In a village named Bayu, there lived a girl named Deki. She grew up hearing people call her by the name ‘kokti’, meaning bastard. Even before she attended school, she had to take the role of a cattle herder. She was brought up by her lone mother. She grew up without even getting a scent of what fatherly love was. Rice meals were very scanty during that time. Her family got to eat rice on only special occasions. Rest, they depended mainly on flour meals ground from the cereals grown in their fields.

During summer months, Deki put all her attention on her studies and other activities that would contribute to her wholesome development. She strained her eyes by reading and writing in the dimly lit candle light. When she ran short of candles at home, she studied in the blazing light of kindling sticks.

During the vacations, she closely assisted her mother and grandparents. Her daily tasks usually began a little before dawn. Her first task was to collect the fresh cow dungs after releasing the cattle for their pre-milking graze session. She then emptied baskets of fresh dung at the nearby fields. The memories of how she immersed her bare hands in gathering the fresh dungs each freezing morning came as fresh as the dungs even after decades.

While herding cattle during the daytime, cleaning and spinning woolen yarn kept Deki busy. When her stomach craved for something, she rummaged the grounds for strawberries or brushed branches of wolf berries. She would return in the evenings with her backpack of dried firewood or heaps of dried pine leaves to be used in the cattle shed.

She would accompany her mother to the watermill a couple of times in a month. This way, their stock of flour for meals was ensured. She would knead dough out of the freshly ground flour and prepare few toasts over the fireplace for them to munch on for the night. By midnight, she would have fallen asleep to the tune of water jet splashing against the wooden turbine beneath. The nights spent with her mother even on layers of buckwheat husk felt awesome.

With sheer interest, Deki learnt to weave. She wove blankets to be taken to school. Her favorite was the fluffy blanket named ‘Tshuktu’, that guarded her from the extreme cold. Her mother had been innovative in sewing pillows with dried sphagnum moss fillings. The dried fillings broke down into pieces night after night and then turned into a flat mass of dust after months. But she was fine sleeping on it.

Riding on her unflinching determination, she passed the race of school and university examinations with distinction.

Deki had the choice either to let her circumstances to take charge of her life or to turn the downsides into an opportunity. She chose the latter and became someone in life. She was determined not to let the crude circumstances in her life deter her from doing her best at school and elsewhere. She had always been the best daughter to her mother.

 

She had the choice; to study; to excel and be someone or remain in the seclusion of her remote dome, tending to cattle day in and day out. She didn’t resort to any means of self-destruction like drug abuse or succumb to depression, etc. She didn’t even have the time to think about all those acts of self-condemnation. All she wanted was to help herself out and be someone in life to be able to help others around her. She was so determined in her journey up that she let no negative energy to drag her down the drain. Her determination provided her wings to fly higher and higher. Today, Deki is someone living an independent life.

In life, we always have the choice; the choice to be happy, creative, successful and productive. How many of us waste our precious life denying ourselves of the good choices? How many of us displace the blame of our wrongdoings on our problematic, divorced or destitute parents? Or for that matter, go on justifying one’s malpractices by holding so and so responsible for it.

I know there are many young bloods out there, wanting to drop out of school or resort to unhealthy deeds. Well, don't punish yourself by dragging your parents' or someone else’s problems into your own life. You have a whole life of yours to live on your own terms. Everyone has the choice to become the best version of oneself.

I end with the quote, “Life is all about Choices, You can choose to play a victim or be a problem solver ”~Anonymous.