Luwar couple struggles to mark Dashain amid hardship

BY PREM RAJ SIMKHADA,Kalikot, Sept. 23: While festivals are often celebrated as a time of joy, good food, and new clothes, they bring more hardship than happiness for many working-class and impoverished families. For some, Dashain feels less like a celebration and more like a burden.

This is the reality for 68-year-old Jai Luwar and his wife Hoijali Luwar, residents of Raskot Municipality-8 in Kalikot. As Dashain approaches, the elderly couple can be seen on the roadside with a hammer in their hands, breaking stones into gravel to cover their festival expenses.

“We don’t have anyone to rely on. Our children live their own lives, and at this age we must manage everything ourselves,” Jai said. Although he receives a monthly social security allowance of Rs. 3,000, he said that it barely covers necessities like oil, sugar, and rice. For meat, clothes, and hosting guests during Dashain, he and his wife must rely on the gravel they crush and sell.

While many households in Kalikot are busy with shopping and festival preparations, the Luwar couple’s days are spent under the scorching sun, among dust and stones, trying to earn just enough to celebrate Dashain with dignity. “We know that relatives and even our grandchildren might visit. At least we want to serve them one proper meal,” Hoijali said. Although they wish to buy new clothes for children and prepare delicious dishes during the festival, their weak financial condition has left stone-breaking as their only option.

The couple has been making a living from stone-breaking for more than two decades, but Dashain always demands extra effort. “How can we celebrate without money? Whatever we earn will decide our Dashain shopping,” Jai said.

Physically frail yet determined, the two continue their grueling work, earning only a small sum by evening. Still, they carry on with a sense of hope and an enduring smile, a stark reminder of how festivals amplify the struggles of the poor.

The Luwar family is just one example of many across rural Nepal. Beyond Kalikot, countless families face similar hardships, with festivals bringing more financial stress than joy. Even among relatively well-off families, rising expenses and reliance on bank loans have made managing festival costs increasingly difficult.

Dashain, for many, is a season of delight. But for families like the Luwars, it underscores the harsh divide between celebration and survival