Human Rights

Human Rights

Published10 June 2015

Reading Time 3 mins

Author Stories of Nepal

Location Nepal

No one thought I would pass the SLC exams. One of my teacher suggested, “Run away, or if you fail they will kill you at home”. But you know a villager runs away from home to become a conductor or a bus driver and this was not what I wanted to become. Luckily, I passed with 2nd division. I was the kind who would get into fights and roam around the village aimlessly but would go back home and study in the evening. I somehow joined college in Kathmandu. Now, I was the only one who has gone to school in my family, let alone college. I did good during my first year. The second year the college fees had to be paid in two installments, the first one was 475 rupees which I somehow managed to pay but the second one was 525 which I could not pay. So I came back to my village looking for help. But no one gave me the money. No family, no relatives and no friends came for help. So I just slept for one month at home. But I had a plan. To ask my brother for the money that came from selling milk. So one night while we were eating, I broke my silence and asked him for the money. He blatantly declined, saying, “What will you do with your books, it’s not going to feed you or your family. Why don’t you just work like us?”. Hearing this and the young blood I was, I emptied my rice plate on my brother's head and ran away from my house. You know, hot rice. I soon learnt that my brother had left for india so I returned home and slept for three months. My mother started telling me I was becoming yellow staying home so I joined into politics, you know doing things for politicians. But there was this nice old politician who handed me 2100 rupees and asked me to join college. I took that money and joined college. I continue with my politics going to college at the same time, documenting the daily struggles of the villagers. I started getting inclined towards human rights or should I say the lack thereof. After sometime, with a help of a friend, I joined a human rights organization and have been working for them for many years now. During the insurgency until now. But the struggles still continues at home. Sometimes, my daughters say, “Where is your human rights speech now, where is our human rights when you cannot even buy us school stationaries?” (Bhojraj Timilsina, Banepa, Kavre)

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