Saru Chaudhary is empowered now. She knows how to mobilize and expand her business based on the actual situation. This year she has earned 41,000 rupees in just three days of business during the “Tihar” festival. She invested 20,000 rupees to purchase materials to sell, and out of those, 10,000 rupees were taken as a loan from the group’s savings.
Saru’s husband is very positive and has helped a lot. Saru learned a lot from the WAWCAS program. She knows now how to grab the opportunity. She says “nothing is impossible, only determination, commitment and skills are needed. I am so lucky that I received so much training after becoming a member of WAWCAS”.
About Tihar
The Nepali festival Tihar is also known by many names such as Dipawali, Bhai Tika and Laxmi Puja, or as a festival of lights. It is a five-day festival which comes soon after the Dashain Festival. Tihar is all about worshiping different animals such as the crow, the dog, the cow, worshiping of the Hindu Goddess of Fortune or Wealth, Goddess Laxmi, the human body and cooking great meals at home. Brothers and sisters shop for gifts and fly kites, people decorate homes and streets, play cards with friends, rest and relax, and finally end the festival with an exchange of a special temporary mark on the forehead (tika in Nepali). The last day of the festival is known as the Tika day or popularly known as Bhai Tika day (Bhai in Nepali means Brother). To sum up, Tihar is the festival when sisters wish their brothers a long life (Bhai)!
This story was written by Sangeeta Shrestha based on the discussion she had with Saru Chaudhary on the 16th of December 2014
