Grieving mother finds solace through banana business

Sundravva Kamble, hails from Jalalpur, a small town in the Belgaum district of Karnataka. She lives with her son, who works as a daily wage worker in the nearby field. She, being a former devadasi, could not find any employment. So, she decided to start her own banana selling business. To buy the first batch of bananas and baskets to hold them in, Sundravva took out a loan of Rs 15,000 from MASS (Mahila Abhivruddi mattu Samrakshana Samsthe), a partner of Milaap. Sundravva buys the unripened bananas from Raibag (a nearby town) market thrice a week and sells them in her village. At the age of 57, she goes door-to-door in her village and the nearby villages to sell the bananas. She says that during festivals and marriages, she makes a profit of Rs 600 a week compared to Rs 300 she is able to make on regular weeks. Sundravva tells me that her first born son passed away when working in the Indian army a month ago. Her daughter-in-law and grandchildren have moved out too. Since then, she has been unable to bring herself to start working again. Though unable to work currently, she expresses her gratitude for the loan.