“One of the prominent signs of moving up in life is shifting to a well-to-do city. Though the step often feels minuscule in hindsight, entering completely new territory in the hopes of making a decent living for oneself is the dream that many villagers like me have had while growing up.

Born and bred in Tiruvannamalai, life felt rather easy in my little town. There was little money, but less chaos as well. A typical day saw me playing in the fields, working occasionally with lots of rest and food in between- overall, a simple life! But even when one has everything, the need for more often becomes a triggering point to pivot into newer directions.

That’s how I made my way into Chennai and into the streets of Koyembedu. Twenty years have passed today and I still work on daily wages but there’s an energy to the city that keeps pulling me back. Even during the pandemic when all of us had no work, there was always an option for me to sustain with a small business in my town but I chose to come back immediately once the lockdowns were lifted.

It’s not to say that life as a water supplier is simple. It’s actually the other way around, taking an immense toll on one’s physical health. Nevertheless, given an option to choose an unchallenging reality vs the one I live now, I would still go for this. At the end, even if not money there’s always the perspective that one can gain from tough environments!