All Stories

"At home, I could never learn how to weave baskets. Father and mother both worked as janitors. They left me at home to take care of my brothers. After I send them to school, I would spend all day...

"No matter how big the suffering, it is a human need to eat good food. So I am just spending my day making mango pickle. Too bad that you will not be around when it is ready."

"After completing class 7, my son left school. He did not appear for the class 8 examinations. As a father, it was a sad day for me. But what is his blame? He was just frustrated to be told to sit...

"We were four friends going back home after a long day at work. Thirsty, we went inside a road-side teashop and drank water from the jug. The owner came towards us angrily and started yelling. 'You...

"It is only the old men who play the Thade Bhaka and Deuda songs. For us, we set up the DJ speakers and dance to new songs."

"When there is rain, I am a farmer. Other times, I ride a horse. I have to do something to take care of this sinful stomach. I also need to feed him. This one has been with me from the very...

"I am returning home to Murma from visiting my sister in Tuma. She is elder to me by 10 years. I am 70. She must be 80 then. And she cannot walk. My son died somewhere in the forest. I do not know...

"I should not be telling you my name for I am a married woman. I am also a mother of four - two sons and two daughters. The youngest girl is already twelve. My husband has completed what you call an...

"Mother is busy plucking beans and looking after the animals. She wanted to come down to buy clothes for me and also some pots and pans for the kitchen. Because she is plucking beans and looking...

"I herded goats half my life. And then the other half I herded buffaloes. Sometimes I lived with a dozen buffalos and sometimes with over 30 goats. Some would give milk and some would get pregnant,...

"Father was a Mukhiya. So I never had to work hard growing up. We had many servants and the villagers stood at my father's command. I never had to learn any skills. Always had everything in excess....

"Brother left school because they asked him to sit on the floor in the classroom. But everyone has been nice to me in school. I wish brother did not leave school. Every morning, I looked forward to...

"It must have been 9 or 10. I had gone to catch fish with my work partner, Bilichhyan. And after an hour or two of patience in the river, a big fat fish lost itself in our net. It was no less the 40...

"Many decades ago my wife left me. She must be in the heavens. She has left two daughters who visit me sometimes. Many decades and the earth has also changed. But her memories still come to me every...

"The earthquake saved me. It shook me out of the numbness. It helped me make sense of what little life I had left in me. I could see that the worse could happen to individuals and societies. In a...

"I remember the room where it happened. I remember there was no lock. I remember there was no one except me and this person. I remember how I felt. I remember the emotional pain more than the...