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We went around Basantapur in the heart of Kathmandu asking middle-aged men what they think about paternity leave. Most of them didn’t know what it is. One man in his early 30s asked, “Is it today?” After we told them what it meant, some said it is useless to give such holidays, while some others were of the view that the number of paid paternal leave days should be increased. A few were just happy to hear that paid paternity leave is given in Nepal. Paternity leave is a type of parental leave granted to a father that allows him to be away from his job after or shortly before the birth of his child. The newly intro­duced Labor Act requires employers to provide 15 days of paid paternity leave and 98 days of paid maternity leave. The ear­lier Labor Act of 1991 had a provision of 52 days of paid maternity leave. Paternity leave had not been intro­duced then.

Globally, paternity leave is a hot topic of debate. About 90 coun­tries now offer statutory paid pater­nity leave, usually for a few days or weeks. According to a recent study by Promundo, a US-based organization, fewer than half the men took paternity leave that was offered to them. The research was carried out between 2017 and 2019 in seven countries and involved nearly 12,000 respondents. It shows that more than 80 percent men in India and Pakistan viewed chang­ing nappies, bathing and feeding children as a woman’s job. Fathers in Bangladesh even reported being ridiculed or taunted by other men or community members for doing these kinds of tasks.

There is no provision of pater­nity leave in India for private sec­tor workers, where companies like Zomato have gained publicity for offering such leave. This year, the federal government of Pakistan approved 10 days of paternity leave. Paternity leave in China can vary from anywhere between zero to 30 days. While South Asian coun­tries do not have long paternity leave, it can be as long as 16 months, with up to 80 percent of the salary, in Sweden.

Farendra Ratna Manandhar, a Nepali working in Australia, had a baby in November last year. He got two weeks of paternity leave while his wife received maternity leave of 18 weeks. “Two weeks is just not enough. Thankfully, I could get two additional weeks of unpaid leave,” he says. As it has been difficult for his wife to take care of the baby alone, they have even invited her mother to Australia.

Loaded debate

In Nepal, women activists, Nation­al Women Commission and Ministry of Women, Children and Social Wel­fare took the initiative to press the government to introduce paternity leave. Laxmi Pandey, the spokes­person and deputy secretary at the National Women Commission, says the introduction of paternity leave in Nepal is a good step. She says the law was passed to enable men to take better care of their wife and child.

“Women need rest for at least three months after delivering a baby, so maternity leave has been extended by the government. But if paternity leave were to be extended beyond 15 days, it could affect the functioning of offices,” she says. “Personally though, I wish paternity leave was given for 35 days, as there are many nuclear families in Nepal now,” Pandey adds.

Dr Ram Hari Chapagain, a pedia­trician at Kanti Children’s Hospital, disagrees. He says giving men longer paternity leave would adversely affect the functioning of offices. But he thinks 98 days of maternity leave is justifiable. “Paternity leave is given to men so that they can care for their wife and child. In my experience, it’s usually the mothers who come to the hospital for postna­tal check-ups and immunizations,” he says. Dr Chapagain adds that 15 days of paternity leave is reasonable because as soon as a baby is born, there could be more health compli­cations for the mother and the baby, whereas after a couple of weeks, there are fewer complications.

Some Nepali companies provide longer than 15 days of paternity leave. One of them is HLE Nepal, a business process outsourcing com­pany, which gives one month of paid paternity and 112 days of paid mater­nity leave. It also has a provision whereby unpaid maternity leave can be extended by up to four months and unpaid paternity leave by up to a month. The company has found that the policy has helped enhance a father’s experience. Nirayu Shakya, a mortgage broker with HLE Nepal, says that the leave helped him devel­op a wonderful bond with his baby and to give extra care to his wife. “It also sent a posi­tive message about the company to my amazed friends,” he adds.

Dispelling the blues

Pashupati Mahat, a senior clinical psychologist, thinks mothers and fathers are equally responsible for the development of the baby. He says our society views fathers as “the symbol of security” and moth­ers as “the symbol of love and care”. Mahat adds, “If a father is largely absent after childbirth, the moth­er and child can become anxious. Especially right after a woman gives birth, her estrogen level decreases dramatically and she experiences post-partum blues that can degen­erate into post-partum depression”. As such, it is important that her partner be there to provide her with a sense of security and support. Research also shows that children with absent fathers have a higher chance of going into depression.

Mahat thinks it would be a good idea to extend paternity leave, pro­vided men made good use of it. In his opinion, fathers should get at least six weeks paternity leave so that they can spend quality time with their wife and child. “However, some men might abuse the leave. It’s up to the family and society at large to ensure that paternity leave is not misused,” argues Mahat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPXVYnkil24

You stop feeling good about the way you look as your outfit doesn’t fit perfectly. It’s loose in the bust, and a bit too tight in chest and shoulders. This problem is further complicated for women in their maternity period. The right size of cloth can make a pregnant woman look smart and elegant whereas a slight misfit can make you grumpy all day. With plus-sized influencers and celebrities flaunting their baby bumps in custom-made dresses, the general public wants to experiment too. But where do you get these chic maternity clothes? This week we profile five plus-size and maternity wear outlets in Kathmandu valley featuring western, formal as well as traditional wears, and both online and offline.

DS Collections

The DS CollectionS has won many hearts with its trendy wears and quality fabrics. With increasing customer demand, the store now has the plus-size collection for all the curvaceous ladies out there. Although it has outlets all over the valley, the plus-size collections are exclusive to the Durbarmarg branch. The sizes extend up to XXXL and are usually launched on Fridays. “Our customer response has been positive since the start and our clothes are sold out as soon as they are launched,” says one of their employees. The products are mostly imported from the US, and also from Thailand. New collections are launched either on weekly or monthly basis, depending on customer demand.

Womaniya

With their outlets at the United World Trade Center and The City Center, Womaniya is the perfect place to find plus-size clothing. After only four years of its establishment, the store has gained a name for itself among the customers who otherwise had a difficult time finding their ‘perfect fit’ due to body issues. The bust sizes at Womania vary between 42 and 45. The store is known for its varieties of lingerie as well as western outfits. It claims to have only branded labels from Thailand and India. Womaniya is one of the few clothing stores dedicated entirely to plus-size outfits in the valley.

Osho Fashion House

A store of high quality handmade fabrics, the Osho Fash­ion House at Lazimpat is an ideal stop for all “mommies-to-be”. Pregnant women have problem dressing up as they have to wear larger sizes than their bodies, just for the sake of their bump. In such cases the sleeves bulge and the outfit loses its charm. The store claims to have an unmatched col­lection, with a vast range of fits, to take care of all these com­plaints. “Our store offers a variety of dresses to fit your body perfectly while giving you extra style and comfort,” says Rabin Singh Thapa, the store owner. It also specializes on other handmade outfits for non-maternity purposes.

Classic Curves

Classic Curves is an online store devoted entire­ly to enhancing the curves of all plus-size ladies with its collec­tions of casu­als, formals and bodysuits. “We guarantee the quality of our products to be exactly the same as provided on our site. We’ve never gotten a complaint regarding the fabric of the outfit or its false representation,” says Anup Dangol, the store owner. Catering to those between 46- and 60- size in the bust, the store has something for all plus-size customers. With the good response it has received, it is set to open a retail store in the near future. Visit: https://www.facebook.com/curveyqueens/

Maternity Clothing Nepal

One of the oldest mater­nity-dedicated clothing stores in the valley, Maternity Cloth­ing Nepal caters exclusively to pre-delivery woman. Estab­lished in 2012 by Sunita Kawan, the store is locat­ed at Sinamangal, just opposite the Kathmandu Med­ical College. With the number of maternity cloth­ing stores rising, “the competition of late has been so tough that every­one has to be very careful about the quality of their products,” says Kawan. She adds how her no-compromise-on-quality policy has allowed the store to develop a dedicated client base and expand the business. The store claims to import fabrics exclusively from the US but is now looking for manufacturers in Asia to start its own wholesale production. The products of Maternity Clothing Nepal are also available online at daraz.com, Facebook and Instagram.

PechaKucha or chit-chat in Jap­anese (ぺちゃくちゃ) is kind of a thinking person’s speed dat­ing. And like speed dating, you nev­er know what you are going to get! To elaborate, PechaKucha is a sto­rytelling platform where different presenters show 20 slides for 20 seconds each. Presenters then pro­vide the commentary as the slides automatically run alongside. Hence the format is also known as 20x20. Created in Tokyo in 2003, the orig­inal intention was to provide a fun, relaxed set-up to enable young designers and architects to meet, show their work and exchange cre­ativity. This idea took off and the following year many European cities started hosting PechaKucha Nights. Today, 1,135 cities around the world are involved.

 In March 2011 Kathmandu held its first PechaKucha (PKN) in what many of us call “the old” Attic Bar. Established by Sujan Chitrakar, head of the Center for Art and Design at Kathmandu University, and Chris Haughton, London based illustrator, today Chitrakar is joined by Bhushan Shilpakar as co-orga­nizer. But how did PechaKucha Night come about in Kathmandu? “The original idea of focus on art and design initially caught my interest. But here in Kathmandu we don’t just focus on the arts but also have presenters from many genres. PechaKucha has gone global but when we held the first PechaKucha, Kathmandu was the 375th partic­ipating city,” explains Chitrakar.

 Held every two or three months from 2011 to July 2015, when the organizers took a break, PKN returned with a bang to Kathman­du this March. Now preparing for Volume 17, I asked Chitrakar what were the most memorable pre­sentations for him so far. “With so many great presenters it would be biased of me to name just one or two. But the one that really stands out was during the very first PechaKucha in 2011. Ex-Kumari Rashmila Shakya gave a presen­tation about her life and the then newly published book based on her experiences called Immortal to Mortal,” says Chitrakar. “At that time we had approached different venues; the owners of the Attic were the only ones who were as excited as us. That first event, with great cooperation from the Attic, a huge audience, and a line-up head­ed by an ex-Kumari—it was more than memorable!”

 ntrance was minimal but now the door price is Rs 300. “Although everyone involved in PechaKucha is a volunteer and venues never charge for their premises we now need to send $1 per audience head to HQ in Tokyo. And we also need to hire the audio equipment etc,” explains Chitrakar. But despite the increased ticket price, the two events held this year have each attracted around 300 people. I noticed many artists, performers, activities, and students among the audience. “In South Asia PechaKu­cha has not really taken off, but in Kathmandu it is vibrant and active. Probably because we have a good audience and presenter flow; expats coming and going etc.” On the 20x20 theme I noticed that in other countries PechaKucha Nights start after 8pm. 2020hrs to be exact. I’m told, “8.20 pm would be rather late to start a program in Kathmandu, wouldn’t it?” Yes, indeed!

Future plans? “It would be pos­sible for other cities in Nepal orga­nize a PechaKucha Night. Pokhara would work well,” stated Chitrakar. “We could help them organize until they got onto their feet. As an orga­nizer it can be daunting. I always have a panic attack—speakers who cancel last minute—that kind of thing!”

PechaKucha Kathmandu, Vol­ume 17 will take place (so I am told) at the beginning of Septem­ber. Venue not confirmed yet. But gather up your friends and go along for a fun evening of presentations, food and drinks. You might learn something also.

 For further information see the PechaKucha Night Kathmandu FaceBook page