Bulaki Code | Karnali Province Stories

Sharing is caring!

“I was just curious about your septum jewelry…why did you get it?” This was a common question from several people in the Karnali Province.

Bulaki, a jewelry that some women in Nepal wear on their septum, is usually fishlike piece of gold or silver that reaches up to the upper lip. I got my septum piercing few months back, and before making Karnali Trip, I added a septum jewelry of gold that is a smaller form of a bulaki.

 

Out of several conversations with different people in Karnali Province, I have mentioned few in this blog.

SURKHET | I was randomly looking at the view when a lady, who was selling street food in a stall called me. She first asked if I would eat something. After I denied, she called me to sit near her. Then, she asked where I was from. After telling I had come from Biratnagar, she was shocked. “So, the girls in Eastern Nepal wear such jewelry in nose?” I said “Not all. In fact, only few. I did it out of interest.” The man besides me then entered the conversation and said that he was happy to see a young woman like me getting such a cultural jewelry out of interest. He was sad about how the culture of getting septum piercing and wearing fishlike jewelry is vanishing.

JUMLA | I was stuck on the road to Mugu as the excavator was blocking the road. Two young women in the construction site were smiling at me. After noticing them, I got out of the jeep and went near them. One of them asked why I had my septum pierced. She explained to me how difficult it is to wear long fishlike bulaki on the septum. She knows about the struggle because her grandmother keeps complaining about it, she said. It also troubles the woman while eating. They were glad that their generation did not have to wear one. The last one to wear it in her family was her grandmother, she explained. But she was fascinated by the one I was wearing. She said it was of perfect size. I explained them that my parents wanted me to get my nose pierced just like a typical Chhetri family would want the girl child to get one. But instead of getting it pierced on the side of the nose, I got one on the septum. They were full of laughter. Though this was not the true story, I just made one to make them laugh.

MUGU | One of the tourist guides who was there with a foreigner to guide her to Rara Lake asked me about my septum piercing. “So, did you do it as a part of the culture? It does not seem so.” I explained him about my interest on getting one rather than any cultural pressure. He replied, “women are lucky in this case, it will force your husband to give you septum jewelry of gold on your wedding, haha.”

KALIKOT | I stopped in a beautiful house in Kalikot for a cup of tea and refreshment. There I met a woman in her late 40s with a bulaki on her septum. After our eyes met, we smiled at each other. No questions, no curiosities. I complimented about her septum jewelry which was a fishlike bulaki, and in response she said “you will look more beautiful in bulaki just like mine”. In response, I told her, “I will probably be getting one soon, maybe next time, when I will come to your place.” We also took a selfie together and she shared with me boiled potatoes which she was having for lunch.

If you have a bulaki on your septum, and you meet another person with one too, you are friends already. This is what Bulaki Code means!

Aleena Rayamajhi
5/4/2021