At that time, there were no schools in the village. There was no awareness of the need to educate children. So, from the age of 6, I followed my parents. They would go to the stone quarry near their house and make millstones and chisels. I also didn't want to stay there. I wanted to carry stones. When my father and grandfather were tired and restless, I would grab a hammer and chisel and carve stones.

After the age of 10, my grandfather also taught me to make a millstone and a stone millstone. The work of making stone millstones and a stone millstone was like our ancestral profession. We used to earn a living by doing that work. The skill taught by my grandfather back then has now become my means of earning a living.

Not only me, most of the children in the village did not study. It was the custom for those who went to school to leave their studies and go to various cities in India to work as laborers. When I reached the age of 14/15, I also went to Ladakh, India in 2034 BS with my friends to make it easier for my parents. No matter how much I worked there, I could not earn more than my living expenses. How could I send money home after I had enough of what I earned?

I returned home after living in Ladakh for two years. After returning home, I continued my parents' work. I started making stone mills, silautos and okhals. I supported a family of 22 by doing that work. Now there is no demand for mills, silautos and okhals like before. Due to migration, the settlements have also become empty.

I am now 63 years old. There is no other source of income. Now there is only a husband and wife at home. Since there is no other option to meet household expenses, I am forced to make stone mills, silautos and okhals even in my old age.

When I was old, I used to lift big stones and carry them from one place to another and make a millstone in five days, but now I can't. It takes 15 days to make one. Earlier, when the demand for millstones was high, I used to earn up to 90 thousand a month. Now there is no demand and I can't even do the work I used to do. I am only making small mills and grinders. I have been earning only about 15,000 rupees a month by selling small mills and grinders. I have not been able to quit my job because I have enough to feed my family of two and do not have to rely on others.

A family of two needs 25 kg of rice worth 2,000 rupees, 5 kg of pulses worth 1,000 rupees, and vegetables worth 2,000 rupees, 2 liters of oil worth 500 rupees, and 1 kg of salt worth 30 rupees to eat breakfast and dinner for a month. We eat about 2,000 rupees of meat a month. We spend 1,000 rupees on electricity and telephone. Out of the 15,000 rupees I earn by selling mills and grinders per month, I save about 6,000 rupees for household expenses. The remaining amount is enough to buy new clothes for the festival to cover the medical expenses of two people. I have not had to rely on my daughter-in-law.

Well, this age of mine is the time to rest. When I was supposed to raise my children, they started their own homes and businesses. Instead of sitting still, I could not stop loving work because I had to move my arms and legs and I had to do four or five hundred hands a day. If the municipality had been able to organize it, many young people would have found employment.