Marriage bought me here to Chennai from Samayapuram, around the time the Duraisamy subway construction had just begun. My husband was a painting contractor who passed away four years ago. While he did have a decent income, not much went into savings, one because I have five daughters and one son, and the other being his addiction to alcohol.
We have seen a lot of hardships right from starvation to homelessness. But all of us worked hard, one of my daughters has a flower shop a few meters away from here, another one works as a cook, while the other three are housewives, my son with whom I live, runs a general store. I sell flowers near Brindhavan Street Junction in West Mambalam.
I don’t make much out of this flower business, but I make sure I am here every day to avoid unpleasant situations at home which might come up because I cannot help around the house or do any chores because of my handicap in the legs. Coming here also keeps me engaged, I see lots of people go past me, some stop to talk, I sell some flowers, go back home in an auto as I cannot walk, rest, and come back again in the morning for my business. I have no complaints; life is good now compared to all the hardships I have been through.