When his shop went bankrupt Rati Lal Parajuli, 65, started doing the rounds selling flowers door-to-door in Nepalganj. The business grew and he started a shoe business. Now, he is a millionaire with two houses, two plots of land and a fancy store in the city's prime locations. He has everything one can wish for. His family members suggest he take leave from work. "If I stop working, I might suffer from a rich man's disease," he says.
When he went bankrupt in the retail business, he was not disheartened at all. After 10 years, he saved Rs 60,000 and set up a shoe factory with the money and named it 'Baje Shoe Factory'. People teased him, saying a Brahmin doing a Dalit's job. But he didn't listen to them. His shoes found market as far as Surkhet and Narayangadh. He never had to look back ever since.
He has an advice for cynical people, "All castes and types of job are the same, after all there are people who spend lakhs on education but don't have a job," he says. Parajuli says all work is the same, and emphasises on diligence and integrity.