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Erode, Tamil Nadu
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T’s parents arranged for her to be married when she was only 16 years old, and she gradually discovered that her husband was an alcoholic. They lived with her husband’s family and years of constant drink and violent behaviour followed, during which T gave birth to her two children, a daughter and a son. Following a tiff with his family, her husband moved them out into a small shed and gave up drinking. Despite this improvement, their debts continued to mount and put enormous stress on T and her husband. With no one to turn to, T’s husband took his own life. So they brought him back dead. His last words were to his brother, asking him to take care of us.

After her husband’s death, T was forced to work harder and for longer hours. She woke up at 4 AM everyday to milk her four cows, and milking them twice a day in mornings and evenings makes her hands go numb. T said that she worked on farms all day with little rest and only got some time off on Sunday afternoons, and in addition to work she had to travel 5 kilometres to fetch water on her motorcycle.

‘I want my future to be bright. But a person who is alive today might be dead tomorrow. So I don’t think about my future. I want to dream about my children’s future.’