Last Monday, I earned 1,600 rupees by sewing trousers and skirts. Working until 8 pm earned an additional 300 rupees. Working all day from 7 am on the machine, sometimes I earn up to 1,900 rupees.

I am also a Dalit woman member of Phungling Municipality-5. This is my second term as a public representative. I had won the same position last time too.

The Congress has made me its candidate for the second time. Few people here know me as Tika Sinwa. But there are few who do not recognize me when I say 'Kaili Tailors'. I have made my identity by sewing daura-suruwal. This identity also made me a public representative. This time they asked me to recommend my name as a candidate for the National Assembly election. But, I said, 'I am a ward member, that's it, no need'. Did I make a mistake?

Anyway, since I have the skill in my hand, I don't have to work with others. I am happy that I can earn/eat my own food. Earlier, it was the custom for daughters to sew only their daughters' clothes. I also learned to sew from cholo, petticoat, and jama. I started sewing daura-suruwal while working. I got the skill of sewing daura-suruwal from my father. My father used to say that I should cut the cloth of such and such size. After I started sewing khadi daura-suruwal, I started to be talked about.

One day, Dahal, my uncle from the village (I forgot his name), said, 'Aam.. Kaili also sews daura-suruwal'. And he stopped the cloth to wear what she sewed. At that time, I was worried that the woman would not wear what she sewed. The daura-suruwal that I sewed is very beautiful to him. After that, whether he was going around the village or going to meetings, he used to spread the word that Kaili sewed it. After that, the number of people coming to sew daura-suruwal increased rapidly. After that, I didn't have to be a barber.

This is how I was able to get money to sew. Leaders and CDOs also came to wear what Kaili sewed. Suryaman Gurung, Yogesh Bhattarai, and Pratap Prakash Hangam, who have become ministers from Taplejung, have worn daura-suruwal, coats, and hats that I sewed.

I have kept daura-suruwal fabrics that can be made for 2 to 7 thousand in the shop. Some are brought from villages in Taplejung and some from India. Many buy and sew clothes from this shop. After daura-suruwal, I started sewing hats, coats, and east coats. There are few people in the district who don't know 'Kaili Tailors' located on the old bank line of the district headquarters. It is difficult to get work done now. I have not hired anyone to do the work. My brother Shivakumar, my daughter-in-law and I sew. We have also built a house on the bank line by combining the income from sewing and our ancestral property. Since I am able to work from my own home, there is no rent tension.

It is said that hard work alone is enough to eat. Expenses are high. We buy firewood for 45,000 for the whole year to heat the fire in the cold. A family of 5 including my brother-in-law, grandchildren and me needs 50 kg of rice per month. That costs more than 3,500. We pay 120 rupees for tea and buy one and a half liters of milk per day. When guests come, that is not enough. Sitting at the machine all day and working gets tiring. Eating meat costs more than 1,000 a day. Brothers and sisters pull the tongwa in the cold evenings. It costs at least three hundred rupees a day.

Since I have many family members and relatives, I have guests almost every day. They have to be fed well. Meat, cold drinks, etc. are also spent. The expenses for marriage, funerals, funerals, etc. are different. The allowance of a ward member comes to eight/nine thousand a month. That money is spent on visiting the ward, paying for parties, and serving tea to friends. That alone is not enough. If I get sick and go to the hospital, it is 10/12 thousand. In any case, I don't have to rely on others because I have skills in my hands. I am happy to be able to earn my own living. I have been able to eat well, dress well, and be treated well when friends and relatives come. There is satisfaction in that.