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KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 26
Time brings change, and while that is mostly good and perhaps the only way forward, we wish something would remain the same.
Dashain seems to evoke that sentiment.
I took interviews of five people, who were above 40 years of age, about how different Dashain was then and how it has changed now. Most people I spoke to confessed that there was a time when Dashain was a highly anticipated festival, and while the fun is still there, the vibe isn't the same.
The unanimous opinion was that their memories of Dashain were more heart warming than how we celebrate the festival today. Dashain holidays were all about meeting cousins, playing games and eating a lot of meat. While we still do that, the charm and excitement have largely been lost because it's not a new thing for today's generation.
Today it's more of responsibility than fun.
Before, eating rice and meat was a very big thing for the poor and used to happen only during the time of Dashain.
"We used to fly kites and try to cut the threads of those from our neighbourhood.
We would run after the kites as they gently fell on the ground," they said.
It was said that the first signs of Dashain were the kites appearing in the sky. Kite flying and also playing on the swings were the most important and fun activities of this festival.
"While we were kids, we used to sit in the lap of the elders on a large swing as we were scared," said one.
"But now we can clearly see the change. It is no longer a big deal to have food on the table.
And we rarely see kites flying in the sky or the swings swaying in the fields."
"We used to get new clothes once in a year during the time of Dashain, but now we buy clothes every month.
There is now no difference between the normal days and Dashain. Before Dashin created memories, but now it's more like capturing the moments.
Dashain is more for the photos," they said.
It's not a bad thing, but only giving priority to photos to show off and not enjoy the moment is not good, said another.
Before, so much value was given to blessings bestowed to us by our elders, but today children are only interested in the money that is given as gifts.
It's not that today's generation has completely forgotten the importance of Dashain. But slowly, but surely the charm of the biggest Hindu festival is waning. The vibes and that feel are going down.
Lastly, they said, change comes with time, and we should move accordingly, but we should never forgot our identity, our traditions and festivals, which create great memories.
