I went to a cobbler to mend my shoes, recently. As he was repairing, I inquired him for how long he was in the profession. ‘Twenty years in the same place’, said he. My burning curiosity with his statement made me ask, ‘That means you might have grown rich’. ‘It’s too difficult to pay even for the monthly rent and you are talking about becoming rich’, he said with a gentle chuckle over his lips. He is just a representative of thousands of people alone in Kathmandu compelled to work more and earn less in return. I have also met many rickshaw pullers who drive their owners’ rickshaws for years but still cannot have money to purchase their own.

Many people in our society have become poor just because of the reason that their fathers were poor. In addition, our society shelters many who are rich just because of parental affluence. This is a very significant reason for the increasing income inequality in our nation. I am not saying this. The Economist has included Nepal in the list of those South Asian countries where many people are confined to less than $1 per day.

I wonder at times how these people could have been able to resist the booming prices of everything – food items, rentals among many others. Despite the rapid fall in the purchasing power of money, people from all the corners have made capital, their haven thinking it as a land of opportunities, which in reality is not untrue.

Every young child aspires to grow rich, the poor ones being no exception. However, our society that overlooks the calibre of poor ones is a hindrance to materialising the dreams of those children. Many people have not been successful to capitalize on their skills, which can partially be blamed to the society’s culture of prioritising the wealthy rather than skilled. A friend of mine faced this when he was giving an entrance exam in the most renowned college of Nepal. Those who donated the money got selected and not the ones who had intelligent minds.

Conclusively, people’s perception about the poor should change. Although they might be poor financially, yet they can be rich in their hearts and their minds. What counts more is the ability to give good to the nation. The world does not lack instances of poor being rich and vice-versa. Dhirubhai Ambani, who started business with $300, later became one of the richest in India.