I was born in a family of 4, I had two elder sisters, my parents and a year later, my little brother joined us. I believe I was 8 years old when my mother passed away. All of our education was supported by my father's pension that he received after his government job in RED (Rural Engineering Department). However, after his health deteriorated, the pension stopped coming. We had to rent rooms in our house to earn money to support ourselves. He later got diagnosed with blood cancer in 1995 followed by his demise in 1996.
I officially started working after my father passed away. I used to earn with gigs such as teaching painting or kathak to my village's kids before this. In 1996, I began teaching mathematics to grade 8th to 10th. I also took tuitions at my home.
I had completed my BSc when my father was still alive. Later I supported my education on my own but could only complete 2 years of my MSc by myself. Later, I and my brother were called to Mumbai by my maternal uncle so he could support us and be geographically closer to us.
When in Mumbai, both I and my brother did many small jobs to earn for our basic needs. I even continued my teaching by taking tuition classes and teaching in coaching classes for few months and earned on task basis. It was during this time, I got a cashier job in a supermarket. I worked there for over 6 months and then left that job after my maternal uncle invited me to work in his office.
I did not have any previous experience in that field. I used to do software programming based on the knowledge I acquired using a programming book because we did not have many resources to learn back then.
It was during this time I gained interest in make-up artistry and aligning skills. I used to go to workshops and seminars and learnt skillset there.
I worked a job in a salon for about a year to gain experience in the field.
I later got married in December of 2002. For the next few months I helped my brother's and husband's joint business before opening my own salon in May 2003. I have been running that business since then.
I would say I have had a fair share of struggles. Especially, when we had just moved to Mumbai. But now I am glad with where I stand. We have been able to provide quality education to both our daughters.
My working life, at this point in life is pretty easygoing compared to what it was when I began. I have many loyal customers and I have staff who can handle the salon efficiently without me. It's more flexible now and I think that it was all worth it in the end!