“I fell prey to some of life’s horrible tragedies upon the demise of both my husband and brother one after the other. While I lost the former to intense diabetes, the latter witnessed an unexpected ending in the 2015 Chennai floods. And words will never encompass the ground reality or the plethora of emotions that surrounded me in those moments! It felt like my whole world had shut down and honestly, I wanted to, too!

If that wasn’t enough already, I started questioning every aspect of life- my future, family, our finances, etc. It went to a point where I wondered if life is even worth living, now that both the men in my life were no more. But just when I was at the verge of ending it, a rather sudden entrance by my baby, calling out to me was what changed my mind.

Now while this might sound dramatic, that glance by my child, somewhere felt like a reminder to live and give a second try.

And thus started a new chapter- one where I tried to pick all the broken pieces with a zest to move forward! Till then I was a naive young mother, married off early without any access to education. My in-laws too, right after their son’s death didn’t think a second before calling me ‘the curse that befell them’ and sending me back to my parents’. So I knew then that I had to buck up and initiate things at home to provide ourselves with a manageable level of earnings.

And thankfully, what came in my favour was our failing sweet business. Started by my grandfather, the once well known shop had little to no support to be taken forward. So seeing this as an opportunity, I slowly got my hands dirty, and learnt all the chores from scratch. Every step was difficult and everyday, a learning, but I knew I couldn’t give up, especially now that my daughter also was voluntarily helping me out.

Thankfully though, with the passage of time, our shop became popular in the area once again. And the spoken factor was that it was run purely run by women, a factor I never fathomed would work in my favour.
Finally, the work of three different women- my mother, daughter and I paid off! In the end, all it needed was belief that good times do exist even for those who bear the deepest scars!”

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