Sa : Na

Sanduk has been in our family since past three generations. In its earlier days it was meant to store clothes but these days it is used to store our Newari traditional clothes “Haku-patashi”.

The “sanduk” was gifted by Maa’s father when she got married to baa 56 years ago. It was the only gift she brought along with the house. The color and lock everything still remain the same as it was back in 1964 A.D.

I remember how me and my cousins would compare the sanduk with treasure box we saw on Disney movie “The mermaid”. Maa used to laugh as she heard us discuss what treasure it must hold . She would grin, take her key and would open it in front of us to show inside. We were so little we could hardly see the top part. We could barely seek on the inside on our tip-toes. It used to be filled with lots of “haku-patashi” and traditional Newari jewellery. Maa used to tell us it’s all my treasure and someday I will gift these to all of you.

When we turned around age Maa indeed gave me and my little sister our own pair of “haku-patashi” with a set of matching Newari jewellery that we still wear occasionally. Ws still keep it inside the same sanduk as Maa used to store it.

From comparing to some shiny treasure we saw on television, today the sanduk itself has become a part of family treasure that I dream to inherit someday.