Sajani Shakya, a beautiful 10-year-old girl from Nepal, is currently enjoying her first trip to Washington, D.C. According to New York Times reporter Neela Banerjee, Sajani hopes to, among other things, go to the zoo and ride a roller coaster while she’s here–activities just about any 10-year-old would enjoy.
But Sajani is anything but a typical little girl.
Not only does Sajani not get into any trouble (which in itself is unusual), but “her family worships her,” and if she is in a bad mood, it “becomes a major drama because it’s considered bad luck,” said Ishbel Whitaker, director of the documentary, “Living Goddess,” which revolves mostly around Sajani. That’s right: “In Nepal, Sajani is a living goddess, one of about a dozen such goddesses in her homeland who are considered earthly manifestations of the Hindu goddess Kali.”
Not bad for a ten-year-old. And apparently, Whitaker explains, there is one day in Nepal every year when all girls “are worshipped as goddesses.” Sounds like a holiday we should enact here.
To learn more about Sajani and her visit to the United States (which includes a trip to the White House), check out Banerjee’s full article, “In a City of Power Brokers, a Young Visitor Who is Truly Worshipped.”