Real life stories of Perseverance

Patricia Narayan is in most of our newspapers these days. Patricia is the winner of this year’s ‘FICCI Woman Entrepreneur of the Year’ award, who, from earning just fifty paisa in the early 80’s continued to fight to overcome all hurdles to establish a chain of restaurants and now she earns at least Rs two lakh a day. Hailing from a conservative Christian family from Nagercoil, her marriage to a Brahmin caused an uproar in her family. Soon, all went downhill for Patricia who suffered abuse at the hands of her drug and alcohol addicted husband. At 18, Patricia was left to fend for herself and her two children. In an interview she confides: “I reached the crossroads where I had to choose between living and dying. I chose to live.” Where many would have just given up she persevered. Her passion for cooking only fuelled her will to survive. She started out by selling pickles, jams and squashes. From then on, there was no looking back and she set up a kiosk at the Marina beach, selling juice and cutlets. She had to prepare the food stuff and also stand with the mobile cart from 3.00 p.m. to 11.00 p.m. and then she had the bright idea of opening her shop from 5.00 a.m. to 9.00 a.m. for the morning walkers.

On seeing her work on the Marina beach, the Slum Clearance Board offered her the canteen in their office. Later she took up catering contracts in the Bank of Madura. The turning point came when she took up the canteen in the National Institute of Port Management. But destiny played truant with her again. She lost her daughter, Pratibha Sandra and son-in-law in a road accident, a month after their marriage in 2004. It shattered her and she withdrew from all that she was doing. But she was able to overcome this obstacle also.

With the help of her son she started the first restaurant 'Sandeepha' in her daughter's memory. She was also shocked by the way the ambulance operators treated the accident victims (her daughter and son-in-law) and the way they refused to carry dead bodies. And this encouraged her to run an ambulance on the very spot her daughter died to help victims whether they are dead or alive. And now when they ask her if there is a bigger dream, she responds with a smile and speaks of a cruise liner! This is a true story of courage, determination, hard work and perseverance from our time and our place.

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