“In these 87 years of my life, flowers have come to define my identity in this world. Pookaramma, as I am fondly referred to by my neighborhood residents, is the only occupation I have held. I was not privileged enough to get an education during my childhood. Married off at a very young age, I started to sell flowers for a living to sustain my family. As the ménage grew bigger with a total of 12 kids, there were additional mouths to be fed. Hence bringing up kids in a poverty-stricken household didn’t allow us to give our children the gift of education. They each grew up in their own way, shaping up to the harsh realities of life. Fast forward to now, all my kids have made a name for themselves in different fields and they are blessed with families of their own; starting from my eldest son who is an auto-rickshaw wallah to the youngest who is a construction supervisor. There is a famous proverb in ‘Bhagavad Gita’ which goes like “Do your duty and leave the rest”. I have just been trudging along with life and throughout it, it has taken care of us. The ailments associated with old age are fast catching up with me but I am not able to sit idle at my house. All my life I have only known to hustle to make ends meet so the same continues even now. We source all the flowers from the central market in Koyembedu and sell them at different places. During winters, I place my stall near a sheltered shop or inside a temple but I can never go without selling flowers in a day.”

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