This week I am listening to “Mero Aankhama” by Deep Shrestha. I would often ask my mama to sing this song for me when I was a little kid. Her voice reverberated deeply through our Lazimpat house, right to its bones, and listening to her sing would always calm me down. Then, she would proceed to tell me many bedtime stories as she gently ran her fingers through my hair, and I’d drift away to la la land. 💤
Listening to my mama tell me bedtime stories is one of my favourite memories as a child. She had an incredible way of storytelling, sometimes so heart-wrenching that my little heart would literally feel like it had broken in two. One of my favourite stories that I would always want to listen to came down to this very question: “Mama, can you tell me the story of how you and baba fell in love?”. 😍
“Oh yes.” she would start by first describing my father strum away on his guitar when she first saw him, his shoulder-length brown hair from the late 70s, and his calm and grounded demeanour that made all the ladies (including my mama) get drawn to him. 🙂
Then, she would talk about how hard it was to love in a society that, at the time, did not approve of inter-caste relationships. My parents in the 80s challenged this societal convention and chose to get married for love. My parents are the reason I held on to the fairytale definition of “the one” throughout my adulthood. Relationships are never perfect, but I must say that when love is unconditional, you accept all imperfections. #truelove
Now, the answer to many of your questions as to why my last name is Tamang-Maskey? The explanation is simple. Hari Tamang (my father) + Susan Maskey (my mother) = Astha Tamang-Maskey (their daughter). 🤓#hyphenatedlastnames
With music by Deep Shrestha and lyrics by Shiva Shankar Thapa, here’s my rendition of “Mero Aankhama”.
#meroaankhama #deepshrestha #shivashankarthapa #songsthatmademe
Listen to the original here:
