”I bought new clothes for my son with my happiness as a hostage”

फाल्गुन ९, २०८१

सीताराम थारु

”I bought new clothes for my son with my happiness as a hostage”

My house is in Rajapur Municipality-1 of Bardia. I am 34 years old. Jamie has been in the profession for 18 years. Now I am working in Kathmandu. Six years have passed since he came here in search of work.

I don't remember what my father's face looked like. My father passed away when I was four years old. He lost his father's guardianship before he could go to school. Due to his death, the financial status of the family is weak  Done . I wanted to study but due to lack of money I could not go to school .

I have an elder sister and a brother . My brother brought me up by farming . When I was 13, my brother's hand was cut off by a machine . After the father, the elder brother became disabled. Hamme-hamme had to juggle food with my brother's disability .

As soon as I passed my teenage years, Jamie had to go to India to work. After working in India for 12 years, I saw my disabled brother and family. After working in India, I bought a plot of land in the village along with the house expenses. I built a tower on the same land . There were four rooms in that crude house, two rooms for my brother-in-law's family and two rooms for my family.

At present, my brother-in-law lives in the village . Maiyakumari Tharu and I got married in 2074. After that, the husband and wife came to the capital. Me, wife and four year old son live here . I have sent my son to school. In the community school of Kathmandu Tokha Municipality, the father is studying in the nursery . He wanted to teach his son in boarding school but he is not financially able to teach. When

doesn't work, sometimes there is a way to avoid it . What to do if you only want to teach boarding. However, even if you are in a public school, you can say that you have studied well, and it makes me happy to hear that. A four-year-old son is happy when he recognizes letters and reads aloud. I am happy that I was able to teach and introduce my son even though I don't know the alphabet.

It was very difficult to get a job in Kathmandu in the early days. Slowly I got to know people and my hands were not empty. Now I am working as a wage laborer.

We don't always live in a camp . Most of us live in a small shed as a house in the place where we build a new house. If you sit like that, you will also be able to add water to the house under construction. Doing such work will cost 10,000 more hands . It is easy for us to live until the house is built. Some of the moneylenders even pay the money for water and light . If they believe in love, they will also fill up the gas .

When I don't have money, sometimes I send eight-ten thousand a month to my brother even though I borrow money from my friends who work together. There is a brother, sister-in-law and daughter in the village. Medicine treatment for my brother, education expenses for my daughter, I have no source of income for household expenses.

Before the birth of the son, the wife also used to earn a little money by working in her spare time. But now she is not able to work as her son is young. If you live outside, you have to pay rent, water-lights, household expenses, and gas, and the expenses are high . In the village, the money to send to the elder's family is sometimes scarce.

We spend a lot on Dasain and Maghi . But it has been many years since I went home during Dasain. Bus fares are expensive during Dasain. It is difficult to cover the household expenses with the earned money, and the expenses will increase during Dasain . During Dasain, the fun takes place in the village, but only the money for the bus fare to and from home is enough to celebrate the whole Dasain in Kathmandu .

Even though we are looking for a loan during Dasain, we also buy new clothes for my wife. For my son, I buy new clothes from time to time keeping my happiness hostage. If it is completed, then you will dream big! When it is not complete, even the dream will not be visible . I don't dream at all. I earn 30 thousand per month when I have a job . If you can wait for the house under construction, you will earn 10,000 more .

Just thinking about where to go after the house that is being built now gives me a headache . Now I am thinking of going to the village without getting a job from May. It will also be easy to enroll the son. There is not much work in the village, I am thinking of going to India after keeping my son and old lady in the village. I don't know if I can get a job in Nepal. If not, the last resort is to go to India. 

village is not as expensive as Kathmandu. Five-six thousand will be enough for sure . You don't even have to pay the rent, you have your own roof. Gas costs two thousand here, what about rice and oilseeds! Earning 40,000 does not save at all. There is no sleep when there is no work . House rent, ration expenses, pen and paper to the son, asking for money from the brother and thinking of who to send the expenses become bright.

I don't have such big dreams . My dream is to work hard and not sit idle. Because, if you stay empty, you worry about what to eat in the morning and evening.

presentation: Aarti Paudel (trainee)

सीताराम थारु

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