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Chapter 07

Room, Kitchen, Bathroom

How small can a world become?

1 min read


That night I got a fever.

My mum sat next to me and kept putting a wet cloth on my forehead, over and over, until it finally came down and I fell asleep.


For the next two months, my life became something else entirely.

Not work.

Not leadership.

Not one line of code.

The hardest part of my day was getting to the bathroom.

I started drinking less water on purpose. Just so I wouldn't have to go as often.

I've dealt with a lot of frontend blockers. A lot of COO decision blockers too. But going smoothly to the bathroom was hard, like those things.


Sometimes your whole world is a room, a kitchen, and a bathroom.

That's what mine was, for two months. Mostly the bed. Sometimes the kitchen. Sometimes the bathroom.


Dashain and Tihar came while I was still like that.

We always travel back home for those two festivals. Every year.

Not that year.

I spent them in that one room, watching everyone else's celebrations go by on Facebook and Instagram.

Some days I'd look outside and feel jealous of animals. At least they could walk wherever they wanted.


Through all of it, my mum was there.

She brought me protein-rich food.

She handled my medicine.

She cleaned and dressed the wound herself.

She bathed me.

She stayed.

(I'm crying, writing this.)