Share 'Bratabandha - When boys become men in Kathmandu.'

I was visiting a friend’s family when his mother flourished a number of worn pictures of a small boy, wrapped in orange, with big scared eyes, and even bigger ears painfully accentuated by his newly bald head. “He is ready for marriage” she proudly announced. My first impression was that Bratabandha was a haircut that turned boys into men. Bratabandha is a Hindu ceremony where boys, between 8 an…