The Agony of an untold story unleashed
Meena Singh was born and raised in Nagaland, India. She was 8 years old when her family decided to move back to Nepal. Led by her grandfather, their return was unexpected and very sudden. They returned back to their roots, only to find all of their belongings had been snatched away by relatives. All their savings had dried up in an attempt to get back what was theirs. After two years, the family’s only breadwinner, Singh’s grandfather passed away leaving them with nothing to hold on to.
Singh’s parents slowly turned to alcohol and denied working. She had shouldered on the responsibility of six siblings. To provide for her family she began working at the tender age of 10-11 at the busiest hotel in Beni. She could not return home and her salary was a mere Rs.1,000/-. Rejected for being a lower caste, she was not allowed inside the kitchen. The only job she was allowed to do was to wash dishes, which were bigger than her. Her bosses would often forget to provide her with food and she would go on hungry. Her small hands were covered in bruises more than in flesh. Singh’s only desire was to sing and she endured all of it.
Singh made the courageous decision to travel to Kathmandu to realize her dreams. Worst nightmares awaited her in the capital of Nepal.
Singh’s only connection to music was the songs from Hindi serials. People there seemed to like the serials a lot. When she sang while washing dishes, her bosses would run towards their TVs only to realize that it was Singh who was singing. During the Myagdi Mahotsav, there were many musicians who stayed at the hotel Singh was working in. They heard her and one of them told her that she needed to go to school in order to be able to study music. A burning desire ignited inside of her, she wanted to go to study. She asked her bosses, but they denied. But Singh did not give up. She had to also convince her parents, which did not become hard with the money arrived. When the lady boss, the sauni was away she asked the sauni’s husband if she could go to school. He agreed but her sauni began making her work even harder after she returned. She would finish her work and run to school. She did not have friends at the start. They looked at her through skeptic eyes.
One day in school, Singh began singing in class. Soon she was surrounded by her school mates and teachers. They took her to the school stage. Many teachers praised her and even gave her money. She felt encouraged for the first time. People began looking at her different. She was no longer the lower caste girl anymore. She sang at the local event and earned Rs. 35,000/-. She showed her parents her earnings from singing and paid off their debts.
Singh made the courageous decision to travel to Kathmandu to realize her dreams. Worst nightmares awaited her in the capital of Nepal. She shifted with a girl, who dreamt of being an actor. Her roommate also came from similar backgrounds like herself, but soon made her realize that a decent living would not be possible with just singing. Her roommate admitted to selling herself to earn her living. Singh was shocked. Soon she had to leave and move to another place barely managing her stay. She came to the realization that women were the enemies of women when she had to move away because the female members of the house she was staying did not approve of her. She was harassed for being a woman who wanted to be a singer. But Singh never gave up.
Meena Singh was born and raised in Nagaland, India. She was 8 years old when her family decided to move back to Nepal. Led by her grandfather, their return was unexpected and very sudden. They returned back to their roots, only to find all of their belongings had been snatched away by relatives. All their savings had dried up in an attempt to get back what was theirs. After two years, the family’s only breadwinner, Singh’s grandfather passed away leaving them with nothing to hold on to.
