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| Photo:Shankar Narayan |
In a society, where
women are made to believe that they are weaker sex and cannot perform
challenging physical tasks on par with men, here is a lady, a welder by
occupation, who expresses her ‘sparks’ of self confidence on standing on one’s
own feet in life
The 42 year old
Meenakshi alias Meena, who assists her husband Velmurugan in his welding
workshop at Ondipudur, informs:
“I studied only up to
class V in my native place Madurai. However, I was very much interested in physical work and spent the
hours after school hours by weaving chair seats”
Meena, who did not
have the faintest idea on welding earlier, says that she learned it from her
husband after she settled with him in Coimbatore.
In contrast to the
attitude of some irresponsible men, who have little concern for their family
members, Meena says:
“It was my husband, who
advised me to learn a trade so that I would not be dependent on anyone to earn
a living in his absence”
When asked about her
difficulties in mastering works in welding, Meena says:
“Earlier, I felt the
work was so difficult. I experienced
painful irritation in my eyes, as particles of iron would enter them. Also, due
to the inhaling of poisonous gas, I had to spend restless nights after the work”
However, Meena was
soon used to the trade and now she is able to do any challenging work hands
down.
“Like any other man
welders, I can perfectly do works like making large iron gates for houses and
factories, angle iron roof trusses, staircase handrails and so on” avers Meena.
She also recalls that
she used to cut around 500 kilograms of iron manually everyday by hitting hard
on the metal with a sledge hammer, when her workshop had no appropriate
technical device for doing so.
Answering to a
question on how she is able to play the roles of both a home maker and a
working woman, Meena says:
“I find happiness in
performing any work to perfection. I wake up at 6 am everyday, prepare food and get my two
children ready for school. And after a whole day’s work in the workshop, I
return home by 9 pm, prepare
dinner and go to bed. This cycle has repeated for the last 16 years in my life”
Nevertheless, due to
exigencies of work, Meena even works over night.
Pointing out that
self-respect for a woman is as important as her life, Meena underlines:
Link to my article in The New Indian Express: http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/3315915
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