“I lost two babies before they were born. My inlaws did not take care of me. I had become too weak to prepare food or fetch water. My suffering was boundless. My body became hollow and my mind without thoughts. I was then possessed. My words lost meaning and my in-laws became crueller. So one day I ran away and came to my parents. I came back home. My mother cried when she saw me. They took me to a shaman and I started feeling better. The food was good and the water plenty. Some time had passed and my husband came to visit me. He expressed his love towards me and told me that he will live with me and raise a family. So he stayed back at my parents’ village. Today we have three children together. My in-laws come to visit their grandchildren but they are still the same towards me. But because they are my husbands’ family I pay my due respect and serve them clean meals before they depart. Life is not always easy for poor people like us. Raising my children is our current struggle. And because work is so scarce here, my husband has left for Kashmir to work. And we all miss him. I wish the children had their father with them to play with. I wish he was here so that I could take good care of him. I do not know if he is sleeping without a blanket or if he is eating cold stale food.”