How I decided to become a Writer
Life itself started like a journey back at one remote village in the Western Nepal; life was simple, pure and unspoiled by the so called virtue and vice of modern civilization, and the greatest dream one could ever have as a village boy was to visit the nearby town and get amused by trivial things such as bicycle, ice cream and colorful dresses.
1. Feudal Caste System
Nepal is still crippled with feudal caste system, one’s choice of profession is mostly predetermined by his or her caste, and one could hardly get out of this deeply-rooted social anomaly throughout the entire life.
My position was no different, my surname has played more important role than my choice when I became a British Gurkha soldier at 17, landed in Hong Kong at the middle of night like a confused sheep in front of the headlight, and my life completely changed even before I could fully realize it.
2. The Army Life
The army life was certainly a very tough, suddenly changing from a carefree adolescent to a regimented army life was not easy, and I had my fair share of bad to worse days in my early days as a soldier.
It was still a privilege to become a British Gurkha, it commanded not only respect and pride back in our village society but also the best option that we have had, and that sense of pride, honor and achievement alone was more than enough to get over with the difficulty that came with the job and gave us strength to carry on.
The financial impact it did bring to the impoverished family like ours back at the village was pretty immense, so was the respect amongst the peers, and it keeps the tradition going on and on for more than 200 years by now.
3. Experience
But all the glitters started to come off at least for my case after 5 years in the service, most of the things I had perceived and believed about it were not true, and my interests started to wane itself off the army.
It also happened to be my first lesson of the reality of this world, we were not only treated unfairly, paid pittance, and discriminated against in many aspects but also exploited to the core, and it saddened me the most when I realized that we were treated like a third rate citizen by our then master for which we have sacrificed our everything for so many years.
Nevertheless, it was our pathetic but real situation of serving one nation while still being the citizen of other nation that did hurt my pride and eventually changed my position. Being a British Gurkha was still a very proud and honorable moment for us, still is for many even today.
Yet, our situation also made us a mercenary and there are still some people who are not familiar with the history of British Gurkhas do call us with that name. And it was that label of stigmatized life that I couldn’t bring myself into carry on living with and I decided to leave the army after serving it for the next 13 years in total.
4. Hard Work
After the army, I briefly went back to Nepal with my young family and returned back to Hong Kong again to start a new job. My job required me to be in China for 5 days of each week, China was just opening up to the new world, and every day was like a new day.
For the next twenty years, I worked extremely hard by raising my young family and establishing my business, and survived the cruel world by my own without much help, guidance and support from outside.
The world outside the army was even harsher, people were nasty, and the locals, including the governmental disciplined services, always looked down upon us as an outsider. I am a self-made-man, I have learned everything in life the hard way and I didn’t know life could be so cruel and rewarding all at the same time. My own life has been my best teacher.
5. Money Does not matter
As I have been working since 17, I never wanted to work for money after I turned fifty and always wanted to do something more meaningful and rewarding at the later half of my life. Most importantly, it has to come directly from my heart, nourishes my soul and makes me feel happy and worthwhile.
Writing has always been in me, I used to write when I was young but completely stopped it as I got busy with life, and rekindling my writing again was not only easy but also the right thing to do.
It was a gift that almighty has bestowed upon me, I always wanted to use it for good cause so it won’t be wasted, and using my writing as the main source of income for my charity happened to be one of the best decisions I have ever made.
I made that decision in 2009, started writing again and by 2015 when I was just over fifty and finally ready to publish all of my 6 books all at once. I have two more books coming soon and have plan to continue writing at least 2 more books every year hereon.
6. Helping Others
Since I don’t write for money or fame, I decided to be a writer of conscience, and I always write for people, society and whenever possible for mankind as well. My books are based on serious global and social issues, the subject matters of my books are always the real one, and they are presented with a fictional story around the real issue.
My books are meant to be good for students, families, and to the general publics who care about global and social issues in our world. My books contain no vulgarity, sex, violence or any other bad elements which are so prevalent and widespread in modern writing and my books can be shared by the whole family at any given time.
Although I have spent my whole adult life in Hong Kong, I always wanted to do something for my people back in Nepal, and the noble wish of giving back something back to the society drives me for always working hard.
Nepal is still a very poor country in the world, a small amount can do a big difference there in peoples’ life and there are so many of such poor people who genuinely need help. I am just trying to do my part here and nothing more, if we don’t help nobody will.
That was the reason behind my decision of dedicating all of my time and efforts in the service of the needy children in Nepal and that is precisely what I am trying now. God willing, hope I can fulfill my goal.
7. Working for Charity
All the proceeds generated from my books are use to run my charity called ISSLCARE which is registered in Hong Kong and it helps finance poor families in Nepal so they can send their children school.
We have already started a campaign back in Nepal, we are now sponsoring 25 children (12x boys + 13x girls) through 8 schools, and as we grow with time, we have a plan to expand the campaign throughout the nation so we can help as many children as possible in the future.
It can take 5 years, 10 years or even my lifetime; I am fully committed to my goal and will persevere until to the end. I need to sell at least 10 books through Amazon to be able to sponsor one child, my endeavors will go on until I fulfill my goal and it is the only reason why I come to work each day.
8. Happiness
Writing is the wellspring of my happiness, provides solace to my soul and warms up my heart. Helping children is the reason of my living; it saves me from the unnecessary burden of having to live with this cruel world and prevents me from insanity.
If writing is my blood, helping children is my air, and without one, my existence is uncertain. Humans are selfish creatures by nature, we don’t budge without our own motives, and I am no exception.
Besides my family, writing is the most important part of my life and without it I am nothing, and whatever I am doing is for the sake of my own happiness and nothing more. And it is my writing that is making it all possible.
