Now 68 the father of six and grandfather of eight goes to school six days a week to complete his studies and escape a lonely home life following the death of his wife.
Walking into the secondary school and the noise created by 200 children is a welcome contrast(对比)to the silence of the cold one-room home." To forget my sorrows I go to school," Kami, one of the oldest students in Nepal, said in the classroom where he studies together with 14 and 15-year-olds.
His family was so poor that Kami couldn't finish his studies as a child and achieve his goal of becoming a teacher.
The teacher, Koirala, then invited Kami to his school, which provided the grandfather with a school uniform including grey trousers, blue tie and white shirt. "This is my first experience teaching a person who is as old as my fathers' age, Koirala said. "I feel very excited and happy."
The 20 children in his grade 10 class have called Kami "Baa"，which means "father" in Nepal, but despite his age their elderly classmate joins in all activities, including volleyball in the schoolyard. "I used to think 'why is this old man coming to school to study with us?' but as time passed I enjoyed his company," Kami's 14-year-old classmate Sagar Thapa said.
Kami said he wanted to study until his death, adding he hoped it would encourage others to get over age obstacles(障碍). "If they see such an old person like me studying in school they might get motivated as well," he said.
