Tika Day last week was not the best day for most Nepalis working in Doha, especially those who had to work long shifts at a time when most at home would be celebrating Dasain with much fanfare.
But away from loved ones, they still found some time last week, either in their quarters, work, or Nepali restaurants to celebrate the festival season.
Qatar is home to an estimated 400,000 Nepalis, making it the second largest population non-nationals in the country after India. For the majority, going back home in Dasain is a privilege, or is not affordable. Many who left Nepal to work here have not been able to celebrate the three festivals for years.
In Nepali neighbourhoods across Doha, the longing for home during the holiday season was tempered somewhat by the aroma of familiar food at Nepali restaurants.
Elsewhere in the city, a delivery driver parked his bike while waiting on orders to give a quick call to family back home on Tika day. They miss him. He misses them.
A virtual tika ceremony was held over videocall on Messenger. Blessings were transmuted from thousands of kilometers away, but the busy street was not the place to conduct the ceremony. After a brief chitchat, both sides hung up.
The driver put his phone away, then got back to business. There was stuff to deliver, and money to be made.
The riyal the primary reason many here left our homes, and with it, our sense of belonging. Last week, the Dasain dakshina here was given in riyals. Seeing a tika mark on a one riyal note made many homesick, and soon it will be Tihar when they will miss their sisters and brothers back home.
Vignettes of Dasain in Doha last week:
