with household works. They only work outside of the house.

LifeStyle: Cooking

As we are learning more about culture of Mithila paintings, I feel obliged to familiarize you with other cultural aspects of these Mithila families. One of the utmost important part of our lives if food and hence I thought I would bring about the cooking style in this culture.

As seen in the picture, the cooking stoves are usually made from mus that lasts longer and grown stronger with every use. Mithila women, soak a special kind of soil in water for few days before they mix the soil and water well. Then they use this mud to create cooking stoves and paint them with whitish soil again for better outlook.

The stoves have a small mouth through which firewood and other kinds of sources of fire such as those made from cow dung are fed and then lit. The cooking pot is put on top of the mud stove and then the fire is lit, which does the cooking. This traditional kind of cooking method takes longer than the regular electric stoves elsewhere. Also, the firewood produces a lot of smoke. However, once the food is cooked, only ashes are left behind, which is used for cleaning the cooking utensils after meals and/or in the fields for compost.

Original Mithila Wall Painting

Hi Everyone!

I know I have mentioned that Mithila paintings are originally done on the mud built walls of houses in Mithila region and never really gotten to show what the original wall paintings look like.

The picture on the left is one of the original wall paintings done by a female Mithila student. As you can see, the brick red color is made from red soil, green color from plant leaves, blue color is from the blue ink used in pens, and finally the black color used for the hair is from coal.

The picture is that of Goddess Saraswati, which in Hindu religion is the goddess of Knowledge and Skills such as music and arts. Although she is worshiped by all, students especially worship her for good outcomes in their academics. She is also the wife of Brahma, the God of Creation.

The name Saraswati also has significance in Buddhism. She is known as the guardian deity who upholds the teachings of Gautama Buddha by offering protection and assistance to practitioners.

Artist Profile: Mala Thakur

Mala Thakur lives in a joint family of eight. Seven years ago, she used to live in Mumbai, India, where her husband worked in a garment factory. But her husband got very ill while working in the factory and hence they had to return back to the village.

Despite her deep desire to become a mother, she does not have children of her own. She was pregnant twice: she had a miscarriage once and her child died right after birth for the second time. Infant mortality rate and miscarriages are very common among Nepali women due to lack of proper hygiene, nutrition and maternal care. Her elder sister who lived in Bihar state on India (on the border of Nepal and India) died to some severe disease after giving birth to her first child and Mala adopted her niece. She has been raising her sister's daughter like her own since then.

Mala was extremely excited to join the Jurshital Institute since she enjoys art and craft works. She has been enjoying her time at the Institute, as she says that she can emerge herself into creating beautiful paintings, while the rest of the world is ignored.

Artist Profile: Rukmini Devi

Her name is Rukmini Devi and she is a mother of five daughters. Her eldest daughter is seventeen and the youngest is ten. Her husband left her after the birth of her fifth daughter and there has been no news about him. Her eldest daughter got married two years ago after she passed her SLC, which is equivalent to tenth grade.

As for Rukmini, she relies on her brother in law for every need from food to clothing, no wonder healthcare is a luxury for her. She saved the extra money that she earned from the training process last summer of 2009 for updating her glasses, as she had not had her eye check up for five years.

With the hope that her husband will come back to her someday, she lives her life with optimism. She is one of the most regular attendees at the Jurshital Institute. She loves disappearing into her world of Mithila paintings except at times when she gets a headache due to her eye problems.

The paints bought directly from the market are too thick too be used for the painting. Hence, she is thinning it by mixing the original paint with emulsion, a white colored paint, and water. Recycled tin boxes are used to do the mixing and they are covered after the day's work. The next day, more water is added to the paints as they quicky dry up in hot weather of Halkhori.

Two women in this image are cutting the Lokta paper into appropriate size for the Jurshital Institute, where all the women at the Institute will use this paper for Mithila paintings.

Jurshital Mithila Art Institute celebrates 3 months today since its official registration as a non-profit organization. The institute is doing very well as it obtained an additional funding from Clinton Global Initiatives University at the end of Summer of 2010. This has further funded two more months of training from the month of October to November. These Mithila women have now learnt enough to produce sellable paintings in markets of Kathmandu and Pokhara.

Indeed, we have found a vendor in Kathmandu, who runs a book and antique store in Thamel, the art of tourist center in Kathmandu, who has agreed to dedicate some space in her shop for selling these Mithila paintings for no additional cost. There is another trekkers company in Pokhara that works for women empowerment by training women to become tourist guides. This organization has also offered to promote these paintings among their clients.

Losing is Never Pleasant

Today I went to the Institute only to find that two of my trainees were missing. One of them names Sushma Mishra has been married for 6 years with a son and a daughter. Her husband works in a factory in India but she does not know what kind of factory it is. He visits her once a year during the time of Dasain, which is the national festival of Nepal. Even when he is in the village, he hardly spends time with his wife. If Sushma demands his presence at home then she gets beaten up and abused. I tried my best to convince her to come to the painting institute but I failed. I really hoped that this Mithila Art training would strengthen her economically and socially. But she says that she does not have time for the institute since she needs to take care of the house and the children by herself as her in laws are dead.
Another woman named Rajdevi Yadav has a family of nine. Her husband works in Malaysia in a very low-paid job. She left because her husband that it was a disgrace to the family when women stepped out of the house in search of economic gain while their male partners were alive and healthy. He said that he would instead work harder and earn enough for the whole family so that she would not need to even think of getting a job. It is very frustrating that I cannot convince someone as far as in Malaysia. Even though I am usually not afraid to put my opinion in front of my own family members, it is different when it comes to other families, especially when they are husband and wives. The fact that I have been an outsider in my own village since I left at an age of nine for education puts me to a greater disadvantage. Again, it is not accepted in Mithila culture to speak against our elders. And her husband is way older than me.
This is the first heartbreaking experience at my institute. As sad as I am to lose these two precious women, I notice that even other trainees are sad to miss their mates. It is amazing to see how a short period of time spent together with someone brings us so close to them and creates a whole new chapter in our lives.
Rest of my trainees are enjoying the Mithila Painting classes that keep them away from wondering from door to door in this heat, afternoon nap and getting involved in meaningless fights.

The Magical Motorbike

This morning a kid came running into my house in Halkhori. He was excited and overwhelmed with joy as he had seen a magical bike outside. He explained how the magical motorbike started producing weird sounds as soon as someone touched it and the engine could start just by touching a small red dot on a rectangular object that the owner had in his hands. His mother, whom I call chachi (meaning aunt), said even she witnessed how the engine started roaring when other people than the owner tried to touch the bike. She further added, “it seemed as if the bike knew its owner and would cry the hell out if anyone else than the owner tried to take it away by force.” I agreed with them only giving them a small fact that the bike was shouting not only when touched by strangers but also due to an alarm system that triggered the sound. As for the remote control system, I could not find enough words to explain them why the bike engine started even from a distance just by the touch of a button on it in the owner’s hand. I let them enjoy their joyous moment of having seen the magical bike. It is in fact fascinating how small things like that can bring joy to people’s lives in my village.

quick update

Hey all,

Very hot and humid regards from Janakpur, Nepal!!!

Because I've been busy setting up the institute and due to the unavailability of internet service, I haven't been able to update my blog. Nevertheless, I have some great news. The project is already into the fourth day of training. We had a small inaugural ceremony on Monday morning, after which we started the training. With three trainers and twenty trainees, most of whom are still learning to hold the paintbrush and others who show great skill already, the project is starting to take shape. The project seems more demanding of my time and effort than I initially expected but everyday is a learning experience. I would like to write more but the forced power cut starts in a few minutes. I promise I will get back to you all soon.

PS: All the mosquitoes say hi!!

Am I Different Now?

I rushed back to my hometown Janakpur where my parents were anxiously waiting for me. Last time when I was in Janakpur, it was during winter days. Although there was no sunshine for days, I did not complain. I was happy wearing winter clothes after a year of hot weather in GA, USA. This time, everyone that knew of this place had warned me about the extreme hot weather. Although I supposed it must be as hot as they fear it is, I had not imagined how hot, extreme hot meant here. Taking a bus ride to Janakpur was one of my worst encounters with heat. The bus was full of sweaty and hence smelly people. Though the bus said express service, it stopped at every point it could find passengers, stuffing humans as if they were boxes of non living things. Even worse, the guy sitting beside me was dead asleep occupying his own and half of my seat as well making a sweaty contact with my right hand. After a while, I had to wake him up to ask him to keep to his own seat. Turned out, he was a nice guy, gave me some cold water to drink during the steaming journey.

The twelve hour journey from Kathmandu to Janakpur put me to a day rest the next day. Then I started inquiring about other Mithila painting institutes in hope of finding some cheap trainers. As no one would tell me anything on the phone, I took an appointment for the next day. After taking a long walk of fifteen minutes in the scorching sun it turns out, the institute owner could not make it as he had a meeting. So I had to walk back again fruitless. I made more calls later taking appointment with two more institutes the next day. After calling them again several times the next day, they were finally available during the day. My father and I left home after lunch in the heat again and visited one of them, took some pictures and headed for another. Luckily I found a relative’s house in the middle to skip the sun for a while and drink a glass of cold refrigerated water. After a fifteen minute rest, I headed back to the institute. Apparently, the owner had not found anyone to talk to in a long time or so I thought. Starting from Mithila Painting, he talked to us about his personal life, his thirteen year old son, today’s education system where students don’t have respect for teachers, etc. I am usually a good listener but he took away all my patience. After a four hour long talk, we finally left fruitless.

Later that evening, I started sneezing. Overnight, I became so sick that next day I could hardly breathe. Turns out, I no longer am accustomed to my own hometown. I am not used to the crowded public bus, the dusty air, the scorching sun, the spicy food, and so on. I have been sneezing every minute since yesterday, not to mention the irritation of cough in my throat and my nose. I am hoping for a quick recovery and getting back to work soon.

Cat-Man-Do

In my last post, I was talking about home sweet home. And by that of course I meant the first and only city where I landed before I could leave for my home town. As soon as I exited the gates of the airport I was surrounded by more than ten cab drivers, each of them firing questions at me about where my destination was, where I came from and if I wanted to take a cab. Since I knew that saying US would lead into more crowds, I told them I came from Doha. I also informed them that I did not need a cab as I was being picked up by a relative. Then after, the drivers started to offer me their cell phones so that I could call him and ask where he was. I was growing impatient by this and shouted at them saying I did not need ten of them to call one person. So everyone except one guy left me alone. As frustrated as I was, I realized later the desperation of these jobless drivers in a country where political conflict destroyed everything and is still going on.

By the time I reached the house of my uncle, I was too tired to do anything. The 30 hour long journey sucked all my energy. I took a long shower, rested for a while and after dinner I slept until 9.30 AM next morning, which is considered really late as everyone wakes up around 5 AM in Nepal. I had light lunch and went to see my sister Puja who goes to Pentagon High School in Tinkune, Kathmandu. It was then I noticed how Kathmandu had changed drastically during the last 5 years that I had left. Sadly though, the change was only negative. The road was extremely dusty and filled with black smokes coming out of both public and private vehicles. It would have been a good idea to carry a handkerchief with me and also an umbrella. The heat had grown so much that one could not stand in the sun for an hour. The Kathmandu I remembered used to be a lot cooler and cleaner. Now, there were more houses, squeezed together and of course more pollution.

It was strange seeing Puja in formal shirt and nicely ironed navy trousers, as she always wore traditional Kurta Surwal at home and during non school hours. She had so much to share that out of the four hours that we spent together; she talked for more than three hours. At least that relieved me of having to share my same old American stories of non spicy bland food and what not. Then I met few friends from school in Kathmandu that were typical example of stereotypical Nepali society. I am saying this because they used to be among top students and most of them are now into medical studies just as the society predicts one would be, given one is extremely good in academics. The rest they say should be engaged in art and commerce fields. Again, a friend of mine who used to fail in school is studying commerce and doing very well in it.

All of us went to Thamel, the most popular tourist spot and youngster hang out area. I kept wondering where the impoverished was and conflict victimized Nepal when I saw how my friends spent a thousand rupees in no time. A thousand rupees is a week’s salary for an average Nepali citizen.

I love Kathmandu, pronounced as cat-man-do by foreigners. Though I come from a village I grew up there since I went to Budhanilkantha school, which was away from the crowds of central Kathmandu. There I met people from all over Nepal and we shared our cultural differences. That was my first step to globalization, where I learnt to embrace the differences and appreciate them.

Flying 1st Class in Economy Class

Being from Nepal and a student is self explanatory why I bought a cheap ticket to Kathmandu from NYC. Although Qatar Airways is not obvious as an economy flight, I bought them cheap through STA, a special discount travel site for students. And thanks to this cheap ticket, I would have had to wait a total of 18 hours at the Doha airport for a 5 hour flight from there to Kathmandu! At first I thought that I could get by the wait time by obtaining a visa and taking a lonely tour of Doha. But after constantly calling Qatar Airways, Qatar Embassy, the consuls, I found out that there are only two ways to get a visa into Qatar, one of which is if you belong to one of the 33 rich nations listed under their airport website and the other one is through Qatar Airways itself. As one might guess, Nepal was clearly not among their exclusive 33 nations and Qatar Airways denied to sponsor my visa since they said that my ticket was not issued through their airline. Later I found out that arranging a hotel by myself would cost me about $125 but then that would make my cheap ticket cheap no longer so I decided against it. My 12 hour flight from the JFK international airport to Doha Intl seemed shorter as I thought of the 18 hours layover at a small airport like Doha.

I deliberately took longer than usual at each shop at Doha and memorized almost all the products and their prices. I became a true window shopper! Then after, I found an Internet Point, which to my relief again, took longer than usual to connect. These actions killed time better. Despite being on my own, the sign family lounge attracted me and thankfully it was not mandatory to have a family in order to enter that section. I slept for a couple hours there and woke up with a strong urge to get home earlier than planned. I went looking for the transfer section counter, where the officer told me that I could not be put onto the next flight since there was not enough empty space and I had too many luggages. At that point, I almost promised myself that I would travel without any luggage from then on.

After the unfruitful meeting with the Qatar Airways transfer officer, I went back to explore the airport with a slight thought of wanting to rent business lounge, which was supposed to be very comfy and cozy. Then my eyes came across a signboard pointing towards something called quiet rooms. Though this reminded me of torturous quiet study hours during my middle school in Nepal, I was willing to explore that one out of boredom. So with hesitance and unsure of what I might find behind the double glass doors, I dared to open them. To my surprise, I found nice long comfy chairs filled with tired asleep passengers. Just when I was about to turn back, an empty chair from the corner of the room attracted me, where I slept for another couple hours.

Then I went back to the transfer counter, where I was told that there were empty seats on the 9 AM flight but the company wanted to wait until the last minute to see if they could be sold. So they gave me a later time to come back, which gave me some time to check out the restroom where I found a woman from Nepal that was the cleaning lady. I had known all along that male went to oil reach countries in search of physical labor intensive jobs but had never known that even women went out in search of similar jobs. Her name was Sumita Rimal and she shared her family story with me. She had lost her husband in the Maoists movement and was left with two daughters and an old father in law to look after. After the emotional story, I went back to the counter only to find that the earlier officer was replaced by another kinder looking one. I pleaded my case again and to my surprise, he gave me a boarding pass to the 9 AM flight, making my stay at Doha shorter by 6 hours. I was so happy that I thanked him with an unusually big grin on my face but he did not even bother to smile back.

I was excited to finish second halves of two movies on the flight to Kathmandu that I had seen on the movie list of my earlier flight. However, my excitement came to an end as soon as I became aware that there were no video screens there. But my disappointment did not last long as I saw two rows of three empty seats at the back of the flight. As soon as the flight took off and I was allowed to move, I took all my belongings to the last row. I made a comfy bed with the use of one blanket and three pillows from the three seats. Then I used the rest of the two blankets to cover myself and slept peacefully for the first time in the last 48 hours. Even though I had never flown first class, I could tell this was even better than first class. This made my journey quicker and I was happy to be home again.

Painting a Peaceful Present

As promised in my previous blog, here is the proposal:

Background:

The people of Terai[1], an ethnic minority in southern Nepal, are discriminated against by Pahadi, or the hill people, the majority ethnic group in Nepal, because of their socio-cultural, linguistic and physical affinity with the communities living immediately on the other side of the border in India. The Mithila[2] women of Terai face the additional challenge of gender discrimination. Cultural taboos and norms, a lack of knowledge of their rights, unequal access to resources and feelings of incompetence create reluctance in Mithila women to engage in political and economic activities. In this patriarchal society, decision making power, be it economic, political or familial, resides with men. The lower status of women within the society becomes apparent by the preference of male progeny over female, the dowry system, extremely low literacy rate and life expectancy among women, high maternal mortality rate, and a high percentage of anemic women. Moreover, the ongoing semi-armed conflict, which began as an offshoot of the Maoist revolution, and the ethnic tension between people of the hill region and Terai region, have made the lives of Mithila women more difficult.

Despite lagging behind economically and politically, the Mithila region is full of cultural treasures. One such treasure is Mithila Art, which is practiced by Mithila women of all castes and communities of the region. They typically make temporary paintings depicting the relationship between nature, culture and the human psyche on walls of their mud houses. The traditional method uses temporary paints made of rice, mud and plant extracts that are applied with their fingers. To produce paintings that can be sold to tourists, the Mithila women need training in the use of permanent paints, paintbrushes, paper and fabric. Selling these Mithila paintings will not only improve the economic condition of the women but also promote awareness of Mithila culture throughout Nepal and help to defuse the ethnic tension in the Terai region.

Project goals:

In an Economic Development class, I researched the impact of sweatshops on Bangladeshi women and learned that economic gain from these jobs enabled women to participate more actively in the decision making process in their families and decide for themselves about their age of marriage, marriage partners and education. Based on this research, the main goal of my “Painting a Peaceful Present” project is to provide economic empowerment to the local Mithila women by establishing a Mithila Art Institute in my home village of Halkhori, where they can create and sell their own art. This will make the women part of the productive economy and decrease gender disparity, which will eventually give them decision making power in other aspects of social and family life. Moreover, the economic revenue from the institute will enable the women to support their poverty stricken families. They will be able to afford better health care, clean drinking water, nutritious food, and education for their children. Furthermore, the art institute will serve as a platform for team building, planning, skill learning, gender awareness and productive engagement for these women. The economic gain will help run the institute in the long run and give a solid basis for the institute to be self-sustainable. Also, the institute could engage more women in the future, spreading the benefits to an even larger population.

Mithila Art has just started to gain popularity within Nepal and abroad. This opportunity can be used to promote Mithila culture, which still remains unknown in other parts of Nepal and is often discriminated against. Awareness about Mithila culture will promote cultural understanding and tolerance among the hill people which can help reduce the ethnic tension and initiate the peace process. Therefore, this project aims to promote peace by advancing cultural awareness and tolerance through art and, at the same time, provide economic and social gains for Mithila women.

Methodology:

I will buy the required land for the “Painting a Peaceful Present” project with a working space of three rooms from a local landlord, Mr Jeevnath Pandey, in the Halkhori area that is accessible for all trainees. I will then hire five professional artists from the Mithila Women’s Art and Craft Center in Janakpur, which is two hours away by bus. The artists, who will train the local women in the use of materials to produce paintings for tourists, will be provided with lodging and food at the institute throughout the training period. The professional artists will help me conduct a two day selection camp for all the interested candidates from the Halkhori Village Development Committee (VDC)[3] area. In the camp, my team will test the women on their basic Mithila art skills and will require them to fill out questionnaires regarding their economic and family background. My team will then select twenty women on the basis of need and skill. Next, in order to establish the institution on a solid ground, I will collaborate with the local non government organization (NGO), Public Development Organization (PDO), and register the art institute as an NGO. The PDO will help with drafting the constitution, advising and other legal procedures involved. I will engage the selected women in formulating and planning the institute’s constitution so that they have a sense of ownership. Halkhori VDC, the local governing body, has expressed its support for this project (please see attached letters of support).

The training process will last for a period of two months and will enable the women to develop their art skills to a professional level. I will buy the training materials such as fabric, paper, paints and paint brushes from local market in Janakpur. A typical training day will be of five and half hours beginning at noon, since the women often cook for their family and finish up their morning chores by then. The professional artists will conduct intensive training on art skills for four hours followed by a half an hour tea and snack break. This provision of snack will definitely encourage the trainees to join and continue with the training. After the break, I will conduct an hour long group meeting for the women to build leadership skills. Biodiversity Sector Programme for Siwalik and Terai (BISEP-ST), a support program of the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation which operates locally, has agreed to provide two professional management trainers, who will conduct managerial training sessions focusing on communication, accounting and administrative skills for the women during the group meeting. I will also conduct field trips to Mithila art centers such as Janakpur Handicraft Center, Janakpur Women’s Development Center and Mithila Women’s Art and Craft Center for all the trainees so that they can observe and learn from established institutes.

Based on my consultation with the professional artists, the paintings of the first two months will not be saleable, but by the end of the second month and every month after that, each artist will be producing one saleable painting per day for a total of about six hundred paintings. Depending on the size, quality and complexity, the cost price of paintings will range from three to five dollars each while their selling price will range from six to twenty dollars each. By the end of the third month, I expect to sell about two hundred and fifty paintings which will bring in approximately fifteen hundred dollars even if each painting sells at the lowest price. This amount will be enough to buy materials for the fourth month, leaving three hundred dollars extra. By the end of the fourth month, if the institute sells two hundred and fifty more paintings, the institute will still be making a net profit of three hundred dollar. Monthly profits will be divided among the artists, giving each artist fifteen[4] dollars a month, which is a substantial amount for a Mithila woman. This way by the end of the third month, the institute will be able to run on its own while also making money for the involved women artists.

Because the target village is not on the tourist track, I have been in contact with craft merchants in the high tourist traffic cities of Janakpur, Pokhara and Kathmandu, who have offered to buy the paintings. I have already arranged to exhibit the paintings at Sakalbhawan Kanya Higher Secondary School in Janakpur, the Institute of Forestry in Pokhara, and Little Angels’ School, one of the largest private schools in Kathmandu. Each exhibition will feature the paintings and on-site display of painting methods by five of the trained women to create both awareness of and a market for Mithila art. I will also mobilize the local press and radio stations in Janakpur, Pokhara and Kathmandu for marketing and advertising purposes. I have friends working for radio stations who have agreed to advertize my project for free. The institute itself will function as an outlet for selling the artwork. Additionally, I will be travelling around other cities to expand the market.

My Experience:

As a member of Halkhori village, I organized an adult literacy program with the PDO. I made contacts with the professionals in and around the target community through this work experience. I also worked as an assistant accountant in the UK and gained valuable money management skills, which will equip me to build a strong foundation for the art institute. In addition, as one of the few in the area with a strong educational background, I have been fortunate to gain the respect and goodwill of the local community, which will support the successful execution of the “Painting a Peaceful Present” project.

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[1] The southern plain belt of Nepal that borders India.

[2] The eastern part of Terai region that used to be part of the Mithila Kingdom in ancient times.

[3] VDC is the local governing body.

[4] Fifteen dollars is approximately a month’s salary of a primary school teacher in Nepal.

Jurshital: a new beginning

Honestly, the idea of starting a blog has crossed my mind several times but I pushed this idea since I identify with lives of most, if not all full time students with a double major (mine being Mathematics and Economics) that go to school every day and strive for the best. But today is a different day and now I have a reason, a new beginning to my life that is going to unfold this summer.

The title of my blog itself, “Jurshital”, a Maithili word, means New Year. I chose this word because my inspiration behind this blog is my project that I am going to do in Halkhori village in Nepal, where I come from. My society back home is dominated by Mithila culture in which we celebrate Jurshital, the New Year during the month of April. Interestingly enough, I was born in April, too! Jurshital is celebrated in Mithila culture by throwing mud at each other, family, friends, etc. Mud carries a special importance in our lives, the Maithili people as more than 90% of us depend on agriculture. As Rakesh writes, “We are born on mud, play on mud and die on mud,” we regard mud as a sacred part of our lives in Mithila culture. No wonder, we Mithila women spend so much time decorating our mud houses with yet other kinds of mud and produce from mud. We decorate our mud built houses by Mithila paintings, passed down from mothers to daughter. We paint the walls of our houses with lively depictions of family celebrations, religious ceremonies or even daily life moments and village scenes. We make the paint from red soil, charcoal, chalk, plant extracts that wash away in the rainy season. This gives us a new start the following year and we repaint the walls every year.

I am taking this Mithila painting to a professional level this summer by training the Mithila women into using the permanent paints, paint brushes so that the paintings are made permanent onto canvas and paper from the temporary ones on the walls. To get a more detailed idea on my project proposal, please refer to my next blog. And wish me a very best for the new beginning to my life. Happy Jurshital!