(1/2) “I was among one of the very few girls in my village who went to school. It was only because father disagreed with mother who argued that daughters belonged inside the house. Because father spent many years of his youth travelling and learning Sanskrit and the Vedas in Banaras, he understood the importance of education. I knew that he had big dreams for me. In school, I was a good student too, always in the top three. The teacher would congratulate me after every exam and the boys would wonder in disbelief, after all, for them I was just a girl, who was supposed to tidy the kitchen and broom the floor. What was I doing in school competing against them? But no one could stop me. My happiness back then came in the form of my father’s praises for my hard work. Before SLC, I would come back from school and study all night. Mother would complain about not helping her with the kitchen and the food. She would yell, “A girl needs to look beautiful, a girl needs to know the kitchen and the workings of the home.” But I was adamant as I had to pass the SLC. When the exams came, I was not able to answer many of the questions. They were different from what we were taught in class. After the exams, I spend my days in fear. When I heard the news that I had failed, I could not imagine how it could have happened. After all, I was a good student. For several months I did not leave the house. I felt like I was a big disappointment to my family and the society. Every time I thought of the villagers gossiping about me, about my failure I isolated more. I shuddered in fear for I felt my future was uncertain. My father would come in with food and ask me to eat but I would refuse. I felt I had let him down. I felt like I had killed his dreams.” (Bishnu Maya Bhandari, Dhampus 7, Kaski) #elevateddreams in collaboration with Trek To Teach.