Today we asked our staff member, former circus girl Anita, to make flower garlands for our four dogs. To outsiders that may seem like evidence that we've finally cracked after three years of living in Nepal and that we are now engaged in eccentricities worthy of Zsa Zsa Gabor or Paris Hilton. But no, this is day two of the five day festival of Tihar which follows hot on the heels of Dashain and is the equivalent of Diwali, the festival of lights, in India. Day one sees the locals worshipping the crow and they leave out food for them to enjoy. Day two, Kukur Tihar, has the nation paying homage to the dog population
with dogs receiving garlands and tika symbols on their foreheads. Like many things in Nepal that all feels a bit false given how little interest is paid in dogs for the other 364 days of the year. Worse, dogs are the victims of mange and horrible injuries that everyone ignores. Stray dogs are stoned, beaten and teased. From our own monitoring of the road between here in Godawari and Kathmandu we are all too aware of how many are killed by reckless drivers. I remain haunted by the sight this day last year of a garlanded dog lying dead in the middle of the road.
Today we asked our staff member, former circus girl Anita, to make flower garlands for our four dogs. To outsiders that may seem like evidence that we've finally cracked after three years of living in Nepal and that we are now engaged in eccentricities worthy of Zsa Zsa Gabor or Paris Hilton. But no, this is day two of the five day festival of Tihar which follows hot on the heels of Dashain and is the equivalent of Diwali, the festival of lights, in India. Day one sees the locals worshipping the crow and they leave out food for them to enjoy. Day two, Kukur Tihar, has the nation paying homage to the dog population 
with dogs receiving garlands and tika symbols on their foreheads. Like many things in Nepal that all feels a bit false given how little interest is paid in dogs for the other 364 days of the year. Worse, dogs are the victims of mange and horrible injuries that everyone ignores. Stray dogs are stoned, beaten and teased. From our own monitoring of the road between here in Godawari and Kathmandu we are all too aware of how many are killed by reckless drivers. I remain haunted by the sight this day last year of a garlanded dog lying dead in the middle of the road.
