This week I am listening to “Eh Kancha Thattai Ma” by Narayan Gopal and Tara Devi. This song brings back a lot of memories of tiny me, listening to my mamu and my thulo mamu sing this song while we all prepped green kerau 🫛 during sunny afternoons spent on the balcony of our Maharajgunj ghar. "Munu... aaja ta chiya paka hai?”, my mamus would ask of me, looking all cute and all 😆. There’s no other emotion that beats the feeling of drinking a warm caffeinated Nepali tea in the late afternoon sun ☕. #nepalichiya
I was so tiny back then that, knowingly and unknowingly, a lot of these melodies from my mamus’ eras became a part of who I am, just through sheer osmosis. Listening to my two mamus sing when I was a kid is a very special memory for me. As I reminisce today, in my adulthood, it reminds me of how lucky I was to have grown up in an environment so nurturing as a child that I got to witness their sisterhood, their motherhood, what being a woman in a family meant, and what being a woman would mean for me when I grew up. #myrolemodels
My mamus did a lot. They were entrepreneurs, they were career women, they were homemakers, they were wives, and they were mothers. Being a mother meant that their jobs didn’t end just because they got home, and they didn’t have the luxury of taking a sick day. Women in families do so much, you see, without asking for anything back, without asking for any help, and without asking for any credit. They give because to give and to nurture is part of their genetic code. #unconditionallove
When I grew up, I wanted to be just like them, capable, intelligent, strong, independent, loving, and warm. I wanted to be kind. #ittakescouragetobekind
With lyrics by Ratna Shumsher Thapa and music by Narayan Gopal, here's my rendition of “Eh Kancha Thattai Ma”.
#ehkanchathattaima #narayangopal #taradevi #ratnashumsherthapa #songsthatmademe
Listen to the original here:
