It is a dark room. Under the light of two white bulbs, he has been trying to squeeze oil from mustard seeds. Jhyantu Shrestha, 40, has been working in a Mustard factory at Jhochhen for 22 years now.  He is the only employee there. “I lost my father when I was 7 years old.

My elder brother, sister and younger sister were raised by our mother. She went through lot of hardships to raise us. I started working at the age of 12. When I first came to Kathmandu from Nuwakot, I was in my early twenties. I worked as a mason and was paid RS 20 to 30.

Now I earned around RS 800 per day. I sleep in the factory, since the rent here is expensive and I have to support my family. The reason I came here was that things became unaffordable for us,” said Jhyantu. He travels back to his hometown during planting and harvesting and also during festivals. “I did not get formal education. Had my father been alive, things would have been different. I have three sons and a daughter. They all go to school,” said Jhyantu.