Self-quarantine, Kathmandu style

The tradition was given up in the 1960s after the old Tibet trade came to an end.

When my father returned from Lhasa in 1954, he didn't go bounding up the stairs to hug his dear family members, whom he had not seen for six years. In fact, he wasn't even allowed to go higher than the first floor, much less touch any of the people in the house. For the next five days, he slept alone in a spare room. The kitchen was off-limits to him, and he ate separately while the rest of the family had their meals sitting down together on a long mat. My father had to wash the dirty dishes himself too. Such was the cultural practice among Newar merchants returning home from Tibet in those days.