For sure, women are exploited, overworked and underappreciated in Nepal, as perhaps everywhere. But in one instance at least, women have the freedom to flaunt their intellect in public and even be risque while doing so.
Women are not be as subjugated, repressed, exploited and battered as you may have believed, if you get to watch a certain late-night programme on Nepal Television, and its clone on the private satellite station, Channel Nepal. These are semi-dramatised sing-along jousting sessions, called the dohori geet, where men and women sing playful and often suggestive, unrehearsed lyrics in an attempt to defeat the other side.
These programmes are just organised enough to allow videography, but they remain spontaneous enough to emulate the sing-alongs of real life that happen across mid-hill Nepal. In the natural settings, batches of women and men are on the prowl, seeking each other's company during festivals and fairs. When 4 they meet, the members sit down facing each other, a crowd gathers around, someone brings a rnadal drum and the sarangi string instrument, and the competition begins.
The dohori geet has its origins in the various malefemale bonding routines used by the different hills communities, particularly during melas (fairs), where boys and girls are allowed the time and space to get to know each other. The mostly-unmarried women and men address each other directly, making eye contact, and creating impromptu verse that has the crowd on edge. The lead singers require quick-wittedness and superior observational skills. The format of the dohori geet is simple, with a four-line submission sung by the lead female or male singer, after which a chorus common to both sides is repeated. The rhythm is zesty. Drawn by the beat, men and women rise to dance.