Stores offer heavy discounts for Dashain

KATHMANDU, Sept 27: Bluest of skies, spring time, seasons that blossoms flower, warm homecoming of relatives and aroma of delicacies are certain to give us a sense of Dashain. As we never fail to mention, Dashain is the grandest of all the festivals we celebrate in Nepal.  

With that, Dashain invites a huge throng of people to the streets of Kathmandu. Most of the shopping stores are crowded, more so in the ever jam packed streets of Newroad. Although ever jam packed, the crowd this time is different and indeed permeated with the vibe of homecoming of the festivity.  

Owner of Suvekshya Collection, Manu KC, said, “I have been operating this shop since the last eight years and we have been selling both men’s and women’s wear in affordable prices. The major highlight of this festival is that we sell our products in heavily discounted prices.

Since the Dashain festival is associated with buying new clothes for oneself and family members, we always make sure that we offer festival discounts in order to attract more consumers.”

Receiving tika (a paste of vermillion and rice) and blessings from the elders is the long lived tradition in the Hindu culture.

The tradition includes use of a specific utensil, Tika-Dani, made of silver to prepare the tika.  Since silver and gold are considered as pure elements and are used for auspicious occasions, a huge crowd can also be spotted at the silver shops.

“Dashain is one of the highest grossing times for us when it comes to making sales. Since we have a culture of using various new metals and utensils during the festival, my shop remains busy throughout the season.

People come mostly for silverwares, including Tika-Dani and silver karuwa (jug),” said Binisha Tuladhar, owner of Swastik Jewellers at Indrachowk.

Dashain for Nepalis has always been about buying new clothes, belongings, jewelries and gadgets. The discounts provided by shopkeepers and traders add to the festival’s shopping fervor. "I have imported a few items from China and Bangkok, especially for this festival time and the idea worked for me.

Though we have customers throughout the year, this time of the year means special for us. We put out many offers and schemes to make sure we earn more customers," said Rajesh Jain, proprietor of Classic Empire, a bag store based at Bishal Bazar.

Smart phones are not an exception during the festive season. All the gadget lovers dig out all the possible stores to find their most awaited model and finally buy it in discounted price.

Madhu Thapaliya, a salesman at Micromax retailer store, said many leading mobile companies have offered attractive discounts targeting Dashain. 

"The discounts range up to 40 percent and we have been selling around 20 mobile phones per day following the festive discounts. Micromax has launched a new model, Canvas Infinity, to attract more customers on the occasion of Dashain," added Thapaliya.