Tej Bahadur Karki Salleri 5, Solukhumbu
“Mother had made up her mind to elope with another man before father returned home. He had been gone for two years in search of work. When she left, she took her youngest son, my brother, who was only 4 at the time. When father returned he could not bear the loss of his wife and his son. He became a man of sadness. Thereafter, childhood became miserable for me. My dog was my only company. Every evening I returned home from school, I would spend my time behind the house with my dog who had become my only company in the lonely house. I would tell him of my hunger and of father’s sadness. Though food was scarce, I always managed to give him a bowl of rice. As the situation at home got worse, one monsoon the rain destroyed all our crops. That ruined the next few years for us. And in no time the kitchen only had empty pots and rusty pans. I remember, one day I had gone looking for food and came back empty-handed. I remember the look in my dog’s eyes. There was hope in him that master would bring him food but I had failed him. That day with a heart full of sorrow and guilt, I took my dog and left him in a village few hours away. I knew that I would not be able to see him starve to death. The next day I quit school and I started carrying goods from Jiri to Lukla. And on the road I met many men and women. Men and women who had the same story like mine. And as we walked up the mountains, we ate together, sang together and shared our stories with each other. One such day, I helped a girl carry a bag of wheat up a cliff and we shared our lunch. That day I had told her the story of my dog an how I had let him go. I told her about my mother’s foolishness and my father’s sadness. I think she could relate to my pain. And for a bit, both our eyes watered. For for a while, in each other’s company, we found some relief.”
