Dasain in Finland

The weather was growing colder when I reached Helsinki. People told me I was lucky because last year, by this time, it was snowing in Finland. You can’t cycle in this weather. But there I was riding in Finland in mid-October.

There are seven Nepali restaurants in Helsinki. Beuma didi arranged for some Nepalis to meet me. Nepali food is famous here. Even a Bosnian man has opened a Nepali restaurant called Everest. The Himalaya, started 20 years ago by Devi Dutta, was the first Nepali restaurant here. All its employees are Nepalis. Devi came to Finland 24 years ago, now all his five siblings, family and relatives live in Finland. Only their old mother lives in Nepal. I ate dal-bhat Finnish style but it didn’t taste as good as back home–there was no piro achaar.

On 12 October, Tika, I went to Devi Dutta’s house with Madhu, his nephew. We all had tikas put on our foreheads. The house was bustling with activity from early in the morning. Hundreds had gathered. People were walking around with video cameras and there were flash bulbs going off every which way. We had Nepali music and Dasain blessings. I felt like I was home again.

I didn’t get to see my mother this Dasain but when my turn for tika came, my forehead was full and blessings were plenty. After the party, I opened the bunch of envelopes I had received from everybody and counted my dakshina, it was 650 Euro. I felt so happy–it would certainly keep me going for many more miles. I thanked everybody and went to Madhav’s house for more tika. The party there had a younger crowd. We sat down and played cards until we were tired. Then I took the train home. It costs two Euros to ride a train one-way here. I boarded it, my forehead full of Dasain’s crimson tika and jamara hanging from my ears. People looked at me as if I was crazy but I didn’t care. I was happy.