Bhadrak: The sheer courage, grit and determination displayed by 24-year-old Subharani, a tea stall owner at Barpada market in Dankagadia village in this district attracts sheer admiration. Subharani has been running the business for 12 years now and said that she enjoys doing the hard work as it brings smiles on the faces of her family members.
Subharani’s father left home when she was quite young which was followed by her sister losing her mental balance and disappearing. The family hasn’t heard of them ever since for the last 12 years.
The entirely responsibility of running the family fell on my shoulders,” states Subharani. “I had to bring up my two brothers and a sister and to help my mother Sushila Behera in running the family,” she adds.
The hard-working lady informed that she had to give up on her studies when she was in class VIII even though she was good at it. “I had no other option but to run the tea stall as it was our only source of sustenance,” she informed.
Today it has helped her family to survive. Subharani’s brothers go to school while the cost of education of her younger sister has been taken over by a generous neighbour.
Subharani claimed that she had not received any help from either the political parties or from the government. “I had none to stand beside me. I confronted all the odds never allowed them overpower me. It is my determination which has helped me survive the most difficult of times,” she points out.
Even though she has missed out on her aspirations, Subharani’s only goal is now to see that her siblings get proper education and turn out to be good human beings.
PNN