The decade-long armed conflict killed Hira Gurung's husband, Kaluman but she wants to move on with a new Nepal. "Let the tears for our lost loved ones not be wasted," says Gurung, who moved out of Khotang where Kaluman was killed six years ago. "Whatever happened is in the past, but now let no innocent person become a victim again," is what she wants to say to those who have also lost loved ones.

Humnath Tiwari from Gorkha witnessed his father being killed, but finds consolation in a peace deal and the rebuilding of Nepal. "We now have to focus on new things rather than concentrating on our past," says Tiwari. Widowed young, Kalpana Bhandari also hopes that the death of her husband, a policeman who was killed by the Maoists while on duty in Ramechhap, will not be in vain. "We have to learn to forget our past if someone's death can make the lives of future generations secure," says Bhandari.

Grief-stricken 63-year-old Shiblal Tharu from Saptari, who had to bury his young son almost seven years ago, finds it hard, but believes, "Now we all have to join the campaign to rebuild our nation."