I was all of 35 when I lost my husband to an intense cardiac arrest. Being a small family of four, my life till then revolved around taking care of him while happily raising my sons. So when this unexpected tragedy befell us, no wonder our worlds had gone into an eclipse.

I was ‘devastated’ in every sense of the word. Especially as a homemaker married off at 19, my focus had only been on providing the best of education to my children- something I wasn’t fortunate of receiving myself. But then, with my partner’s demise, I had to step up and face one more of life’s scary challenges- treading onto the world of business! Scary, because I hadn’t even encashed a cheque in all those years. So one can imagine how difficult it would have been to gather the courage to keep our stationery business running, now that I was determined to not live under the mercy of others.

But somehow, with that vigour, I started work, exactly 8 days later! And it wasn’t easy at any point. In fact, everyday saw new learnings through many, many trials and errors. I was a novice, and even facing the wrath of impulsive customers wasn’t something I’d been exposed to previously. Nevertheless, what got me to power through was the reassurance from my boys! Circumstances had made them grow up way ahead of their time and they were all set to help me run our shop. Even as teenagers, I still have vivid memories of them, delivering orders and carrying boxes of parcels, everyday once school was over.

All this, slowly helped us grow and bag the gold eventually in the form of our first corporate client. There were questions on my capabilities as a single lady handling the operations, but our confidence won them over! And starting there, it’s been over 2 decades adhering to multiple customers and expanding our businesses further. My sons might not have had the luxury of enjoying their childhoods, but their voluntary hard work has certainly paid off today!

Finally, as for me, the whole phase has been an eye opener! I keep telling every woman I meet on the importance of creating their own identity. Marriage shouldn’t be the ultimate goal and every little girl should be taught the need for financial independence, regardless of her background. At the end empowerment starts right at home, doesn’t it?