CHAPTER 1
Life on the hill

Dessicated rose

Not long ago, there was a small village in a foothill of Durama hill. There lived a small family, with two little girls - Wanse and I, the younger one of the two. My name is Tamchi. Both my sister and I loved gardening. We had a variety of flowers in our garden. And, out of all the flowers, our favourite were the roses.

Even though we had a small family, our home seemed to be the most unfortunate one. My parents had an arranged marriage and did not seem to get along very well. My father always used to come home drunk. He never had time for us.

While my father was busy drinking and hanging out with his friends, my mother would usually go to our field to work. She would work there from dawn to dusk. She used to grow various crops, along with some paddy as well. Whenever we get holidays in our school, we helped our mom in the field. 

Following jhum farming was not an easy task. First of all, we have to clear the forest. Then we had to burn the bushes and dead leaves and branches. Only then, we would grow the crops. It used to take a lot of time, as my father never helped my mother, she had to do all by herself. During the sunny days, she would work even if she gets the sunburn, and during the rainy days, the annoyance of the leaches was unbearable. Even then, she had to work everyday, because the weed grows very quickly and it needs to be removed to let the crops grow healthy. To make things worst, the feral hogs and birds would trespass and destroy the crops. In spite of all the problems and difficulties she faced, she was tenacious and determined, hoping to sell the crops and pay for our schools.
To be continued..