I wake up in the morning when the cold wind blows. I grab a shovel with my hands and feet. And I start carrying bags of soil, stones, wood and cement on my head. My friends prepare to go to school. I walk as a laborer.

I am now 17 years old. My home is in Aathbiskot Municipality-8, Rukum West. I grew up seeing suffering from a young age. I did not know what childhood happiness was. I am currently working on a school building in Tripurasundari-1, Dolpa.

It makes my heart skip a beat when I see them. I wish I could have been like that and been in class. Sometimes I stop working and just stare. But then I remember – my life is different. I started working as a laborer from the age of 12/13. I even went to India and worked in various places in Nepal. At that age, I had to play and study. But I learned to work. Now I work 12 hours a day. If you work all day, you get 1,000 rupees. It feels a little better here than in India. The wages were even lower there. My young back and shoulders are always under pressure. My body gets tired and sore after working all day. But I cannot stop working for a moment. I came to Dolpa three years ago in search of work. At that time, my father died. He lay down in his sleep in Sahartara village of Kaike rural municipality. For me, rest is seeing others rest. When school-going children walk happily, I watch from afar. I remember the childhood I lost. And I keep on tossing and turning. I really wanted to study. I studied till grade 5. But due to the poor condition of my family, I could not afford it. I had to drop out of school. It has been five years since I left school. My brother was also studying at Himalaya Secondary School, and he also had to drop out. Both of us wanted to study, but poverty did not allow us to study. Tripura Secondary School Katiachaur is near where I work. There, children of my age go to school happily, carrying bags and wearing clean clothes. I watch all that from afar.