“Parishramam cheyyukil enthineyum vashathil aakkan kazhiyulla vannam dheerghangalaaya kaikale nalkiyittanu manushyare paaril ayachathe Eeshan.” – K C Kesavapilla
This roughly means God sent humans to earth after giving them hands capable of bringing anything under their control through hard work. Rama Kumari, now 70, has lived by this belief her entire life.
She calls it her policy, a philosophy that helped her endure even the toughest situations without giving up in her life.
“We were six children, four girls and two boys. Our family was not financially well-off, but I was fortunate to get an education. After completing my pre-degree, I did an ITI course and learned typing, like many others back then. The only goal after that was to secure a government job. I tried, but it never happened,” says Rama.
So she decided to set up a bakery business in 1987 at the age of 28, with a loan of Rs 20,000 under a government self-employment scheme. Her inspiration to start a bakery came from her brother, who had launched a similar venture. “I thought it was a good business and decided to start one on my own at Amaravila,” she recalls.
Rama learned the techniques from her employees, starting with snacks and later expanding to sweets and cakes. The bakery became a success. After running the business successfully for a decade, she got married at the age of 38. Her husband joined the business, but Rama continued to be at the helm. She also added ready-made clothes and fancy items to her shop.deter
In 2000, her life took a sudden turn when she was diagnosed with breast cancer during her second pregnancy.
“I was diagnosed just a week before my delivery. A cesarean was done immediately. On the 16th day after my daughter’s birth, I underwent surgery for breast cancer at RCC. We spent all our savings on the treatment and had to shut down the business. It was the hardest phase of my life,” she recalls.
But Rama is not someone who accepts defeat easily. In 2001, after recovering, she borrowed Rs 2,000 from the Shivalayam Pujari Kudumbashree unit and started making traditional sweets at home.
“I still had the machines. We started small and went store to store selling our snacks,” she says.
As demand grew, she hired two workers and bought a vehicle to expand distribution. Orders started flowing in.
In 2008, at the age of 49, she learnt to drive because she did not want to depend on others. Soon, she bought another vehicle and expanded her product line to 30 varieties of sweets, employing about 20 people.
“We used to work seven days a week. At one point, our daily sales touched `50,000. Two vehicles would go on two different routes every day. With the income, we built a house and married off both daughters. It was a dream life, all because I decided to start a business. I can’t imagine where I would be otherwise,” she says.
“I’m a spiritual person. If something bad happens, I never look back. I always believe tomorrow will be better. The second important thing is hard work. I can work 24 hours without sleep if needed. And third is confidence. I believe that I can do anything if I try. With hard work and a positive mind, anything is possible.”
Over the past three years, her business has slowed down, and she has also been dealing with some health issues. But she still continues to work. “I will continue until my daughters take over the business,” Rama smiles, as she starts her mini-van for a round of door-delivery.