Hari Maharjan, who is hearing-and-speech-impaired, has been working at the Baneshwor outlet of Bakery Café for the last nine years. And writes down that he “was very happy when I started earning.”

And wouldn’t anyone? He is not only standing on his own two feet but taking care of his wife and three-year-old daughter.

A love marriage, Maharjan and his wife “used to study in the same school”. Maharjan completed his studies from the Bahira Bal Vidyalaya, Naxal.

His friends who had been working at the outlet told him about the Bakery Café and Maharjan decided to come and work here too.

“We are given training for six months. We get to work only after that,” Maharjan writes. “We are taught things like cleaning glasses, plates, forks and knives, the proper way to stand and walk, to welcome guests, show the menu and take orders.”

He is happy with the way his life is going on and has no regrets as such.

“I don’t have any regrets about not being able to speak, but sometimes when I meet people who can speak and I can’t hear and understand what they are saying, I feel sad.”

He is grateful to his school where he learned many life skills, and he is thankful to the management of Bakery Café. “This place has given us an opportunity to work and be an example to others.” And the word he wants to spread out to others is that, “I want to see more people like me work according to their capabilities.”