Lavanya's Journey to Success in Vanjinagaram

Lavanya, a 39-year-old woman from Vanjinagaram, a small village in Melur Taluk of Madurai District, Tamil Nadu. This village, with 1,216 households, is nestled in the southern part of India and is governed by the Vanjinagaram Gram Panchayat. She represents the strength and resilience of women who overcome life's adversities to create a better future for themselves and their families. Her story is one of determination, empowerment, and the profound impact that community-based initiatives like the Kalanjiam can have on individuals lives.

Life in Pollachi

Lavanya was born and brought up in Pollachi, along with her brother Deepan Balaji, who is 4 years younger. Pollachi is a town in Coimbatore district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It’s nestled near the Western Ghats, is known for its rich agricultural heritage and vibrant markets. Her parents, Balasubramani and Balamani, originally hailed from Madurai district—her father from Usilampatti and her mother from Thirumangalam. Balasubramani had established a small textile retail business in Pollachi well before his marriage.

The business is seasonal in nature having good demand during festivals and average turnover during the non-festive season. So, both she and her brother never demanded anything of their likings from their parents and her parents used to prioritize the family needs and spend them to their children. Her father and mother used to start their work at 7:30 in the morning and return by 11:00 AM and evening they work between 3:00 to 8:00 PM.

They were initially in a rented house, when she was around 15 years old, they shifted to the newly built own house in the same street. Their economic condition during her childhood days is neither poor nor in lower middle class, just because her father doesn’t had any bad habits and her mother used to manage her house finance in a prudent manner as children they never felt the pinch of constrain. This observation has helped her to get assimilated in her spouse family later in her life, as she never raise any demand that may coerce the family negatively.

Education and Early Aspirations

Lavanya was academically inclined and aspired to pursue higher education. After completing her higher secondary education, she enrolled in a computer diploma course and later worked in a pencil-making factory for two years in the packing department earning ₹4000 per month. Her father, who had completed his education up to the PUC level, supported her educational pursuits. However, Lavanya’s ambitions were curtailed by societal expectations, and she discontinued her studies after her +12th grade.

Despite this, her father had always encouraged her to be independent and strong, a lesson that would later become a cornerstone of her resilience. Through his encouragement she also enrolled herself in a correspondence course in BBA and completed it successfully. Meanwhile, due to health issues in the factory work, she stopped going for the work. Her brother has completed polytechnic diploma in civil engineering course and is now employed in a financial company at Coimbatore.

Marriage and Life in Vanjinagaram

Normally in their community girls are married at an early age. But her father used to tell her that the alliance hunt for marriage will be done when she attains 23. Accordingly, he started the proposal seeking and it took two years to settle around the eventual spouse of Lavanya. Though the practice then is to look for alliance well within the close kin and kith, considering that the spouse family has good name locally, her father took a major risk of getting his daughter married into a non-familiar alliance.

At the age of 25, Lavanya’s father arranged her marriage to Thangam, a resident of Vanjinagaram, a village in Melur Taluk of Madurai District. Thangam, 29 years old at the time, worked as a contractual employee in a local industry, earning a modest income of ₹ 5,000 per month. Despite the cultural and geographical differences, Lavanya’s transition to her new life in Vanjinagaram was smooth, largely due to the supportive nature of her husband and in-laws, Lavanya had accustomed to a new family dynamic.

Thangam has 5 siblings 2 elder sisters, one elder brother and a younger brother. When they get married, lavanya’s sister-in-laws and her elder brother-in-law who are all are married has been living with their families in their respective homes. In Vanjinagaram, Lavanya lived in an extended family setup with her husband, father-in-law, mother-in-law, and younger brother-in-law. Her father-in-law worked as a drinking water pipeline worker in the panchayat earning ₹ 250 per day and later as a library keeper earning ₹1500/ month since 2019. Thangam’s salary eventually increased to ₹ 7,000 per month after he secured permanent employment five years into their marriage.

Lavanya’s in-laws were kind-hearted and treated her with love and respect, which helped her adjust to her new environment. Thangam’s younger brother’s marriage happened 4 years later and post-marriage he also moved separately in their village. Her mother-in-law, despite being disabled, managed the household with remarkable efficiency and taught Lavanya the nuances of running a family. It is under her stewardship she learned the art of managing the family. Lavanya quickly adapted to her new roles as a wife, daughter-in-law, and later, a mother. The lessons she learned from her mother-in-law would later prove invaluable as she navigated the challenges that lay ahead. The family owned an acre of agricultural land, which was cultivated by her father-in-law, and the yield was shared among the siblings.

Financial and Emotional Losses

Shortly after her marriage, Lavanya faced her first significant challenge when she became pregnant with her first child, Harini, in 2011. The pregnancy was complicated, requiring a cesarean delivery in a private hospital. Although her parents covered the medical expenses, Lavanya’s in-laws had to borrow money from a local moneylender to meet other expenses, including cultural obligations and travel costs. The loan came with a steep interest rate, which added financial strain to the already modest household income.

In the midst of these financial pressures, Lavanya suffered a devastating personal loss—the sudden death of her father. This tragedy not only left an emotional void but also brought an end to the family business that had supported Lavanya and her brother, Deepan Balaji, through their formative years. With her brother just starting his career, Lavanya felt the heavy burden of contributing financially to her in-laws' household while also supporting her mother.

Kalanjiam: The Journey towards Financial Independence

It was in this challenging backdrop that Lavanya was introduced to the Kalanjiam programme in 2013. Along with 15 other women from her village, she formed the Agni Veeran Kalanjiam, a self-help group (SHG). The group started with a modest monthly savings contribution of ₹ 200 per member. Their first bank linkage is for ₹ 150,000 lakh with Union Bank of India erstwhile Corporation Bank in 2014. she had no idea whether she could go for the loan. She consulted with her extended family members about the scope for loan from Kalanjiam. Her first loan amount is ₹10000/-, she obtained this loan to close the external debt her family had when she gives birth to her 1st daughter in 2011. Though the delivery expenses are taken care by her parents as per the tradition, This external debt has been a financial constraint for the family that at 3% per month, they have been paying the interest as they were not able to repay the loan in full, because of other financial obligations. Money lenders used to insist on repaying the principal in full, or else pay interest till they close the loan. Through the Kalanjiam loan she not only repaid the loan, but paying little more than the interest paid to the Money lender she was able to repay her loan in the Kalanjiam promptly.

First Steps in Entrepreneurship

As Lavanya became more involved with the Kalanjiam group, she began to see the potential of microfinance as a tool for empowerment. By then the Kalanjiam has repaid their 1st bank loan and she got the opportunity to avail her second loan without much difficulty due to the on-time repayment history. In 2015, she took a second loan of ₹ 25,000 from the Kalanjiam to start a small business renting out ‘covering jewelry’ for local functions. The business, though seasonal, provided her with a steady income, which she used to repay her loan and support her family. This venture marked the beginning of Lavanya’s journey as an entrepreneur.

Encouraged by her initial success, Lavanya took another loan of ₹ 33,900 in March 2017 to expand her business by adding textiles to her inventory. Her mother is also instrumental in inducing her to venture into this business as she could guide her in the manner in which she could manage the business on her own through her years of experience. Drawing on the experience and knowledge passed down from her mother, Lavanya began selling textiles alongside jewelry, operating her small business from home. The income from this venture was modest, it took her close to three years to repay the loan, her average repayment was in the range of 800 – 1000. This time she was irregular a few times and on a few occasions her repayment range was a little fluctuating due to the seasonality and other growing family commitments. It was enough to make Lavanya more financially independent and confident.

Expanding Horizons

By 2020, Lavanya had paid off her earlier loans and was ready for a bigger challenge. Her mother-in-law shared with her, her experience of having a petty shop at home selling children snacks and making a decent profit. That seems to be a good bet she felt. She took a loan of ₹ 93,700 to set up a petty shop in front of her house. Lavanya used a portion of the loan, along with a jewel loan of ₹ 1.5 lakh from a bank, to make necessary alterations to her house. Thus, with little alteration, she was able to set up her petty shop in her home. She established a petty shop, selling groceries, snacks, and stationery items.

The petty shop quickly became a local success, with Lavanya’s daily earnings ranging from ₹ 2,000 to ₹ 2,500, and sometimes as much as ₹ 4,000 during festive seasons. This time along with her earlier business she was able to improve upon her income and was able to repay ₹ 3200-3500 per month, with this her confidence in doing business also grown multifold. This income significantly boosted the family’s financial stability and further strengthened Lavanya’s role as a contributor to the household.

Sensing the Customers’ Needs: Scaling High

While repaying the loan she realized that having grocery in her inventory would add more utility to the set of customers whom she has been serving. She fast forwardly repaid her loan in two years and went for ₹ 120,900 loan on February 2022, this time for upgrading her petty shop into a grocery shop with groceries and stationaries. With more material in her inventory her customer base also increased, her shop became a one stop shop for covering jewels rental, textiles in retail with scope for installment payment, a petty shop with snacks for children, groceries for home needs, and stationary for the school-going. This time she was able to repay ₹4400-4600 per month, nearly fourfold of what she could 2-3 years back with tons of confidence in managing her business.

While going for her purchases she used to meet fellow villagers visiting town, foregoing their wages to access e-seva services and for other copier related needs. With the experience of doing business, she realized that there is a realistic need for providing e-seva services at the village level that could save the time and cost of the illiterate villagers, who otherwise have to seek these services from the neighbouring towns. These villagers have to face an abrasive atmosphere with that of the town service providers, who get annoyed at the ignorant customers who actually need to be handled in a more compassionate way; when they fail to take the required support documents the villagers have to face the resentment at the hands of the service providers.

Realizing the community needs and keeping confidence on her, computing skills she learned in her 20’s; in her 40’s she went for her 6th loan to purchase computer, two printer-scanner cum Xerox machine, one being used as a printer for system and another been used as a xerox machine. With the establishment of the computer system, now that she has reinvented her computer skills. Here, now her villagers have access to the e-seva services well within their hamlet been served by a lovely local girl from their community.

Now with more products at her disposal, she has a substantial number of customers and her service access has been widening and with that, her business also becoming larger. Now that her per day turnover is close to ₹ 2000 to 2500. But during festive, wedding and local festival seasons her turnover per day could reach ₹ 3000 to ₹ 4000. So based on the customer's requirements and needs she has been increasing the stock and stocking the seasonal requirements, so that she was able to captivate the wide range customers, from children to people of all ages with the products, materials and services they need.

Micro Managing Finances

Lavanya now believes that she could expand this set of businesses and as it grows, she could very well contribute to her family financially. She practices the habit of drawing ₹300-350 / day from these businesses, not taking a galore of the earnings to meet the family necessities. She simply relates this practice to that of a wage employed getting a prescribed quantum of money as wages not more than that. Now that she has loans to repay, and pays close to ₹ 6250-6500 / month towards her loan and savings, showing the financial stronghold she is gaining through her fledging business.

Other than her financial contribution in repaying the loans, now that she was able to contribute around ₹3000-4000 per month for the household requirements. She prefers seek a loan of ₹200,000/- after repaying her current loan, so that she could use it for amplifying her business and the next subsequent loan for constructing a new house, as the present one is older ancestors house.

Helping Hand from Family

All along Lavanya’s endeavours her mother-in-law was always there, lending her the helping had in managing the shop. Whenever, she happened to make visits for any purchase in Karungalakudi or Singampuneri the nearest town. Few of the items are purchased from Madurai, it could be purchased by issuing an order to the wholesaler, and they will send them through the regular carrier flying between Madurai to Karungalakudi and Kottampatti. Her husband was also there to assist her whenever she asked for any help. With their moral and physical support, she has grown her business gradually from zero.

Leadership in Kalanjiam

Though Lavanya joined as a member of her Agni Veeran Kalanjiam. Her active involvement and participation facilitated other members to graduate her as the president of the group in 2018, when the earlier leader preferred to step down from her responsibility due to her health issue. She ensures that all the members are participating in the group meetings and all the members repay their loan regularly. Now that they are managing 700,000 as a ROC loan with Indian bank, Karungalakudi branch.

The cumulative savings of all members is ₹ 3.81 lakh and the group has a member loan outstanding of ₹ 9.12 Lakh. As a leader of the Kalanjiam she used to regularly attend the cluster level meeting and other trainings been organised at the federation level. This has given her ample exposures on the evolution of the Kalanjiam members. Her federation Kottampatti Pengal Vattara Kalanjiam being one of the oldest promoted Women SHGs have more that 200 groups above 25 years of experience. Her Kalanjiam has just completed its first decade, in these meeting she used to get inspired by the impact achieved by the aged Kalanjiam. She used to share such learning experiences with her members so that they were able to aspire to grow as like the older Kalanjiam.

Her individual savings is ₹33500 and till date she had leveraged ₹ 4.23 lakh from Kalanjiam having a current outstanding of ₹100500. out of her ₹ 4.23 lakh loan leveraged ₹ 3.54 lakh have been realized well within the last 4½ years, where she had mobilized the amount for investing in her business and had repaid close to ₹ 2.54 lakh loan through her business. This apart she was able to contribute to her family financially.

With this this year she is forthcoming to express herself of Moved Out of Poverty, a voluntary expression illustrated by the members who realize that their absolute poverty is defeated and they need not fear of leading a deprived living due to poverty. This articulation inspires fellow members who are still having fight with poverty to draw motivation from members like Lavanya to overcome their poverty. Recently when her mother-in-law expired all the members stood by her, aiding her in overcoming the loss gradually. The Kalanjiam members support during this difficult time, offering emotional and practical support, moved Lavanya to see them part of her extended family.

Building a Legacy

Lavanya’s daughters, Harini and Harshitha, are currently studying in the 9th and 6th standards, respectively. Lavanya is determined to provide them with a good education and support them in pursuing their dreams. Her elder daughter prefers doing medical and her younger daughter wish to become a lawyer, seeded by the considered opinion of her mother-in-law who used to admire the way she speaks, put forwarding her points and asserting her reasoning beautifully.

During the course of the interaction when a fellow member asked, did she not bother about encouraging her daughter study law, a social taboo and villagers have a typecast belief that women who speaks law won’t get abided in a family, she told confidently that, she will assist her daughter in whatever way that she could realize her dream, not bothering about what others typecast. She opinioned that family should be the sole espousal for the women as she was able get from her family, so that any woman could attain greater highs.

In the absence of her mother-in-law, her younger daughter who started supporting her mother in her business, could now manage the shop for a whole day, when Lavanya was ailing or happened to go away for business related purchases. Surprising to her age, still in her 11, she shows high maturity beyond her age in managing the shop on her own whenever needed. As a mother she feels proud that what she started doing at the age of 35, her daughter is starting it at a very tender age.