Manjamma has survived a very hard childhood. She has worked at a borewell. She was married off to an alcoholic and has faced the pangs of poverty almost every single day of her life. While working at a garment factory, she would face constant cross-questioning from her spouse for even the slightest delays. These arguments took a toll on her and impacted her behaviour in a bad way. At the factory, she would shout and scream at everyone. Her friends, however, observed the changes in her behavior with compassion knowing that she was struggling with a lot of problems at home.

Manjamma pushed her husband out of the house in the hopes of him changing his behaviour, but unfortunately, he went out and got married to another person.

Manjamma was shocked but she didn’t lose hope. With her two children in tow, she shifted home to another area. Later, she left her children in the care of her parents and began living alone in Bangalore. Whenever her children would visit her in Bangalore during holidays, she would take them to the garment factory and they would play within the compound. Unfortunately, one such day, a water tanker hit her younger child and he passed away on the spot. This loss hit her hard. But, she stood strong and continued to work even in the face of workplace harassment. She wanted to provide her only child with a better life.

Manjamma used to work as ‘checker’ at the garment factory but she was unable to do her work well because of health troubles. Her supervisor would scold her all time because of her low productivity. She could withstand all this only because of her child. She hoped that he would study well and get a good job. But contrary to what she had hoped, her son came home one day and declared that he had married his girlfriend. Manjamma was shocked and dismayed at the news. In her anger, she scolded him and sent him out of the house. Today, she lives on her own and continues to work at the same garment factory.

Listen in…

Written by Ramya Gowda K.