One can find 78-year-old Pancha Maya Moktan in the Naya Bazar crossroad of Kirtipur, all year round. It’s been 12 years since she started operating her roadside shop amid the daily hustle and bustle of the bus stand.
“My children have their own priorities. So, I didn’t want to burden their lives by depending on them,” she stated. Before coming to Kathmandu, Moktan used to live in her village, in Sindhuli.
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It was only after her children started migrating to Kathmandu, one after another, that she too moved to the capital. In a mellow voice, the widow of 24 years said, “I miss my husband. I would never have left our village if he was still alive."
