“My parents found the proposition appealing as it had come from a family with a good reputation,” Sarala said. “But they couldn’t make a decision immediately as I was young. But later, when the Rijals promised to continue sending me to school after the marriage, my family agreed.”
The date was fixed: June 18, 1962.[break]
Sarala was a pampered girl. She was the youngest of 16 siblings, and didn’t have any sense of responsibility.
“I never helped in household chores,” Sarala said. “I didn’t even know how to prepare tea, whereas, after marriage, girls were expected to cook for their in-laws and husband. My family members still talk of the instance when I didn’t offer water to my sick brother when he asked for it.”
Due to her careless and carefree attitude, Sarala faced problems.
“But I was lucky, as my father-in-law favored me and treated me like his own daughter,” she said. But she never took advantage of his love and started learning things.
“I learnt to prepare dishes and not mess up the kitchen. I washed clothes and fetched water from the well. I also learnt to use both my hands while serving elders,” she said.
All the while, her husband, 15-year-old Bhola Rijal, was preparing for his SLC examinations. Soon after graduating, he went to Banaras for his higher secondary education. He then went to Bangladesh for his MBBS.
“Living together as a married couple was rare in those days. We met only once in six months or a year,” Sarala said. “But that didn’t affect our relationship, as both of us were committed to each other and had love and respect for one another. Besides, he was becoming a medical doctor. And I knew the fruits of my wait would be sweet.”
The couple had to wait until 1972 to live together. By that time, he had completed his MBBS and had returned to Nepal. Bhola then joined public service.
As a civil servant, he was first sent to a health clinic in Taulihawa. The Rijals stayed there for two years. He was then transferred to Rajbiraj, where he and Sarala lived for another three years. He was later posted to Taplejung, Sankhuwasabha, and Solukhumbu after which he went to Bangladesh for his post-graduate education.
Sarala and their three children also accompanied him. The family was together for two years.
Back in Nepal, the Rijals moved to Kathmandu from Biratnagar, where their in-laws lived. Bhola then joined the TU Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu and later opened his own, Om Hospital.
In these years, Bhola accomplished what very few in Nepal have. He’s Nepal’s first male gynecologist and delivered the first test-tube baby in the country.
Despite her husband’s successes, Sarala isn’t vain.
“Of course, I’m happy with the strides he’s made. He struggled hard to reach this point. Only those who become famous overnight act haughty,” Sarala said.
All along his medical journey, Bhola was also pursuing his passion for writing poems. He wrote from a young age and recited his pieces during family gatherings.
“However, in those days, wives weren’t allowed to join family get-togethers. So I can’t exactly explain how his recitations went,” Sarala said.
But being a wife of a doctor who also writes poems and lyrics doesn’t mean they had an extraordinarily romantic life.
“Romance wasn’t common among married couples in those days, especially in a conservative Brahmin family like ours. And since we were living with our in-laws, we didn’t have much privacy, either. But we’re very intimate now,” Sarala said.
“Looking back, I must say we lived a very happy life, without heated discussions and major disputes. I’ve lived a wonderful life,” Dr Bhola Rijal says.
No doubt, Sarala would surely echo the same sentiments.
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