Caste & Dreams

"My father worked in someone else's field because he has no land of his own. I remember every morning he would take me with him. On our way he had to stop at the landlord's house to collect the...

Published23 September 2015

Reading Time 2 mins

Author Stories of Nepal

Location Nepal

"My father worked in someone else's field because he has no land of his own. I remember every morning he would take me with him. On our way he had to stop at the landlord's house to collect the digging tools. The tools would be left outside the gate of the house. I never saw my father enter the house. I wondered why my father never went in the house and who lived there. When I asked him, he simply said, "The landlords live there. It is because of them we have food." As I grew up I slowly started to understand how a system of caste had made us untouchables. We were the one's that could not touch someone else's water. That we were somehow lower than the other castes. So you see, equal opportunities is only the thing of the cities. I wanted to study but the opportunity won't even reach us. My father worked all his life for what? He is as poor as he was 15 years ago and could not pay for my school fees. And we still remain poor. And at 18, I am married and given up on dreams, as reality is different. " (Monika Pariyaar, Kewul, Gulmi)

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