The Citizen Advocate Summary: Declaring
April 11 as Safe ePay Day
Proposing
April 11 as Safe ePay Day to mark UPI’s pilot launch on April 11, 2016, by NPCI
with 21 banks, initiated by Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan in Mumbai. This initiative
celebrates UPI’s seamless integration of banking and merchant payments.
April 11
– Declare ‘Safe ePay Day’,
Yes,
April 11 is vacant in the UN Observance Day calendar
UPI 10th Birthday -April 11 2026 – 218 Days
to go
Onam Sadya of Payments: A Feast
Beyond Food
I am a foodie, have experienced the Joy of Sadya, though not around
Onam festival.
Hence, this blog post is dedicated to the Onam Sadya Feast,
nothing more – nothing less. 🌼 🌼
When September arrives in Kerala, so does a season of joy,
flowers, tradition, and abundance — Onam. It is more than just a harvest
festival; it is Kerala’s cultural identity woven into ten days of rituals, boat
races, dances, games, and, most importantly, the grand Onam Sadya.
🍃 Why the
Onam Sadya Is Special
Every festival in India has its signature food: Diwali
is remembered for sweets and snacks, Eid for biryani and sheer khurma, Ganesh
Chaturthi for modaks, Christmas for cake and roast dinners.
But Onam is different. The Sadya is not a single highlight
dish. It is a banquet of abundance, often stretching to 26–28 dishes,
all vegetarian, served on a fresh banana leaf.
What makes it truly unique?
- Balance
of Flavors: From sweet to sour, spicy to mild, crunchy
to silky — every taste bud is engaged.
- Equality
on a Leaf: Every guest, rich or poor, sits on the
floor and eats the same Sadya. It reflects Onam’s message of
inclusiveness.
- Symbol
of Prosperity: The sheer number of dishes symbolizes
abundance, prosperity, and the legendary golden rule of King Mahabali.
- Harmony
of Diversity: Just as multiple dishes coexist, so do
multiple communities, traditions, and lifestyles in Kerala.
This is why the Sadya stands apart in India’s festival
calendar — not a single flavor, but a symphony of flavors.
Now, let’s unfold the banana leaf 🍃 and explore how each
Sadya dish finds its metaphor in a payment channel.
🍚
Foundation
1. Rice → Cash
The base of every meal, just as cash is still the foundation of payments.
Simple, direct, timeless.
🥣 Core
Curries
2. Parippu
with Ghee → UPI
Smooth, quick, and universally loved — blends with everything.
3. Sambar → Debit
Cards
Reliable, filling, and always there.
4. Rasam → QR
Code Payments
Hot, spicy, and instant — revives the moment like scanning a code.
🥦
Vegetable Medleys
5. Avial → Credit
Cards
A rich medley, versatile and rewarding.
6. Kootu
Curry → IMPS
Strong, chunky, and instantly satisfying.
7. Olan → Mobile
Wallets
Mild and easy, perfect for light usage.
8. Thoran → NetBanking
Dry, structured, and dependable.
9. Mezhukkupuratti → Standing
Instructions / Auto-Debits
Simple stir-fry that keeps things running in the background.
10.
Kaalan → Cheque
Payments
Thick, slow, traditional — takes time to settle.
11. Erissery → EMI
Payments
Hearty and balanced — spreads big costs into portions.
🌸
Yogurt-Based Balance
12.
Pachadi → Buy
Now, Pay Later (BNPL)
Sweet first, tangy later — convenience now, responsibility later.
13.
Kichadi → Recurring
Bill Payments
Cooling and consistent, like monthly cycles.
🌶️ Pickles
& Sides
14.
Mango Pickle → Forex
/ International Cards
Sharp, tangy, and global.
15.
Lemon Pickle → Cross-Border
Remittances
Punchy, long-lasting, reaching across distances.
16.
Inji Curry (Ginger Tamarind) → Tokenized
Payments
Small but powerful safeguard — like tokens for security.
🍌 Crispy
Delights
17.
Pappadam → Prepaid
Cards
Crunchy and fun, great as an add-on.
18.
Upperi (Banana Chips) → Contactless
Tap & Pay
Quick, light, addictive.
19.
Sharkara Upperi (Jaggery-Coated Chips) → Reward
Points Redemption
Sweet surprises you earn and enjoy.
🍮 Sweet
Endings
20.
Ada Pradhaman → RTGS
Rich and elaborate, for big occasions.
21.
Palada Payasam → NEFT
Smooth, classic, dependable.
22.
Parippu Payasam → Gift
Cards
Nutty, warm, and sharable.
23.
Semiya Payasam → Standing
Orders for Investments (SIPs)
Silky threads weaving steady financial growth.
🍋
Accompaniments & Special Touches
24.
Sambharam (Buttermilk) → Customer
Support Channels
Cooling and refreshing, closes the experience.
25.
Banana → Micro-Payments
Small, simple, but completes the meal.
26.
Jaggery → Cashbacks
Sweet surprise at the end.
🌼 The
Bigger Lesson
An Onam Sadya is not about one dish. It is about the
harmony of all dishes placed together.
Likewise, our payments world is not about one channel or one
technology. Cash has its place. UPI is the star. Cards remain reliable.
Wallets, BNPL, remittances, and even cheques contribute in their own way.
Together, they create a financial Sadya — abundant,
secure, and balanced.
🌸 Onam
teaches us prosperity, inclusiveness, and balance. In payments too, these
values matter: prosperity for citizens, inclusiveness for access, and balance
between innovation and security.
So, this Onam, as we sit down for our Sadya, let’s also
celebrate the Sadya of Payments that enriches our everyday lives.
1. Onam Sadya of Payments: 26 Dishes, 26 Channels,
One Feast of Abundance
When you sit down for an Onam Sadya, the first
thing you notice is abundance.
A fresh banana leaf is placed before you, and soon
it fills with dish after dish — rice, sambar, avial, payasam — each with its
own taste, each completing the experience.
India’s payment ecosystem feels much the same.
From cash to UPI, cards to wallets, every channel has its own flavor, and
together they form a balanced feast of financial choice.
2. Banana Leaf Meets Digital Wallet: The Onam
Sadya of Payments
Onam is about prosperity, inclusiveness, and
balance. The Sadya feast captures it best — 26 dishes, all vegetarian, all
served equally, all savored in harmony. Now imagine each of those dishes as a
payment channel: UPI as parippu with ghee, debit cards as sambar, contactless
pay as banana chips. Suddenly, the banana leaf becomes not just a cultural
symbol but also a playful metaphor for how we transact in modern India.
3. From Avial to UPI: What Onam Sadya Teaches Us
About Payment Diversity
Avial, with its mix of vegetables cooked in
coconut and yogurt, is often called the king of Sadya dishes. It represents
variety and richness — much like UPI represents versatility and universality in
payments today. But the real lesson of Onam Sadya is not in one dish; it’s in
how 26 different flavors balance each other. Payments too thrive in diversity:
cash, cards, wallets, IMPS, RTGS, and more, all coexisting to serve every
taste.
4. Cash, Cards & Curries: An Onam Feast of
Transactions
Picture this: rice on your banana leaf is cash,
solid and foundational. Sambar is debit cards, reliable and familiar. Rasam is
QR payments, hot and instant. Payasam? That’s NEFT — sweet, dependable, though
not always instant. Just as no Sadya is complete with one or two dishes, no
payment ecosystem is complete with only one or two modes. The richness lies in
the variety.
5. What Onam Sadya Can Teach Us About Financial
Inclusion
Onam is perhaps the only festival where food
itself becomes a lesson in equality.
In a Sadya, everyone — regardless of background —
eats the same dishes in the same way, on the same banana leaf.
That inclusiveness is exactly what financial
systems must strive for. Payments should be as open and abundant as a Sadya:
accessible to everyone, secure for everyone, and satisfying for everyone.
Happy Onam! 🌼🌿🍃
The below is
my pairing of the respective Onam Sadya Dishes with a Payment Channel. What is
your take on this?
|
Dish
Number |
Sadya
Dish |
Payment
Channel |
|
1 |
Rice |
Cash |
|
2 |
Parippu
with Ghee |
UPI |
|
3 |
Sambar |
Debit
Cards |
|
4 |
Rasam |
QR Code
Payments |
|
5 |
Avial |
Credit
Cards |
|
6 |
Kootu
Curry |
IMPS |
|
7 |
Olan |
Mobile
Wallets |
|
8 |
Thoran |
NetBanking |
|
9 |
Mezhukkupuratti |
Standing
Instructions / Auto-Debits |
|
10 |
Kaalan |
Cheque
Payments |
|
11 |
Erissery |
EMI
Payments |
|
12 |
Pachadi |
Buy Now,
Pay Later (BNPL) |
|
13 |
Kichadi |
Recurring
Bill Payments |
|
14 |
Mango
Pickle |
Forex /
International Cards |
|
15 |
Lemon
Pickle |
Cross-border
Remittances |
|
16 |
Inji
Curry (Ginger-Tamarind) |
Tokenized
Payments |
|
17 |
Pappadam |
Prepaid
Cards |
|
18 |
Upperi
(Banana Chips) |
Contactless
Tap & Pay |
|
19 |
Sharkara
Upperi |
Reward
Points Redemption |
|
20 |
Ada
Pradhaman |
RTGS |
|
21 |
Palada
Payasam |
NEFT |
|
22 |
Parippu
Payasam |
Gift
Cards |
|
23 |
Semiya
Payasam |
Standing
Orders for Investments (SIPs) |
|
24 |
Sambharam
(Buttermilk) |
Customer
Support Channels |
|
25 |
Banana |
Micro-Payments |
|
26 |
Jaggery |
Cashbacks |
## Call to
Action
I urge
governments, financial institutions, businesses, and communities worldwide to
join hands in declaring April 11 as **Safe ePay Day**.
Let’s
celebrate UPI’s milestone by making **Safe ePay Day** a global movement for
secure, innovative fintech.
Together, we
can build a future where financial access is universal, and every e-payment is
safe—starting with **Safe ePay Day** in 2026.
No Vada Pav, not even one bite,
Till SafeePay Day takes off in flight.
Quirky vow with a Mumbai flair—
Announce the date, and I’ll be there!
Disclaimer: - The only Joy is
Safe ePayments. Nothing More – Nothing Less.
April 11 – Declare ‘Safe ePay
Day’.
Appeal to Declare April 11 as
Safe ePay Day
Driven by belief in UPI’s transformative power, this initiative—free of
personal gain—aims to celebrate India’s fintech legacy and spark a global
movement for secure, inclusive e‑payments.
