The Laijaau Malai singer Abhaya Subba is back with a brand new song ‘Baasa ko Ghari’. The song and the music video focuses on the issue of child marriage and union before the age of marriage which happens to be twenty in Nepal. According to a news report from May 2023, 37% of girls in Nepal are married before the age of eighteen.
There have been discussions about lowering the age of marriage from twenty in the past. Law and Justice Minister Govinda Bandi said “One gets citizenship at 16 and voting rights at 18. So, waiting for up to 20 years to marry is not a standard.” This was reported in June, 2022. Whilst child marriage was outlawed in Nepal back in 1963, it still remains a problem to tackle across the country including the urban core.
Like the music video, I also believe that many people are slowly becoming more aware about the challenges of marrying young, whether it be financial or societal. Unfortunately, many seem to still be opting to get married early for various reasons. We have to also accept the fact that many young people, men and women in their teens are still eloping and getting married as they believe that is the only way they can be together. Unfortunately, this only kickstarts one of many problems as usually both parties are not financially independent to look after one another.
There definitely needs to be more discussion taking place about the legal age of marriage and for our society as a whole to challenge our views on having a boyfriend or girlfriend. Nepali society whether in Nepal or overseas still struggle to view dating and being in a relationship prior to marriage as normal practice and elders often rush couples to get married or go above and beyond to break up the relationship. On the other hand, many young people may believe that marriage will be a way out of their present situation.
Our hesitancy around relationships, live-in partnership and dating needs to be understood from the perspective of sex and how we view it. The possibility of sex taking place between two people ahead of marriage maybe one of the reasons why society continues to be uptight. Getting back to the topic, it’s important to allow children the space to develop and mature independently – and also, for us to educate them that one does not need to rush into everything in their first relationship. It’s important to grow together, even in a relationship.
The discussion and approach to tackling early marriages will vary widely. It’s important more now than ever to let young people be their own individual and have time to be a full adult. Letting them be individuals also means to challenge our own ideas about relationships and the idea of marriage in the first place.
The music video of Baasa ko Ghari which has been directed by Sumit Sharma features Elena Gurung and Poonam Rana. Elena has acted her part very well in this sorrowful track. The rockstar Abhaya is wearing a pretty unique ensemble in the video and if you were wondering what the inspiration behind it was then here’s what she shared on her social media:
“When I saw this vintage photo of a young Limbu lady perhaps taken almost a century ago, I wanted to recreate this outfit. This beautiful Limbu outfit is something I am extremely proud of.
BAASA KO GHARI is a song that women and all genders from all centuries and from all worlds can relate to. I wanted to make this connection through this outfit. A song can convey emotions that connects us through the passage of time. Additionally I wanted to make a connection with my clothes as well:
Several months ago, I met a young elegant stylist Aliz Ghimire. We immediately took to each other. I asked him if he could manage to recreate this outfit.
The attention to detail that this young person had was amazing. This is the result. I admit I am much much older than the young lady on the right and I kinda had a hard time finding the right accessories but we must all agree that the results were not so shoddy!
Kudos to Aliz. Make up by Nijan Rai accessories too. The silver necklace was lent to me by Elena Tika Gurung.”
