I was just going through the latest "The National Geographic" magazine and somewhere near the end of the magazine, at the bottom of the left page, the word "Nepal" caught my eye. Even more interesting was the word "Love-Letter", together with "Nepal" in a same line. Curiously, the line was "Why are love letters the rage in Nepal?". eh!!! And there was this link for further reading
"love" story.ngm.com/0602 which didn't seem to work. Somehow!!!. Such a huge website with the link, which was clearly indicated on the magazine, didn't even exist. I tried all the possible combination to search for the article, of course desperately :D and found a small article at
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http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0602/feature2/learn.html#know
What better place to start looking for the meaning of romance than in intimate love letters? In her book, Invitations to Love, Ahearn finds that love letters illuminate the dramatic transformations in courtship and marriage in a small Nepali village over the past 20 years. She calls the place "Junigau," a pseudonym used to preserve the privacy of the village's 350 inhabitants.
Twenty years ago, more than 90 percent of marriages in Junigau were arranged by parents, with groom and bride exchanging only a few words before the wedding. Today, less then 10 percent of marriages are arranged; eloping without parental blessings is the rule. Ahearn shows how all sorts of new influences—from economic development programs to Indian romance movies—have led young people to expect to fall madly in love before marrying. But spending time alone with the opposite sex during courtship is still forbidden. The answer: secret love letters. By writing these passionate, elaborate letters, couples are rejecting arranged marriages, but also trying to define themselves as modern and successful. Says one young man to the woman of his dreams:
Yes, Sarita, because of love the world looks bright. Our love I find to be true love. It is indescribable... This union cannot possibly be broken up. Therefore, let's put more effort into studying. This is the path toward progress.
Take a look at more love letters on Dr. Ahearn's homepage:
anthro.rutgers.edu/faculty/ahearn.shtml
—Shelley Sperry Not quite interesting right? so I further tried the link of Dr. Ahearn's homepage,
scrolled down a page, and there were few links under the topics
Articles Posting a link which OPENS
to a PDF FILE. So if any of you guys are interested, here they are :P
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http://anthro.rutgers.edu/faculty/ahearnliteracy.pdf for
Literacy, Power, and Agency: Love Letters and Development in Nepal (Don't have Adobe Reader? go to
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http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html and download 20MB reader. :P Make sure you
unchecked the
"YAHOO TOOLBAR" and
Adobe Photoshop Album Starter edition. :D UNLESS YOU WANT THEM.
eh... interesting read. :P
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