All Stories

I never begged, I worked hard and my skills with needles and threads have provided a service to the community.

I understood from very early on that we were poor and we led different and secluded lives.

"I sell big rugs." (Laughs)

"We will be friends for a long time."_x000D_ How long?_x000D_ "Five years. No. Ten years."_x000D_ And after that?_x000D_ "We will still be friends."_x000D_

“My downward spiral was fast. Because I was doing all kinds of drugs, periods without them would mean that I would be physically sick. To sustain my habit, I started scoring directly from Birgunj. I...

“Even though he married me, the love was only one-sided. I was 15 years when I left Kathmandu to stay at his village home, taking care of his mother and three brothers. It was a typical village life...

"All my life I have been running away to save myself. When I was eight, I ran away from my father who would come home drunk everyday and molest my cousin. In his drunken stupor he would make holes in...

"Dai, the groom is thirsty. He has many more hours before the ceremony is over. Poor fellow. Now Dai, you can come to my house in the evening and I can answer all your questions. Now let me go so...

(Part 2/2) “I came to Kathmandu and a few people from the transgender community of the city took me in. But my addiction has gotten so bad that I was asked to leave. I had again become homeless, but...

"There was a dance competition at school and I had chosen to play the female lead. When I got home father punished me for what he thought damaged his name in the society. He hung me upside down and...

"When mother came to terms with the fact that I was a drug addict, she changed. From early in her life she had been an independent women. Father never contributed to the family and she was the one...

(Part 1/3) "I think the problems in my life were destined when I was sent away to boarding school in India when I was 7 years old. It was not mother’s fault. She sent me away because she was worried...

(Part 3/3) "When I told mother about my decision, she quietly said, 'This is the best decision you have made in your life'. I think she saw a ray of hope for her son for sure. Rehab was not easy but...

"All my children died one after the other. Out of eleven, only three remain to see their youth. And I can assure you these living ones will be there until old age. Some died when they were twelve...

"I think that Father loved his animals more than he loved his family. Maybe that is why he chose to live in the sheds with them throughout the year. I wonder, was he not cold with them? Mother would...

"This morning mother asked me if I could make momos for her. She said, 'How long will we talk about our troubles? Let us have some momos today and spend some good time, mother and daughter.' And now...