When Shushila Shrestha's grandchildren were young, she used to tell them night stories. These were not regular tales of fables or morals but stories of ghosts haunting the house they all lived in and the forest surrounding it.
Now, Sushila (70) is about to reach the age of life expectancy for women in Nepal, and her husband has passed away. As she enters her final stage of life, she lives with her children and grandchildren, sharing a room with her granddaughter, Anushka Shrestha (13).
She spends most of her time sleeping, twinning cotton, or smoking a cigarette. She smokes half a pack of cigarettes a day, although her doctor has urged her to stop:
– I would rather die than live unhappy, she says.
Because two of Sushila's sons work in Saudi Arabia, her daughters-in-law stay home to care for her and the house. They call her Maang, meaning mother.
Maang loves watching TV dramas and action series on her phone. She has five of them. Two cell phones are used for calling, and three smartphones are used for watching her series.
*Mother
