"This has always been our fate, simply to endure, is to triumph"(16).
Ama explains to Lakshmi that even though women suffer more than men, that is what makes them stronger and more powerful in comparison to their male counterparts.
Poverty: Lakshmi grows up in a small village in the Nepali mountains, but the kind of poverty she sees in the city is completely different.
Sexual Slavery: Lakshmi gets sold into prostitution at thirteen unknowingly and later has to find a way to escape.
Patriarchy: Men are valued much more than women in this culture because they are seen as the providers while the women stay home to manage the house, property, and children