As everyone knows, my heart is very much attached to Nepal and at the same time... I know that I am supposed to be learning about Hindu culture and worship forms. It's kind-of felt like I have two worlds... One is Nepal and the work I'm connected with through EquipNepal, and the other is India, Varanasi and Hindu culture. I sometimes feel torn between the two.
Well, this has been an extremely exciting week for me... My good friends, Shilpa and Dhiraj came from Kathmandu for a week of SHS teaching. I've known Shilpa since 2001, when I spent about 6 weeks in Birganj, just near her house. She married Dhiraj 3 1/2 years ago, and I finally met him last February. They are both very musical and help lead worship, so I invited them to come to Varanasi for the week that we are learning about music. The week was excellent for all of us... learning several bhajans (Hindu devotional songs), learning to play Indian instruments, and learning about Bhakti (devotion). I wish I could express how much it blessed me to have Shilpa and Dhiraj here, to watch them get excited about their own culture, and find new dreams for the future.
As excited as I am to learn the things that I'm learning in SHS, always in the back of my mind there are thoughts like... "What about Nepal? This needs to happen there too!". So, finally, this week... those worlds collided. I got to see Nepalis embracing the things that I'm learning here, and we got to dream together about how these things might be applied in Nepal.
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the overflowings
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