Maghe Sangkranti | when I’m 84
Today was Maghe Sangkranti, the first day of the Nepali month Maghe, which the locals celebrate as the symbolic end of winter. Government offices were closed, schools empty of children, and most storekeepers absent from their stores. A genuine national holiday. It is the day when, to those who follow astrology, the Sun transitions from Sagittarius to Capricorn. It is a worship of the Sun, a celebration of the longer days to come. I couldn’t help but smile at the idea, an idea that resembles so closely the winter solstice celebrated by ancient cultures for centuries. So simple, yet profoundly important.
While sipping tea inside a friend’s fabric shop in the evening, I learned that today was also a man’s 84th birthday. In this culture where age is so respected and revered for it’s wisdom, most birthday’s beyond 80 are cause for joyful jubilee. A traditional Nepali band blew brass horns and beat drums to announce his arrival several blocks in advance. A pickup truck drove closely behind the band, in the bed the man sat in a red and gold silk chair facing the large crowd that followed. Around fifty people – singing and dancing and being otherwise genuinely joyous. As the truck slowly moved along the block, shopkeepers and home owners came out with tika powder, fruit and flowers with which to honor the 84 year old man. From the doorway I smiled to myself, hoping I’ll feel at least half as loved when I myself turn 84.
