“Many calamities including the 2020 virus and the Nivar cyclone now, have become yearly reminders to keep fighting for what matters most in life. And in that list, money could occupy a prominent spot, but I believe it can help you to a certain extent. Take it from a mother who has been selling coconut water for the past 30 years. The best things in life are often free and exist right around you.

This is not to say that I’ve had it all easy. In fact, my journey has been far from comfortable. You see, I hail from Pondicherry, where the norm was to raise girls and ultimately settle them off in a marriage. Education was sparse, and my family was barely making enough to make ends meets. So schools were a luxury beyond our reach and my entire childhood went about and in the hopes of a better living post marriage.

But then again, reality had other plans. I was married by twenty and became a mother to two lovely children soon after. Nevertheless, the joy didn’t last long, for I discovered soon that my husband wasn’t a good man. So with a heavy heart, fretting over how unfair things can get, I fled to Chennai with my kids, in an attempt to give them a happy and protected life.

What followed next, were a series of difficulties one after another. As a single woman, with no idea of the outside world, I felt helpless while trying to set up my cart. The profits from coconuts too were heavily dependent on the weather. While summers saw a sale of even 100 coconuts, winters barely had any. And as years passed by, I had to additionally work as a maidservant to help keep my family afloat. But I don’t regret it one bit, as it helped me raise two beautiful children, who are the center of my world. Life will always be hard, but it’s a choice to keep fighting with hope!”

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