It's been three weeks since we've seen the sun. In between, there were two or three days of intermittent sunshine. Nowadays, if there's one day of sunshine, it's foggy for the remaining six days. It's likely to be like this until Maghi. Last year and last year, it wasn't this cold. It was quite cold in Mangsir. Since the onset of Poush, there's been a thick fog from morning to evening.

It would have been a mist, but now it is raining like rain. After the cold wave, we cannot move our hands and knees due to the cold. Such cold has caused a lot of trouble to us daily wage laborers. It hurts like nails are being driven into our bodies. It is difficult to make a living since we cannot work. Due to the cold, we cannot go out to work in the morning.

It is even more difficult to ride a bicycle when there is thick fog in the morning. The road is not visible well. By the time I return home from work, it is already night. That is why I go to work with a torch in my bag.

I have a permanent residence in Juktinagar, Badhaiyatal Rural Municipality-9. I am now 43 years old. I am currently working on building a house in Gulariya Municipality-8. My house is 9/10 kilometers away from my place of work. Nowadays, leopards are seen almost every day in Balapur village.

To get to Gulariya from home to work, you have to cross two forests. I feel scared to come alone. I feel confident because another person from our village also comes with me.

To get to Gulariya for work, you have to cross two forests. I feel confident because another person from our village also comes with me. On days when that friend does not come, I also do not go to work because of the fear of leopards.

After work, I cross the suspension bridge in Suhelwa, Balapur, Gulariya Municipality and sell my goods to reach home. When I come to Gulariya in the morning and return home in the evening, my hands become as cold as ice due to the cold. I do not have money to buy thick and warm clothes. I finally feel relieved when I reach home in the evening and warm myself with a fire. It is not a desire to work, it is a compulsion. What to do? It is not enough to sit at home with my family and eat during the cold. I am a daily earner and food earner. If I do not work for a day, the stove does not light at home. I am working as a daily wage laborer even to feed my stomach.

I live on public land. I do not have a farm. Except for water, we buy and eat everything we need at home. There are four people in the family, including the elderly and children. The eldest daughter is married. The younger daughter is in 9th grade and the son is in 6th grade at a school in Bhainsahi. My wife keeps getting sick. She had a kidney stone. I had an operation a month and a half ago. I incurred a debt of one lakh rupees when I had her operation.

My children are young. My wife, who needs to rest because I go to work, also gets up early in the morning. She has just had an operation and cannot do difficult work. I also get up early in the morning to help her. In the freezing cold, we wake up at 4:30 in the morning, take a bath and cook. Since we are monks, we cook and eat only after taking a bath. We have to leave the house at 6:45 to reach work at 8 in the morning. I pack my food and have tea and breakfast and leave the house.