Sitting on the pavement, she is
not hesitant to call out pedestrians walking by to buy fresh mangoes which are
‘Sweet as Sugar’ as per her. She has arranged her sell in a adroit fashion as
it captivates ones eye at least once. When asked as to how much a kilo she is
selling her ‘product’ she is quick to answer Rs 50 a kilo – though the price
seems to be on higher side as compared to the market economics but she is firm
and is not ready to negotiate. She further describes her sell as class apart
and a wise choose from piles of mangoes in the wholesale mart. Further she
adds, “Whosoever buys from her comes back to her next time – often buying
double the next time.” Her confidence exhorts from the sale she makes most of
the time.
Santosh as her name what she
tells me , was a clear cut housewife, sitting in confines of her dwelling and
raising her kids – 2 of them, a girl and a boy and wants to fulfill her wish of
sending her kids to a good school. Her
husband Vikas – a cycle rickshaw driver has not been able to make ends meet in
last few months due to the present Covid-19 situation – as per her, he used to leave
home by 8 a.m and be back by 6 p.m but now though he goes to ‘Work’ at the same
time, he comes back by noon with not many customers he is going into sublime
depression day by day.
She took the plunge seeing the
economic condition of her house deteriorating – there is rent to be paid,
children to be fed and not to forget she is inculcating a dream to educate her
children par excellence – a forte she could not achieve herself – though she is
a 10th pass and portrays herself to be an educated woman amongst the
clan she lives with.
With her prudence and budgeting ,
she has now started to look confident and have actually started to contribute
to the family kitty, though a lot of hard work goes behind what ‘profit’ she is
able to make at the end of a tiring day.
Reluctantly telling her story,
she gets up by 4 a.m and rushes to the nearby Mandi ( a wholesale vegetable
mart nearby) and scans good quality Mangoes herself and finally negotiating her
way buys her today's sell with firmity. Coming back home she prepares breakfast
as well as lunch for the family who are still asleep. Both husband and wife
leave for work by 8 a.m sharp and the ordeal begins for both. Sometimes she is
lucky to sell her stock of mangoes in quick succession, if she has a lucky day,
the entire stock is sold and her cart stands empty to her merriment. There are
days when she is not able to make enough profit due to meager sale.
Asked what her future plan is for
her working life – she cherishes the current Covid situation and says that this
has actually come as a blessing in disguise for her as earlier she was restraint
to work by her husband. Now that things have got tougher, they have no choice
and she is experimenting with her new found love for entrepreneurship.
Her only inhibition is that post Covid scenario, will she be able to enjoy and work through her new found freedom? Having said that, will her dedicated customers be able to have a sumptuous feed of Mangoes that Santosh so proudly sells, only time has answers to these questions of mine…
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