We plant half and half of the paddy. We sell the paddy that is left to the farmer and send the money. They live in Biratnagar. The farmer's family doesn't even come to visit. They haven't asked us to leave the place either.
We don't have our own land to settle down. That's why we are living on the land of Bhim Prasad Baral here. It has been 20 years since we took shelter in Phaktanglung-3, Sinba Likhim. If we were to say that we have our own land in the upper lake. But that is only pasture. It is not useful for farming.
Again, there is no division among the husband's brothers. It is not even decided who will get the husband. Since three of the five brothers have died, it is not even decided when the division will be. Seeing our situation, the moneylender has let us stay in the house for free.
We plant half of the paddy we grow. We sell the paddy that falls to the moneylender and send the money from here. They live in Biratnagar. The moneylender's family does not even come to visit. They are eating whatever they want. They have not told us to leave either. I am worried about where we will go on that day. We have not even made such a plan. If necessary, we will have to go to the Terai. Two daughters are in Madhesh. There are four daughters. All of them are married and have their own houses.
Seeing our situation, the moneylender has let us stay in his house for free. There is one son. He works here and there. Babai (husband) also takes care of the animals and does farming. We store up to 20/22 muri of paddy in a year. When we get half, we get 10/12 muri for ourselves. We grow corn. We have raised cows. We don't have to buy dahi mohi. We don't buy much rice either. Farming is enough. Now, we may have to migrate to Madhesh later. We haven't bought any land in Madhesh. But, they say that even fallen stones can provide shelter. I think we will be able to find shelter. Housing expenses are high these days. The village has been overwhelmed by the market.
If you eat one kilo of goat meat, it will cost you 800 rupees. When guests come, we have to bring meat. Even if we live in the village, there is a problem of not selling the produce we grow. If we could sell it, we would have grown a lot of vegetables. I was born in 2024. My husband is older than me. My children study in school. Even due to their age, we cannot do much work. It is difficult to make a regular income.
Now, birthdays have started to be celebrated in the village too. Birth and death rituals have to be attended to. Even if we go to the end to eat 'cake' and invite our own people, it costs two to four thousand. Even if our own income is enough for rice and lentils, we spend a lot on oil, salt, and spices. People come to people's houses. We have to say, "Let's sit down and eat." It is our old culture. That too costs a lot. Yesterday, when our family sat down and calculated the monthly expenses, it turned out that the household expenses were around 20 thousand. Those who are physically strong work in the hydro company. They earn good money. Those who are not strong also have a lot of housework.
Presentation: Anand Gautam
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