Part-9 August 18,2007 (Contd:) My high school life: After completing my primary and lower secondary education from a school in my village, I went to a high school close to the our district headquarter. The school was about three and half hours walk from my house. So it was not possible to go to school everyday. An uncle of our neighbourhood and a friend from the next village took a room at a place which was about half an hour walk from the school. It was a completely new experience to go to high school as I was away from home for the first time. There were about 60 to 70 students in my class. I was hard-working and no one in my class could beat me to memorize and present the lessons. In the final exam of grade-VIII, I secured the second position in the class. I couldn't beat the person who stood the first. The class topper was really smart.I also couldnot make it because I was in bed for about a month because of some sickness just before the final exam. When I went to grade-IX, people started to see me differently. They might have thought that I was smart and even could beat the class topper who had made history in the school, never being the second. There were beautiful girls in my class from the Newar community and they used to come to me to ask questions about homework. But I felt shy to talk to them. In response, they talked each other about me in their language. Their gossipping made me feel nervous. Anyway, my hard work was ultimately paid when I stood the FIRST in the DISTRICT WISE SEND-UP EXAM. Oh man, people who knew me lauded my achievement. Not only this, I beat all the SLC candidates of the district in the SLC EXAM too. Anyways, this was the first visible reward to my hard work and my dad's and grandma's devotion towards the MOMLESS kids !!