Teej Celebrations 2022

Apparently, Teej, popularly considered as women’s festival, is about feasting, fasting, singing, dancing of the women clads in red saris and embellished with glittering ornaments.  The festival also has religious significant as well. Hindu married women fast and offer prayer Lord Shiva wishing longevity and prosperity of their husbands. It is also believed that unmarried girls fasting and praying during Teej would ensure their happy married life.

Nevertheless, cultural critics are still critical on Teej itself being the gender biased practice designed to inculcate women the power of masculinity and help normalize the female subservience. Besides, many other people believe that the festivity has much more to talk about liberation of women and their empowerment.

Nepali women have long been using it as a platform to outpour their emotion of their suppressed state, raise voice for subversion of identity as well as for reveling and recreating themselves. It is not only for women; men are inalienably attached with this festival for it is believed to promote mutual bond among husband and wife.

With the belief that Teej customs has much more to talk about awareness, advocacy and empowerment related to women, Shalimar groups being a business conglomerate consists varieties of sector working under the umbrella of same parent company. Here we work as a family. Festivals such as teej helps us to create a better bond among our employee and staffs creating mutual understanding among us. As our company main motto is to create best working environment that’s why  teej festival can also play a vital role to understand the feeling of our employee Beside this Our company Shalimar Group Started to organize Teej as a business conglomerate as its objective of the event is to use the occasion of TEEJ – to promote Tales of Equality Empowerment and Joy (TEEJ) and demystify gender based traditional harmful cultural and religious practices prevalent in society and reflected in personal or collective behaviors. The event aimed to promote the gender transformative and Men Engage approaches for the effective outcome of women empowerment.

Personally, here I share my ups and down’s my happiness and sorrow because more than a working place it’s more like a family to me. This festival should not only be regarded from a traditional viewpoint but also from women’s emancipation and empowerment which will provide strength for our women staffs to fight for her rights too.

Article by Sunita Dongal