# 1 Nepal through a Nepali girl's eyes

Every year hundreds of people from all over the world come to Nepal to get a piece of their own Nepal experience. They enjoy the serenity and the beauty of nature that is abundant in my country, but like every other tourists, they often do not get to experience Nepal through a local person’s view. My new series is my attempt to bring to light many of the social aspects of Nepal that is still unseen. Some of it I like, and some I believe need to change immediately. So walk with me in this blog journey as I unfold many facets of my beautiful country. 

We are a country of many ethnic groups and many languages. There are about 123 different languages in Nepal (2011 census). Obviously, we have a national language Nepali, but every other languages still prevail among the different ethnic groups. This is because of the fact that Nepal was formed by unison of many different countries 249 years ago (1768). It was basically a small country called Gorkha conquering all the other smaller nations around it and forming a bigger land which was later called Nepal. That is where the world famous “Gurkha” comes from. 

Our culture is very much engraved with Hinduism. So, you will be able to see lots of temples, and pagodas everywhere. We celebrate lots of occasions. There are 33 million deities in Hindu religion, which seems like a ridiculous hours of praying to a ridiculous number of gods and goddesses, but it is not that bad. Nature is one major part of what we worship, so trees and the sky and the moon and the sun are all deities for us. 

Although Hinduism asks everyone to treat and respect women, our society has still not evolved enough to consider women anywhere equal to men. Women have a long way to go before they will be heard in our patriarchal society. Gender inequality and discrimination is really pervasive and it is frustrating to see that our political instabilities lead the gender issues to be pushed in the background for years.  

One thing that I am particularly really proud of is that we have learned to be happy in small things. People are generally very friendly and welcoming. Sharing is a big part of our culture. Even during the earthquake in 2015, people were sharing their scant food and still smiling despite of the grave emergency. I have learnt a lot from my culture, and I hope I can share more with you guys.  

Keep posted for more, and follow me @sijuka. 

The pictures used here are not my pictures, but they truly reflect the beauty of Nepal.