TEEJ CELEBRATIONS PEAK TUESDAY Kathmandu, 16 Sept.: :Teej, a cultural festival celebrated by the women of Hindu community for the longevity of their husbands since time immemorial have witnessed changes as per the time, RSS reports from Lalitpur.. The celebration of Teej, the festival mainly focused on husbands´ welfare and reunion with the members of mother´s house in the past, has now become a fashion. Nowadays, celebration of the Teej begins a month before the actual day of the festival. It was the day the women folks became vocal critic to their husbands and in-laws in terms of the anguish, throes and suppression the in-laws meted out on them. But, it is now a fashion fair and exhibition of tawdry behaviour, and even organized for commercial purpose! With this, many opine that the original traditional festival of Teej is losing its uniqueness in the name of modernity. However, there are others who see the Teej as a festival forcefully imposed upon women in the name of culture and religion. In this connection, the Sancharika Samuha organized a programme on ´Relevance of Teej on Changed Context´ in the capital on Sunday. At the programme, CPN-Maoist Spokesperson Pampha Bhusal expressed worries that the Teej, the festival of family reunion and happiness, was being tainted. However, she said it should be celebrated as per the time. Vice-Chairperson of the Federation of Nepali Journalists Yeshoda Timilsina said the Teej should be taken as the festival of women´s liberty. Cine artist Rekha Thapa and woman rights defender Lily Thapa said the Teej needs to be regarded as the festival of awareness among women. Similarly, Nepali Congress leader Shovakar Budhathoki said the tawdriness in the Teej celebration was unacceptable. The integrity of Teej should be kept intact, he stressed. Senior journalist Yuvraj Ghimire said the stakeholders should be aware that Teej has been a fashion nowadays while it was the day for women folks to express anguish and woes and advocate liberty. Senior literati Dr Sudha Tripathi, and Dr Tulsi Bhattarai, culture expert Gobinda Tandan, deuda singer Nandakrishna Joshi, and others spoke about the importance of Teej festival. nnnn