Celebrating traditional customs in a new land

Chet Nath participates in a traditional Diwali celebration at his cousin Yamuna's house.

Photo: Misha Cohen/The IRC

Freelance photographer and IRC volunteer Misha Cohen has been telling the story of the Bhutanese Timsina family’s first months in the U.S. in pictures. Follow the odyssey of Chet Nath, his wife, Uma, and their five-year-old son, Kushal, as they begin their new life in New York City, following 17 years living in exile in Nepal.

For a recap of past installments, catch Misha’s blog in the Huffington Post as well as her previous photo essay on our blog.

Around this time last fall, the Timsina family celebrated Diwali, the festival of lights, an important Hindu holiday.

Ethnic Nepalese have celebrated Diwali for generations. According to the Timsina family, before the Bhutanese government enforced their “One Nation One People” policy, even the King of Bhutan participated in the festival.

Traditionally, Diwali lasts for five days and is met with singing, dancing, a feast, the exchange of gifts and the giving of blessings in the form of tikka, a mark on the forehead.

“In Bhutan even after the government tried to stop it, we celebrated in a grand way. Then in Nepal, unlike in Bhutan, it was a public holiday and we had 15 days off to celebrate with all of our relatives. Every year we would all meet at my parents’ home in the camp,” says Chet Nath Timsina. “Now, in America I could only visit a few distant relatives. I miss it now.”

Unlike in years past, the only family with whom Chet Nath was able to celebrate Diwali were two of his brothers and a few other relatives, and just for one afternoon, in the Bronx home of his cousin Yamuna.

Though far from their families and without access to many traditional items that are used in celebration, such as marigold wreaths, the dozens of Bhutanese refugees who gathered in Yamuna’s small one bedroom apartment that afternoon were still able to maintain many of their Diwali customs.