(Part 2/3) “Women have it difficult. When we reached Damauli Bus Park, I insisted that we do not go and meet my parents. I was afraid. Afraid that I would not be allowed to return to Kathmandu and eventually I would have to marry someone that I did not love. I also knew that my parents would not be able to deal with the sight of me coming home with another man. You see, in many cities and villages in Nepal, prestige comes before everything else. It is our collective fault. Hopeless, I even thought of ending it all. The Madi river was nearby and I had contemplated jumping. But I kept strong. My heart believed in him.”

“When we reached her home, I was looked upon with a lot of suspicions. I told her parents that we truly loved each other. I told them I only came with good intentions. It was difficult for them to bear the news. They started crying. We soon understood that her parents had already prepared for her engagement with a Lahure man the next very day. ‘What would the Samaj say? That the daughter of a Bahun went with another caste?’ I knew those were their worries. And they broke down. They told her that if she went ahead with the relationship, she was dead to them. That broke her heart. Seeing everyone’s desperation, I told her I was willing to leave and that maybe it was a good thing for her to get married to the Lahure and forget about me. She cried more. She expressed with her parents her love for me and that she could not imagine life without me. As I sat there listening, I told her parents, “Please give us your blessings. I will keep her happy. I am not a bad person. We both will make a good life together.” But my pleas died out in front of their cries. I told her not to worry and that I was going to take her with me with or without the permission of her parents.”

“And that day we returned. He brought me back to Kathmandu. And soon we got married. He did not even have a suit made. There was a strike that day and everything was closed. We only served cookies and cold drinks to the few people who came. But we were happy. The happiest we could ever be.”