“The sons in the family do not help. If they did, Mother would not be washing dishes. Maybe because they were married at a young age, they have their own responsibility towards their children. So I have become my mother’s support. I give her my earnings and listen to her worries. Due to these reasons, I stopped going to school after SLC. I wanted to continue but that year father fell on the pottery wheel. We rushed him to the hospital but he never recovered fully. Some parts of his body do not work now. And he stopped making pots. Now he just roams around the village in a state of sadness. Mother goes to do the Dishes in the homes of rich people. I farm mushrooms with a friend and support her. She is also not so well. She had problems with her lungs. So I bear the costs of the visits to the hospital. I am young and I am good at what I do. Every time I bring money home, I see the relief in my mother’s eyes. I have to stay home for her so I do not want to get married now even if I am pressured. I just want to stick my mushrooms and yield better products every day so that my mother can stop going to wash dishes. Her calloused hands, they need rest.”

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