Laxman Sirpali Surkhet

“Today, my biggest fear is the fear of dying. I think I love my life too much. My life is not a life of riches but a life of ‘just enough to get by’. I have carried weight for many years in the alleys of India. I have sold tea on platforms. I have frantically searched for some labour so that I could take home food for my daughters. It has been a life of scarcity. But this has also been an abundant life. I have two daughters who have become my friends today. They tease me and call me names and I chase them and we all become like kids. The mother comes shouting and soon we are after her. Every morning I wake up and I feel that my life has been blessed. I know that I will not be able to put goat meat on the plate every evening but when we eat together the lentils and the spinach is just as good. I want to live and see the lives of my daughters and what they become. I want to be a part of their journey. So I am afraid of dying. Sometimes, out of this fear, I think I drive my auto too slow and on many occasions, the passengers have lost patience.”

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