CASE STUDY

Alka was married to Peter when she was 20. For 20 yrs of her life she had been
the apple of her father’s eye. Being old school he hadn’t given her much
education, so she studied tenth from a Gujarati medium school in Baroda and
spent the rest of her years learning tailoring, embroidery and other creative arts,
thought to be fit for women. Born in an affluent family, she enjoyed a luxurious
life. She dreamt of a grand wedding, touring the world with her prince charming,
wear the most beautiful clothes and jewelry (pretty that she was), buy expensive
things for her house, and bring up 3-4 children, giving them the best in life and
making them strong, educated and respectable.

For two years things were gr8. Peter had a good job at a cousin’s company in
Mumbai and he kept her happy in his not so big but cozy house and loving family.
One fine day suddenly Peter came home and said he had lost his job. The cousin
had insulted his brother and they had got into a row. Alka was in tears. She was
not able to come to grips with the uncertainties that future brought. Fear crept in
bringing many negative thoughts and she wept harder. She was embarrassed to
tell her father, so she spoke to her sister-in law who immediately rejected her
plea and refused to help them, as Peter had gone against the family.

And the next day Alka fainted…. She was 3 months pregnant! Peter had no job, no
money. He too had graduated from school and taken up work as his single mother
needed financial support. He went about looking for jobs but couldn’t get
anything decent. So he went about delivering goods for a custom notified shop.
Poor Alka who was not used to live in such paucity suffered weakness and
ultimately, called her father who came running to help them and took them to his
town to teach Peter his business. Alka was so relieved, after a couple of months
she was blessed with a girl, but her baby was underweight and very pale. She
wept again, reflecting upon those tough days of her pregnancy which had
affected her little baby and her heart ached.
 No sooner had Peter joined his father in-law, and was learning the trade with
him, than Alka’s father suffered a stroke and passed away. Alka’s brother was an
introvert and didn’t like interference in his affairs. He refused to help Peter, and
asked him to fend for himself. Alka was deeply hurt but she didn’t show it. They
were left with no option so they sold their house to start a business. Peter was a
novice and too aggressive in his approach. A year later Peter suffered a huge loss
in his business and all money was lost. All doors seemed closed for Alka. She
thought of her dreams, her wishes her beliefs about life and cried. She was not
well-educated, not dashing to go and work outside, what could she do? But her
best friend said to her “So what if you’re not highly educated? You are a fighter.
You can overcome.” Alka needed peter’s support but Peter felt remorse, hopeless
from life, so Alka had to pull up her socks. She decided do the thing she was good
at- tailoring and designing. She ran the house for 8 months before Peter was back
on his feet. But in due course of time she realized Peter was not the guy she had
thought he was. He didn’t like to work hard. He had married her for her money
and now that they didn’t have it, he was frustrated. He managed to feed them but
nothing more. He mocked at her in parties and blamed her father for getting him
to Baroda. She was left alone with no one by her side except her little doll.

Alka had come to terms with life by now as her daughter became 10 and she
decided she would give her daughter the best she could. She raised her daughter
to be strong, independent and brave. She taught her the invaluable lesson’s of
life:

Little Reeva turned out to be extremely dynamic. She was a topper in in the best
English school in town. When she was tired and doubted herself she recalled what
mum said….. she would smile and study harder. At the age of 6 she was on stage
facing a huge crowd for a play. She was petrified… and then she saw her mum and
remembered her words…. And she enacted her role superbly. She won laurels for
her school in elocution and sports and whenever she fell and hurt herself, she
recalled mum’s words….. she got up and ran again. Along with success comes a lot
of envy. She felt sad when people commented sarcastically at her…. Then she
remembered what mom said and laughed loud and moved on. She graduated
tenth with flying colours but on her farewell day, she was very sad. She was the
most under dressed girl in her school. She was embarrassed and hid from her
teachers. Her best friend whispered to her: remember what your mum says… ?
Reeva said “YES” and she enjoyed the rest of the evening. After graduation she
took up a job. Things had not changed much with her dad, so she along with her
mom earned to lay food on the table every month. Her confidence knew no
bounds, but there were days at work, when she felt she didn’t know how to do
something…. So she put her head down and remembered MUM words. She never
looked back after that and grew leaps and bounds making her parents proud. For
29 years they had lived in a rental house. Finally, Reeva moved them into their
very own house and also spent for her own wedding when she married at the age
of 30.

The lessons of life that Alka taught Reeva, inspite of her situation, enabled her to
overcome all adversities and emerge as a WINNER.