Lalita Adhikari

Born as the only daughter to her family in Dhari village, Betalghat, Lalita Adhikari was definitely the pampered child of her parents. Farming was their main livelihood. Her father also worked on daily wages at construction sites, to supplement their income. It was a large joint family with a house full of cousins and people. She laughs now, when talking about her aunts making rotis till midnight!

After completing her Class 10 studies, and after watching her 3 brothers move out of the village, Lalita was married to Bahadur Singh when she was 17 years old. Her husband worked with the Forest Department, and ran a shop too. The families knew each other, and her father was sure that Lalita would be happy with her new life.

Lalita moved to Dalmoti village in Ranikhet, and was soon the mother of 3 children. Now, her son has completed Class 10, and her daughters are regular about school too. Lalita firmly believes that education improves the ability to think well, gives confidence and enables girls to stand tall and independent. If only she had studied harder!!

When she joined Needles to Say More, around 2015/16, Lalita had zero knitting skills. Her childhood village in Betalghat was always hot, so Lalita refused to learn knitting from her aunts in her young days. She laughingly shares how something discarded in ignorance is now FUN and vital for her happiness!

She took a break from Needles to Say More to build her house. When she joined back, her children had grown and she could find time to knit while being mentored by Meena, one of the senior knitters. From knitting reversible mufflers, she has learnt to knit every item in the studio.

A very shy girl since childhood, Lalita believes she has blossomed after joining Needles to Say More. She got the opportunity to meet other women, and she is glad that she has good friends amidst the group. Lalita loves to splurge on herself by getting gold jewelry and clothes with the money she is earning. She feels proud when she wears jewelry acquired by her own sweat and hard work. She believes that gold is a good investment…whenever the need arises in the future, she can sell off the gold in exchange for cash – for her children’s education, for investing in a piece of land etc.

Lalita handles all the household chores – taking care of the family, the cows, cultivating and harvesting their land. It’s a very busy life and finding time for knitting was a real challenge in the early days…But now, if it was not for knitting, Lalita says she would have gone mad!! Now, life has a good amount of fun and laughter!