Age seemed to be like the sun on the hills. Now I am 66 years old. My birth and ancestral home is Ajaymeru Rural Municipality of Dadeldhura. The place called Haat is our place, this is where I grew up, played and sweated on this soil. Even today, I am staying here.

My life journey is not much different . I am not a government employee, nor a big commercial businessman . I am a simple aron profession person living by imbibing the ancestral skills taught by my grandfather .

When I was young, the family situation was poor. Being born in a poor family, going to school was like a dream. When my friends went to school with books, I used to study the lessons of life while kneeling in the smoke and fire in the hall where my grandfather was beating iron. 

When I was 15 years old, I held a hammer for the first time . My life that started from that day is still the same even when I am 66 years old. Babubaje used to say - 'Skills never deceive.' But sometimes it seems, even if skill fills the stomach, life does not feel good. 

In childhood, the clothes were torn, there were no slippers . Even eating a full stomach was not easy. But, I grew up in Aran heating iron, beating it and making various tools . Farmers needed ploughshares, worship materials for gods and goddesses were needed . Our family used to make all that. 

Although the first practice of Aran started at home, later I worked in Aran for eight years in Deumada, Navadurga. Deumada is also my mother-in-law . However, instead of staying at the in-laws house, I decided to live in another village . Because, Aaron was my life, I had to be bound with Aaron wherever I was. 

It has now been 22 years since Dadeldhura came to Tufandanda and ran Aran. Since then, I have been running this place as my workplace. My life is spent in Aaron all day . I wake up early in the morning and start work. I heat the iron, I melt the copper, I drive the hammer . Bathed in sweat all day and tired at night.

earnings are not stable. Sometimes I earn only two hundred, sometimes thousand and sometimes up to 1500 rupees . But many days I return empty-handed . I buy rice, dal, vegetables and cook food with the same money earned by sweating all day long . Sometimes I buy a foot of meat on a good earning day to sweeten my mouth . The food of that day is delicious. Other days, the sweet and smooth is just a dream. I drink tea in the afternoon, sometimes I eat breakfast . And in the evening ate normal food, slept. How many days have I slept hungry without cooking? . 

I live here . In Tufandanda, I live in a small terrace built on an empty land owned by the locals . There is no rent, but it is also not permanent . Now the municipality has suggested to move the end from here to widen the road. After the expansion of the road, this place will have to be left. What the future holds is uncertain . 

I am the responsible person of a family of eight. Two sons, daughter-in-law, grandchildren, wife and I . The responsibility of taking care of this family is on my shoulders . No one is employed, everyone does normal housework . Working on wages or fulfilling orders that come in. If there is work, the stomach will be taken care of, otherwise life will be very difficult . Sometimes I think, this job did not keep me hungry, but I will never wear it again . Even after sweating all day, the savings are nothing special. Sometimes I save two hundred rupees . With that money, I spend my days without earning . 

There's very little I can't make in Aaron . I can make everything from hala phali to puja panchadio, mano, kalash, statue, throne, Narasimha baja . But this skill never seems to be respected by the society . I have learned all this by holding the hands of my father . Not by training anywhere . My hands are my school. Where will the skills learned by watching Facebook and YouTube last? But now the young generation is attracted to such an easy way. Even if the government or various organizations come in the name of teaching skills, they only show it by writing on a copy . Nobody wants to give practical training . 

Spending 22 years in Tufandanda did not get much help from the government or local bodies. Haliyamukti Samaj gave a fan once, that's all . Otherwise, there was no plan, nor was there an initiative for the modernization of this profession . My old age will now pass in Aar . I will work until my hands and feet move . But it is uncertain what will happen when . 

I think, if this profession is commercialized, many young people would get employment . I myself am still capable, can train others . If the local government helps, I can teach skills to the new generation . But the current situation is different. Young people are forced to go abroad. I worry that this hand art will disappear with me . 

However, this is the biggest pride of my life, I am preserving the skill of fatherhood . With the money I earn in the morning, I am happy to eat rice dal with my family in the evening . Even though I can't eat meat, even if I can't wear nice clothes, I feel proud that I am living by laboring .

When I come to this age and look back, I see that my life has been spent in the smoke, fire and sweat of Aaron. Enjoy this skill . This profession did not make me rich, but it made me able to support my family. That's a big deal for me. In old age, the days will pass in this place until the limbs move. This is my life .