Kathmandu, June 29 -- Asar 15 (June 29 this year) has been celebrated as 'National Paddy Day' or 'Dhan Diwas' in Nepal since 2004. Culturally, Asar, the third month of the Bikram Sambat calendar, which begins in mid-June, marks the start of Nepal's monsoon season, ideal for rice planting. And eating dahi chiura, as everyone has grown up hearing, is an indispensable part of this day.

But the origins of the practice seem unclear, and the days' significance seems to be waning, at least in the National capital.

Often, planting the fields takes the whole community's engagement. In Nepal's agrarian villages, where sustenance farming is still a reality, the successful planting of fields is cause for celebration. In the capital's markets, flood...