The Wise Father

Published19 August 2016

Reading Time 2 mins

Author Stories of Nepal

Location Nepal

"I come from a Dalit family and my father is a wise man. He was in the police for some time and when he travelled he saw. He saw how those who had gone to school had prospered in the society. When he came home, he made sure that all of us went to school. Not long ago, the living conditions in my village were dire. There was one tap for 300 families. Fight and quarrels among neighbours was an everyday thing. Everyone had so little and everyone was trying to survive and provide for their family. Religious fanaticism was at its heights and people gave in to practices that would make someone better or worse than the others. You know the oppression by the ‘high caste’ of the ‘low caste’. But things are slowly changing. When school reached and the roads arrived, people started seeing things that they had not seen. This brought about a lot of change. Now, almost all house in this Dalit community sent their children to school. I was one of the lucky ones. Even though from a family belonging to an abandoned community, my father had the brains to send us to school. Today, I am a journalist and I have seen all the issues that affect rural Nepal. But all the credit goes to my parents. Had my father not disciplined me over my recklessness and had mother not made me lunch before I went to school, then I would be somewhere in India working menial jobs or maybe cutting grass.” (Ganesh Rokka, Malam, Amargadi 1, Dadheldhura)

Join the Archival Journey

Receive weekly dispatches from the field—stories of resilience, tradition, and the changing landscape of Nepal delivered quietly to your inbox.