People who work odd jobs to bring food to the table for their families and make sure they have a roof over their heads are the ones who know what real struggle looks like. They are the ones who started from rock bottom and faced several odds that we can’t even fathom but woke up every day with the hope that life will turn around for them. One of them is a woman named Parameshwari.
An Instagram page called ‘Humans of Madras’ shared the story of Parameshwari, a woman who works 3 odd jobs to give her family a better life. She always dreamt of owning her own house and she was finally able to achieve it. But her journey has not been a pleasant one.
Speaking to ‘Humans of Madras’, she revealed that she lives in Chennai with her mother, husband and two children. Her daughter just passed class 12 and her son is in class 5. Her husband is a drunkard and is jobless. She also has a sister who is a widow and has a baby, whom she has decided to take care of too. She is only 36 years old and life has been incredibly hard for her.
“There’s nothing that women cannot do. I did not pursue any education. I was married early. My husband keeps drinking as a hobby, but though he was working initially, he isn’t now.”
She wakes up at 4 AM every day and first goes to provide goods to her mother who owns a shop. She then works as a house-help for a family in the morning, a coffee maker for an IT company in the afternoon and a dishwasher for a street food shop in the evening. She finishes work at 10-11 PM.
“Every day I wake up at 4 am and provide the goods to my mother, as she has a roadside shop in Koyambedu. Then I travel to a house where I do all household chores, eat my lunch (if I have time) and run to a company where I help the IT employees in making coffees, then zoom… my next job at a street food shop where I wash the plates until it’s around 10 or 11 PM. After all the fields of work, I travel back home tiredly and take rest for 4 hours. The next day has the same schedule. I don’t have weekends, holidays, or Sundays like many. Even if I had to take leave, I must request all the places I work for. Even if one denies granting permission, that doesn’t calculate as a ONE-DAY LEAVE.”
However, after working for 20 years, she managed to save enough money to apply for a loan to build her own house and buy a scooter for everyday travel. Her dream of owning a house finally came true!
“Every night, I used to dream about living with my children in my own house, with no rental problems, and itinerating to my workplaces in my vehicle. Finally, all my fear encounters and hard work got an effect. Despite the struggles, I managed to save money to build a house for our family and a scooter for myself. Yes, both my dreams are fulfilled now. Though the tiny house was built with the help of a loan, I’m working hard to repay the loan. And I have my travel buddy with me. I don’t know what life has for me the next day. But, whatever it is, I’ve promised to stay determinedly happy.”
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People online showered immense love and praise on Parameshwari for turning her dreams into reality despite the problems life kept throwing at her. Here’s what some of them said:
These are the kind of role models we need. Salute to her!