What else can happen in the life of a poor person besides suffering? I worked as a labourer, bought food with the hundred or two hundred rupees I earned from it. I cooked, ate and that was it. That is the cycle of my life. I am playing with sticks while my grandchildren are playing. This is more of a compulsion than a profession and a desire. I am trading sticks to satisfy my mind and distract myself. I am earning two or four paisa by trading sticks. My household expenses are also being met. Sticks have become the basis of my expenses and a source of trust for others.

My home is in Dasharathchand Municipality-2, Dehimadoun. Three sons and two daughters were born. Now there are only two sons in the house. One son was good in studies. He was also trusted. That is why he left us forever. My wife's mental state has not been good since the day her son died. May no one come to such a day. I also don't feel like staying at home. To satisfy my hunger, I wander around the forest looking for wood to make sticks. I wander around the forest all day and return home only in the evening. At home, I am busy making sticks. Since my grandparents' time, our profession has been working with reeds.

I am also good at making heads and branches from reeds. I am a house builder. I am now 61 years old. Now I can't even do my work as a carpenter. I can't use tools to do my work as a carpenter all day long. Not only my arms are weak. Now I have become weak. I still make my daily living from sticks.
Some people buy sticks as a hobby and some for real skill. I charge 500 rupees for a stick. Sometimes traders buy them all at once. I go to Gothalapani, Gadhi, Shahilek and neighboring villages in the district headquarters to sell sticks. I go to the government office in the district headquarters.

Everyone calls me a stick maker. I can only make two sticks a day. The eldest son is now 22 years old. He lives at home. The younger son has gone to India. He never calls. It has been three or four years since he left home, where is he? He neither comes home nor calls. Even if I had called, it would have been satisfactory. The youngest son was good at studies. He sold the land to teach him agricultural technology. We had high hopes that he would get a good job after studying and that he would also look after us. He had come home after completing his studies. He chose suicide. He was away from us forever. If he remembered, I would go crazy.

To forget that, I would leave the house on the pretext of selling sticks. My daughter is already married. Now I wish I could have married my son at home. Even if he gets married, he is unemployed. I worry about how I will not be able to support my daughter-in-law. There is not enough land for farming. Since the land is also flat, we farm with rainwater. We are forced to buy and eat. Earlier, we used to work all day, but now that is not possible. Now the only support is the social security allowance. Last year, we started getting allowances.