(Part 2/3)
“When I returned home from India, I had saved some money. With that, I was able to get married. I was only 16 then. No one told me that I was too young. And I did not have the maturity. Maybe if I had continued with school, I would have known that getting married too young is not a good thing to do. But as I had wished, I started a family. My wife was a good person. She stayed home and took care of the family while I wandered looking for work. Somehow, we managed. We had a son and two daughters.

One day, my wife complained of pain in her chest. We tried consulting the local shamans but she had already started losing weight. Her worsening health worried me. And I was worried that I had no money for her treatment in a hospital. So I spent a few weeks meeting friends and relatives and asking for a loan. When I collected enough money, I took her to the hospital in Kathmandu. The doctor told me there was an infection and that germs had nested in the corner of her heart. ‘Please take this medicine and cure her’, said the doctor to me. ‘Bring her back when the medicines run out’. I could not go to work regularly because I had to look after my wife and our children. I had to do the housework and whatever labor work I could find. But I never thought of accepting defeat. For all humans, there is always hope for happier days. My wife’s health did not improve. I loaned some more money and took her back to Kathmandu. The doctors did several tests while my wife was admitted. Anxious, I would wander around the ward, praying. But the doctors finally confessed that she could not be cured and it was very late. After a few weeks, she passed away, leaving me and the children alone. I cremated her in Bheri.

How do I express how I felt in my heart when she passed away? I could not sleep at night. I would wake up at 2-3 in the morning. I would see my children spread out near me and cry when the world slept. Because I had lost all the sleep I would start cooking for them in the early hours so that when they woke up there was food ready.” 

Stories of Nepal X BlinkNow