Former Devadasis embody the true business spirit in daily lives

It’s not very uncommon to find vendors sitting outside temples selling coconut. But before I met with Shanta, I never thought of it as a business, neither was I aware about any of the intricacies involved in it. Shanta Mang lives in Alaknoor village in the Belgaum district of Karnataka. She is a former Devadasi and sells coconut outside the local temple for a living. A few months ago, Shanta got together with Indravva and Ashwini and all three of them decided to take a Milaap loan to support their individual businesses. I was not able to meet with Indravva, but Shanta sure put her loan amount to good use and I was very happy to see the stock of coconuts she had bought with it.

 

Shanta buys coconut stock from Athni or Harigiri (nearby towns) and sells them on Sunday’s and Amavasya when a lot of devotees come to offer their prayers in the local temple. As depicted in the picture, she first needs to remove the outer green covering of every coconut separately and only then can they be sold in the market. She is normally able to sell around 300 to 400 coconuts on Sunday or other auspicious occasions earning a profit of around Rs. 3 to 4 on one coconut. 

 

However my visit to Ashwini was not that satisfactory. Ashwini Mang lives in Bhudihal village in the Belgaum district of Karnataka along with her husband and child. She originally took a Milaap loan to buy sewing machine and start her own tailoring business. The loan amount was utilized to buy a motorcycle instead. When I was returning from Bhudihal and even after waiting for an hour couldn't find a transport and finally had to hitch a ride in a truck, only then I was able to understand Ashwini’s dilemma. Being a former Devadasi she perfectly understands the importance of being financially independent. But since her husband could have earned much more if he had a vehicle that was given priority.

 

Business is not only about setting up giant empires with Millions of monthly turnover. The essence of business is in taking important decisions even when they are difficult to make. These women have only small setups to support their household finances, but the decisions they make are not profit and loss decisions; they literally are the decisions impacting life and death.