“The year was 2001 and I still remember this one day, when my neighbour came running to me and said, “Your husband fell down from a 70 foot tall Palm tree and broke both his legs.”

I was in the middle of work on the farm and that news was an absolute shocker. I immediately rushed to the hospital along with my daughter and son. The doctors told it will cost around 10 lakh rupees for his operation including post-treatment costs as his legs were completely damaged. I didn’t know what to do. Overnight all the responsibilities fell on my shoulders.

Ours was a poor agricultural family and my husband was a toddy tapper. We didn’t know where we could get that amount. We used to have one-acre agricultural land and a plot but we sold them both to adjust the money for my husband’s legs operation. We also had to take a loan to make our ends meet.

Just when I was losing faith and confidence in life, my two children came up to me and said, “Amma, don’t worry. We will also work after coming back home from school.” I was shattered after hearing those words! They both were too young to work. But they were determined and wanted to support me in any small way I can.

So, after school, my son worked as a water boy, supplying drinking water door to door for a few years and my daughter worked alongside me in farms on a daily wage basis. I had to take care of the house and my husband as he couldn’t get up from the bed for more than four years. It was an incredibly challenging phase for me personally and for my children. But we never lost hope and continued to work hard.

After years of struggle and hard work, we were able to clear off our existing loans and my husband recovered slowly. I somehow managed to educate my children in good colleges and both of them are graduates. Both of them got married recently and they are living happily with their families now.

But things started getting worse once again because of the ongoing pandemic. Moreover, my husband got addicted to alcohol and he doesn’t work anymore.

I am 50 years old now and I am the sole breadwinner at home. Every day, I come here at 8 a.m. and work until 7 p.m. in the evening as a farm laborer. I have seen many highs and lows in my life but I will not leave farming as I feel farming is not just a profession but a way of life. Farming makes me happy and strong. So I am continuing to work in other farmers’ agricultural fields as a farm laborer and I am proud to say that I am a ‘Matti manishi!'”

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