“My father did not have any land of his own. The rich people of the village did not want to talk to him or invite him to their house because he was from a ‘lower caste’. I remember we had to take the longer way to the market because we could not use the path used by the ‘upper caste’. I would see the other children walk that way and I would wonder where it would lead. As I grew up I came to understand about our society. Even today, we are treated differently. We are still landless. My husband is a daily wage labourer and so am I. And because we do not have people in high offices and we have not seen school, finding work everyday is not possible. If we work for 2 days we are unemployed for 3. And now with the baby, my husband is the only one working and that means less income. The problems are endless but I still have hope. I hope things will change for us and that my child will have a good future. I hope she will look after us when we are old and unable.” (Parbati Devi Sada, Kanchanrup 6, Kanchanpur)

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