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Home 96
Mandi, Himachal Pradesh
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K had to leave school in grade 6 to take care of his younger brothers when his father passed away. He started making furniture with his uncle and started his own business. But he kept up with his reading, got a job with the government in the department of education, studied privately and gave his school exams. He was promoted to lab assistant in the government secondary school and briefly in the college. He had a satisfying career helping students build experiments in biology, physics and other sciences. Since retiring in 2018 he re-started his furniture business in his house saying “But I only do as much as I want to” as he cut a piece of wood for a door a neighbor asked him to make.

K and his wife V came from farming families but, she says, “We have done well in the years that have gone by. We have built a house. Our children are doing well. His [K’s] younger brothers have good jobs with the government now.” She adds that “It’s better to have a job than a farm, especially with the troubles the monkeys and wild pigs cause us.”