Our children can get the allowance too. We filled the forms and did all the formalities, but the officers said we were too late to do that. To make things worse, they have started charging tuition fee for college education from the Scheduled Castes too. My daughter is going to study in college next year and the fee scares me. I do not want anything else but free education for my children. I enrolled them in private schools till the tenth standard. My daughter is in twelfth grade now. She scored 80 percent marks in tenth. My son is also good in studies. He got an award for calligraphy.
I commentate in the village sports tournaments too. I was invited in the Doordarshan TV program “Zindagi Anmol” a couple of times. They have segments on different themes. I was invited for a segment on differently abled people who make their own living. On the side, I like writing satirical poetry. I used to get published in Punjabi Tribune but their new editor has stopped publishing my works. I am being published in newspapers since ‘97. I write about the lives of the people who live on the margins of society. When they don’t publish it, I have to post the writings on Facebook.
If I get to live my life again I would like to study and get a PhD. I read a lot of books. I loved Narinder Kapoor’s book ‘Antar Jhaat’. I got hooked to reading and writing by reading Jagdish Parkash Kaushik’s satirical writings. That inspired me to write.
I have toiled all my life but it does not earn me much these days. The young boys in the village do not want to work. Nobody does tailoring anymore, even those who have learnt it do not pursue it as a profession. I cannot quit and start doing something else now. It is all about children, It is my dream that they get the best education and do what they like to do in life.