For some in Kathmandu, Dashain is just another day

Unable to afford the journey home or even new clothes for their children, daily-wage earners struggle to find joy in Nepal’s biggest festival.

At around 7.30pm, New Road was alive with shoppers heading home beneath the streetlights. Lal Kumari Rokaya moved through the crowd with a plastic money plant draped around her neck, looking for someone willing to buy it.