I am not Poor

“My name is Birkha Bahadur, I am from Mugu. I am nine years old. I don't no the meaning of school and don't no the value of education. But I am not poor.

I have five sisters and brothers, father and mother and grandfather too, so I am not poor. I have more than 150 sheep and dozens of cattle so, I am not poor. I again don't no the meaning of poverty.

I have acres of land and many trees and bushes so, I am not poor. I have a Kale (a dog) which is bigger than me, so I am not poor. 

My day starts with a rope and a knife not with copy and pencil. My daily destination is jungle not a school. Even I am not poor. I have many friends they are also not poor because they all are like me. 

Many of people like you, asked about me. Why I am not going school? You do not feel pain while doing hard labor? But, I have no answer of these questions. There is not any school in my village in the distance between 5 hours but the jungle is near about my house.

I don’t no what will happen when I go to school and what will change in my life after getting education. I am happy with my life because I am not poor. I used to worry while can’t get sufficient firewood and grass but no need to worry about the fail of examination.

Father does not need to scold me by scanning my mark-sheet but he scolds by glimpsing my quantity of woods and grass. Even, I am not poor because I have a big rope to collect those things.”

He is a character, he is a symbol, he is an irony, he is a metaphor, he is a fate and also he is a future of remote Karnali. In one side of Nepal nine years old boy making a town in Clash of Clans but he is making a village in Karnali. Many young boys in city are connecting with world wide web but he is connecting with spider web. City boys have so many friends in their school but he have so many sheep and cattle in his farm, actually he is not poor.

He is just an example to represent the massive situation of rural Karnali. Thousands of young are directly involve in daily domestic works instead of going school. This is the way that lead Karnali in to darkness. They have compulsion to work that is one part, and the another part that the policy maker should focus on to give awareness for their parents. The parents even do not have right to make their children rich like this way.