It was hard to get to know her at first for two reasons: 1) she wasn’t here when I first arrived because she was in the village, and 2) she doesn’t really speak English, though she understands probably 90% of what I say.
But, slowly and surely I came to understand and know her. Even though we don’t sit down and have long conversations about everything and nothing (we can’t), we do like to joke around and tease each other in our own little way.
Baujou has a sad life. She is the wife on Ama’s late son. She was pushed into an arranged marriage with him, and 2 months later he had a heart attack and died. She is only in her mid-twenties and already a widow (and believe me, it’s not easy to be a widow in Nepal).
She lives here in Pokhara with us a) because the Acharyas genuinely love her (they actually want to help arrange and pay for her next marriage when it is decided that she is ready to move on), and 2) she is trying to complete her high school at a school here in Pokhara. I haven’t gotten the full story on it, but Baujou failed her exam when she tried it a few years back. Then she got married so stopped studying, and just recently started studying again for the exam she will retake in April. Once she finishes the exam, she will go back to her village.
Baujou wakes up at about 5am to go to school. She is home by 1pm, so I see her for a few minutes at lunch before I leave again for school. Her afternoons are spent napping, watching TV and studying, but by 4pm she is in the kitchen, first preparing kaja and then dinner (now that Sampada baujou has a 9-6pm job). Right after dinner (9pm) she goes to bed because she has to get up so early. Her life is certainly not very exciting – even on the weekends when the rest of us go out sight-seeing or to the markets, she chooses to stay home, study, and play housewife. I get the feeling that she has resigned herself to this life and completely given up her youth. That’s why her life is sad.
But, slowly and surely I came to understand and know her. Even though we don’t sit down and have long conversations about everything and nothing (we can’t), we do like to joke around and tease each other in our own little way.
Baujou has a sad life. She is the wife on Ama’s late son. She was pushed into an arranged marriage with him, and 2 months later he had a heart attack and died. She is only in her mid-twenties and already a widow (and believe me, it’s not easy to be a widow in Nepal).
She lives here in Pokhara with us a) because the Acharyas genuinely love her (they actually want to help arrange and pay for her next marriage when it is decided that she is ready to move on), and 2) she is trying to complete her high school at a school here in Pokhara. I haven’t gotten the full story on it, but Baujou failed her exam when she tried it a few years back. Then she got married so stopped studying, and just recently started studying again for the exam she will retake in April. Once she finishes the exam, she will go back to her village.
Baujou wakes up at about 5am to go to school. She is home by 1pm, so I see her for a few minutes at lunch before I leave again for school. Her afternoons are spent napping, watching TV and studying, but by 4pm she is in the kitchen, first preparing kaja and then dinner (now that Sampada baujou has a 9-6pm job). Right after dinner (9pm) she goes to bed because she has to get up so early. Her life is certainly not very exciting – even on the weekends when the rest of us go out sight-seeing or to the markets, she chooses to stay home, study, and play housewife. I get the feeling that she has resigned herself to this life and completely given up her youth. That’s why her life is sad.
