In a nutshell, the fun aspects of Dashain are — money, holidays and feasts. As elders shower blessings and dakshinas, money starts rolling in, sometimes enough to buy things that I’ve wanted to for a long time. Dashain means the start of an extended period of holidays with the possibilities of travel and outings. Another wonderful thing about Dashain is the self-pampering with all kinds of mouth-watering dishes. The one thing I don’t like about Dashain is that I have to meet lots of relatives whom I have not met for a whole year. It makes me feel very uncomfortable. Equally agonising is the basketfuls of holiday homework that sometimes threaten to take away the Dashain fun. I also hate the killings that go on in the name of pleasing gods, as well as all the gorging of meat. This last bit is especially hard for vegetarians, which I happen to be.

— Sahara Shivakoti,

Thapathali

The most exciting part of Dashain is getting together with family and receiving blessings from them. What I don’t like about Dashain is sacrificing innocent animals.

— Rojita

The word Dashain itself brings joy on one’s face, and for children it is the holidays, which bring them happiness. It is an enjoyable festival and should be celebrated whole-heartedly. But the most disheartening thing about this festival is drunkards, who roam around the streets during the nights.

— Navneet Shah

Dashain is a joyful festival that brings happiness to all people. During this festival people forget all their grief and sorrows and enjoy this festival. People who have been staying away from their families come back especially for this festival. The thing that I don’t like about it is killing animals. During this festival people tend to spend more than their capability and even are in debt at times.

— Utkrishta Ghimire,

Jorpati

At Dashain we get a chance to sit and share our love with each other. But I don’t like animals sacrificed in the name of religion.

— Abhinay

During my childhood days I used to be very happy as we used to wear new clothes, go to temples in the village and the main event was that all the family members gathered at the same place to receive tika and blessings. Whatever problems there were in the family, though for a short period, we used to forget and be happy.

The thing that I don’t like about this festival is the way people spend excessively whether they can afford or not, and sacrificing animals.

— Srijana Thapa

Dashain is considered to be a merry making festival and is also a time to get together with your near and dear ones. I like the weather during Dashain. Dashain reminds me of my childhood days. The one thing that I don’t like is that people borrow money to celebrate Dashain and suffer a lot to pay the money back.

— Mingma Sherpa

Every home is cleaned and decorated. The reunion of relatives occurs in every household. The market is filled with shoppers. On the other hand thousands of animal are slaughtered. People should be sensitised against cruelty towards animals... People should not be inhumane to animals.

— Nitu Kedia,

Kathmandu

Gathering with family members and our true culture that cannot be found in any other corner of the world is what I like about Dashain. The negative aspect is playing cards, and drinking too much alcohol.

— Kritartha Shrestha, Sydney

The best part of Dashain is that you are surrounded by people whom you love. No one is in a hurry during the festival. The part that I hate is that sometimes you have to be far away from your family due to studies or work and all you have is the memories.

— Dipika

Schools, campuses, offices and business organisations remain closed. This is the best part of the festival. Most of the people indulge in feasting and merry making by killing animals, which I don’t like. We can’t please Durga by sacrificing animals but by killing our evil desires.

— Yugal Raj Bhandari

The most fun part of Dashain is the chance to meet all my relatives. The blessings, which our elders give us is the most important part of this special occasion. The most disheartening fact about Dashain is the serial sacrifice of innocent animals. This cruel activity is very popular in Nepal due to the misconception that such activity would impress the Gods.

— Bhagya Subba,

Dhobhighat

Everything about Dashain is interesting. But the most interesting one is flying kites. The days of tika are also enjoyable. The boring and annoying part of Dashain is the heavy traffic on the roads. Everyone is in a hurry and the road is packed. We walk out of home with a fresh mood and when we reach at our relatives’ place for tika, our face is often as red as tika due to anger.

— Viveckh Pandey,

Swoyambhu

The most wonderful part of Dashain is flying kites and receiving tika. The things I don’t like are wasting a lot of money on celebrations, gambling and sacrificing goats.

— Ram Chandra

Flying kites with friends, shouting and screaming “Chet” while other kites cuts off is the most fun part. And the things that I don’t like are people gambling excessively and drinking like there’s no tomorrow.

— Saqir Mark

Merit: Majority of the Nepali people go abroad to earn livelihood. So, it is an occasion and opportunity to reunite with our families and friends after spending days abroad. It is an occasion to have mouth-watering dishes and new clothes.

Demerit: It is also a festival of sacrificing animals to God. Brutally slaughtering animals and birds in the name of God and having meat is in fact offence against animals and birds. Gambling and consuming alcohol during Dashain is also something I don’t like.

— Durga B Gurung, Kathmandu

The best part about Dashain is meeting all relatives. Almost everyone nowadays live in nuclear families, they hardly find time for each other. So, Dashain is the time we get together, forget past grievances, if any, and celebrate! What I don’t like about it is the slaughter and sacrifice of animals. Surely, Goddess Durga wouldn’t be pleased to see her creations being killed, so what is all this shedding of blood for?

— Rhea Gurung

Dashain is celebrated by all Nepalis regardless of caste, religion. The thing I like about Dashain is the feeling of unity that it brings. Dashain could be better if unnecessary animal sacrifices, expenses, gambling and show offs would stop.

— Suyachhya Shrestha

I am missing Dashain and its fun parts like gathering with friends, playing cards, dancing to folk songs, and enjoying the spicy and delicious food. I don’t like people who drink too much and ruin the fun and people who kill many animals and spend excessively.

— R Awasthi, USA