Delicious food, new clothes, traditional pujas and enjoying time with family playing various games are all significant part of Dashain. The tenth day of Dashain is celebrated by putting on tika and receiving blessings from our elders along with Dakshina.
Talking about Dakshina, there has been a deep-rooted trend of printing new notes. Every year, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) issues new notes costing billions. This year alone, NRB printed notes costing around 63 crore in total including manufacturing, transportation, and other costs. Not only is the cost of printing these new notes high, the notes printed during Dashain tend to have reduced life span because of the damage they receive with colors.
Looking at the economic cost, as well as the damage these notes have to bear, it is high time to start considering alternatives for the purpose of Dakshina.
While one of the alternatives might be giving dakshina in physical kind instead of giving notes, another alternative could be using digital wallets like eSewa for the transfer of Dakshina. Using digital wallets not only saves the life of notes, and saves huge cost economically, it also provides additional benefits for sharing dakshina with those living abroad.
The concept may seem somewhat bizarre, but, looking at the economic cost of printing new notes every year, doesn’t the use of digital wallets seem to be a considerable alternative choice? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.