Dashian Emilio

Tuesday night, Emilio and I went to a Tikka ceremony hosted by ECU's Asian Student Association, where they served a hot chai (milk tea) and cookies. The ceremony marked the end of the Dashain Festival, which is the most important Hindu holiday of the year we were told by the Nepalese students who organized the event. We were also told that the Dashain Festival commemorates the victory of a warrior goddess over a ten-headed demon. Each year Hindu people go home to be with their families for this holiday, and it is common for people to get new clothes, to clean (and sometimes paint) their houses, and to eat lots of meat.  In order to give the god of the Earth a rest, they build swings that reduce the number of feet that are on the Earth at a given time.  They also fly kites that send messages to the rain god:  "Please don't rain on our Festival!" At the Tikka Festival, elders give their blessing to younger ones, putting red rice on their foreheads and barley blades behind their ears while saying a few words (see above), like "May you have a long life, do well in your studies, and respect your parents," and give them some money.