My mother always discouraged me from studying. She said, ‘We are not the ruling class, we are working people, why are you studying? They are never going to give you a job even if you are educated.' She even burnt my books a few times.
She had been married at the age of 9, and of her 11 children, 6 died as babies. Then, when I was 5, my father died. It was a huge burden for her - at that time, she had never even handled money. She had to work 16 hours a day as a weaver, and my . . .