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Nepalese living in various parts of the United Kingdom have celebrated Dipawali and Tihar festival with great enthusiasm and happiness giving the continuity to the Nepali tradition even living away from home. Most of the Nepalese celebrated Tihar in groups and played Bhailo and Deusi during the Tihar festival. A substantial amount of fund was collected for specific purpose through Bhailo and Deusi programmes in Reading, Plumstead, Farnborough, Aldershot and Folkestone where a large number of Nepalese live. Nearly Rs 100,000 was collected for census of the Nepalese in the United Kingdom in Reading through Bhailo and Deusi programme organised under the joint auspices of Centre for Nepal Studies and Greater Reading Nepalese Community Association. According to Dr Krishna Adhikari, who coordinated the programme for the project, more than 827 pound was collected from Bhailo and some more enthusiastic Nepalese were interested to contribute for the programme even though the team could not reach their homes to play Bhailo programme which was played in the evening for three days during the Tihar festival. Chairman of Greater Reading Nepalese Community Association Arjun Basnet, Advisor of the NRN UK Bishwa Pundit and Kedar Rimal also participated in the Bhailo making significant contribution for the programme, the organiser said. Indian community living in the area also helped to raise the fund for the programme. The name list of the contributors will be made public to the community members to make the fund collection transparent, organiser said. There was the performance of song and dance during the Bhailo and Deusi and people danced in groups making the atmosphere more action-packed and exciting. Such programmes were also organised in other parts of the United Kingdom with the participation of a large number of Nepalese and members of other communities. Though there is no exact figure of the Nepalese living in the United Kingdom, it is estimated that around 100,000 Nepalese live mainly in Reading, Farnborough, Aldershot, Plumstead, London, Folkestone and North Yorkshire. Most of the Nepalese living here are ex Gurkhas and their families. The number of highly skilled migrants, work permit holders and students has also gone up in the last few years. |
