“As a kid I hated studying – it was something I despised. So out of anger my dad hit me once and seething with anger I left for Bombay. From my native of Kallakuruchi, moving to Bombay was a huge step but I managed to plod through. The initial days were difficult since I didn’t speak Hindi and it was so hard to get people to help me. But I had a labour contract which had pulled me there. So once I joined work, things smoothened out and everything fell into place. From there, I moved to Ahmedabad for work again and then to Chennai. One of the best things about Chennai has got to the city in general – I have been to all the famous tourist places here and it still holds its charm. With time, I got married and what followed were kids. But with all my hard work of the years, I have been able to educate them and settle them comfortably. Right now I neither have much savings nor much worries. It’s a hand to mouth situation but we are leading as content a life as we could with no worries.”