Roasted Life More Than Maize

An old lady roasting maize on the side of the main road on a sloping roadside caught my attention. She is not just selling maize there; she is earning a living for herself and her two granddaughters.

She does not worry about the polluted air or the harm it may cause to her health.

In fact, she had stopped doing this work for two years because of her health condition.

However, she had to start again to support herself and her granddaughters, as there is no one else to look after them. She is Thulimaya Tamang from Kavre, but she sells roasted maize in Godawari, Lalitpur.

She told me that she cannot breathe properly when she wears a mask.

Every day, she is exposed to smoke from the firewood she uses for roasting maize, as well as pollution from the busy road where large vehicles pass every minute. Like many others working on the streets, she continues her work despite the risks to her health.

For her, earning a living and caring for her family comes before everything else.