Can we be a bit more considerate?

There are things yours truly likes about Dashain aka Vijaya Dashami and there are things he does not like. 

Yours truly is acutely aware that his liking or disliking won't make much of a difference, nonetheless he will use this platform to share about the same. So, please bear with me, readers. 

First, let me start by dwelling on things that I like about this festival of the Nepali people. 

Friends and families

People come to Nepal from far and wide to celebrate this great festival with their friends and families. This strengthens our family bonds as new generations come to know about the old ones and vice-versa. And you get one of those rare opportunities from your busy lives to say a quick howdy to your friends and revisit those good old times. Who would want to miss that opportunity? 

Festivals like these are necessary to boost the national economy, especially economy of rural areas of Nepal, which see a huge influx of a large number of their native sons and daughters, unlike in other times of the year where the youth are hard to find with most of them in their prime leaving their hometowns in search of greener pastures, to Kathmandu, district/regional/provincial headquarters and beyond. 

Our festivals, cultures, traditions 

Though a middle-sized country, Nepal, the ethnic playground of ethnicities from south and central Asia, is home to a myriad cultures, traditions, customs and rituals. These unique identities of ours are our invaluable assets, our diversities are something that we must cherish and feel proud of. 

But in this race for modernity, in this quest for easy life, we steadily seem to be forgetting our uniqueness. Festivals like these give us a rare opportunity to acquaint new generations with what I call Nepaliness. These offer us a golden opportunity to share with foreigners of Nepali origins about this uniqueness and keep Nepaliness alive. 

Kite flying

The other day, yours truly saw the US ambassador to Nepal, Randy William Berry, flying the kite! That was a pleasant surprise. This is the time of the year that is quite suitable for kite flying as it does not rain and does not ruin the kite party. Kathmandu celebrates the season by hosting, I guess, some kite flying festival at Nagarkot.      

Rope swing

Indeed, this is the time to get on a new high by playing the rope swing! All you need to do is hold on tightly to either side of the rope suspended on a canopy-like framework of bamboos with your hands, put your feet firmly on the landing and start swinging. But be careful as swinging too high may cause dizziness and a fall. So go slow and steady!

These are some of the things that I like tremendously about this great festival. But there are also things that I detest. 

Can we be more considerate? 

During this time of the year, I often see animals, mainly goats, crammed into jeeps and transported. This kind of scene shreds me. My question: Can relevant government bodies step in and do something for animal welfare? Or has the party already started? 

Also, in my neighbourhood and beyond, I hear goats bleating on private house premises as they await slaughtering. While the wait is painful for the animals, their cry throughout long, quite nights is soul stirring.  

My question is: Can we be a bit more ethical, a bit more considerate towards these animals, to begin with (Let me clarify here that I eat meat)? Can we treat them more humanely, can we slaughter them more humanely? Can we not practice some sort of ethical meat eating?  

You may point that other communities around the world also give two hoots about ethical meat eating during their festivals? My question: Do we have to follow others in this? 

Does every household have to slaughter a goat? I am sure it's not part of our tradition. Can we buy meat from one of those slaughterhouses that does brisk business during this time of the year? Should that not be enough? 

I am saying this because my observation is that we tend to feast rather unhealthily during festivals, with utter disregard for our health.

This Dashain, can we be a bit more considerate towards the animals and ourselves too?

Text and pictures: Devendra Gautam

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