NIRMALA

Feeling beautiful inside

Nirmala, a 38-year-old mother of two, has earned new respect. She now proudly sits with her husband when the family makes major financial decisions. Thanks to the INR 5,000 she earns each month from her beauty parlour, her voice is now heard. She says she owes it to the Bhavani Amman self-help group, which she joined when Hand in Hand field workers came to her village.

Enterprise is not a new word for this gutsy lady who has studied up to Class X. She was running a small beauty parlour when she was introduced to the self-help group five years ago. However, the most she made back then was INR 2,500 a month. Household expenses used to swallow it all up, and she never had enough to plough back into her business.

Encouraged by the self-help group leader and with her husband’s support, Nirmala decided that she could benefit from the three-module Enterprise Development Training and the INR 5,000 micro-loan facilitated by Hand in Hand. This was the first loan she took to scale up the services she offered at her parlour. The easy terms and the 12% annual rate of interest meant she could quickly repay the entire sum.

She then went in for a bigger loan of INR 10,000 at 15% annual interest, and used it to upgrade her parlour some more. She bought new and efficient gadgets, and purchased artificial jewellery that she stocks in her shop and rents out during weddings at INR 300-500 per set. Now, Nirmala’s earnings are INR 5,000 a month, which has made her family much more comfortable. She plans to move the business out of her house and into a new space.

Her training at Hand in Hand has made her wise. She invests for tomorrow, and does not consume all today. Nirmala says she now gets a lot more respect from her family and from the community. “I always dreamt of getting my two daughters married off comfortably. Now, I can,” says a proud Nirmala.