“I started selling Sodas out of sheer compulsion. My father was a farmer in Narankhed. We incurred major losses during my growing-up years so I wanted to try something parallelly apart from farming. I decided to work in another city and my parents did not object either.

I came to Hyderabad 10 years ago, in search of work. Luckily, one of them who was from my hometown offered me a job in his tea shop. I worked with him for three years and he helped me set up this soda business. It’s not easy to stay away from family for so many years but I am doing it for survival.

Talking about my business, it’s going very well these days because of the summer season. However, the rates of lemon are skyrocketing everyday. Currently, it’s Rs. 3000 per bag. So I run this business in the city for three months and again go back to my village doing farming during the rainy season.

I had suffered losses earlier too, but that didn’t deter me from moving forward. The same applies now. Will thinking about it and crying bring us anything? We will have to accept the situation and move on. That’s exactly what I am doing now. These are testing times for all of us and one must push to work harder and stay hopeful. Every day is a struggle and we will have to learn to rise above these storms. That’s what life is all about right?”