"No one should pity me for such is not my position. I have worked hard, in the heat of the fields and the cold of home. Sometimes harvesting my own rice and sometimes that of the landowners nearby. Sometimes running my own shop and sometimes boiling sugarcane for my neighbour. I have even encouraged my husband to save money and it was me who suggested that he go abroad to have a steady income. And now, with his savings and mine, we have managed to buy some land. I am able to send my two sons and daughter to school. I am a young mother. I never got a chance to go to school. When I was 15, I was married and sent to my husband's home. What a poor girl I was. What a poor family we were. Now, that is not going to be the case with my daughter. She will get married when she wants to and not because we cannot take care of her. The boys can do their thing too. If they look after us when we get old that is great. If they do not I will hold no grudges. It is their life, their future, and their dreams. And what more do I add? I am okay. No one should pity me for such is not my position."
"Mother always says that she does not need help. But I do not listen to her. I still come to help her when I see her struggling. When she is burdened with problems at home, I go and listen to her. When she cannot carry a heavy bucket of water, I go and carry it for her. She keeps on telling me that I need to focus on my studies and my career. I know that but she cannot do everything herself. I am her son and I know she needs help. And whenever she does, I am there."
(Arula Kumari Mahato, Bateswor 3, Dhanusa)
#TheFutureIWant
SON X UN