Nemaste
Our Story: Introduction to our Family
Before you say anything, Nemaste is not a typo!
Hello and Namaste to all our fellow readers! We are so happy that you stumbled across to our page. Although your first initial thought might be “what a great typo,” please hear us out!
We are just two mundane Nepali sisters chilling somewhere in Canada who want to learn more about our own Nepali heritage and language. Over the past 10 years, we have seen how the lack of practice can make it difficult to understand and speak the language we once knew so fondly. When you leave your homeland, and become an immigrant to another country, you are expected to learn the language and culture of your new home. Although that is a great way to integrate into a new community, we slowly begin to place less value into our own identity.
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Regardless, we are very grateful to have our own Nepali community. We are grateful that from a young age, our parents and our community encouraged us to appreciate our culture by allowing us to participate and learn the importance of each tradition. From learning the subtle techniques of Nepali dance to memorable summer picnics and celebrations of traditional festivals, we are very happy to understand what it means to be part of a Nepali community.
However, amongst this, we believe, there was a disconnect in our language.
The language we made was not Nepali,
nor was it English,
rather something like Nep-lish!
And although it is just amazing just how our brains can switch between the languages, amidst all this, our ability to read Nepali was becoming blurrier.
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This must be the case for so many immigrants, especially those leaving their homeland at such a young age. I was nine when I left Nepal, and my sister four. Although I could read some Nepali, my sister left home when she had just begun to learn the alphabet. And, for over nine years, she could speak it with her heart’s delight, but could not read it.
Nepali is not necessarily hard to learn. You just need time to learn. As the business of life caught up, we could not teach her to read Nepali; for her, no reason to learn.
One sunny day this year, Arnima came up to me, and said:
"Didi let's learn Nepali together!''
Our Journey
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And that’s how our little Nepali journey began. Using a Nepali alphabet booklet that our grandmother sent to Canada five years ago, Arnima began learning "Ka, Kha, Ga." Since I could already read some Nepali, I dedicated some time to reading Nepali News each month.
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While learning Nepali, we wondered whether there are others like us, who want to learn Nepali but are unable to do so because of their own personal constraints.
And then is when our idea for Nemaste started to begin. Arnima is a pretty long name, don't you agree? I call my sister "Nema" and when you happen to join Nema and Namaste together, you get "Nemaste!" Definitely, NOT a typo - no matter how many times it has been autocorrected!
We created Nemaste to allow learning Nepali to be easier and more accessible for people who want to learn Nepali- whether that be for consolidating your own culture, or if you just want to learn a new language!
We all welcome you to our family of Nemaste :)