Sumathi is using the loan to save money and restart her house construction

I traveled to Arivalur, a small village during one of my field visits. It was a pleasant ride with lush green fields on both the sides of the road something that I haven't seen in my earlier visits. Sumathi's home stood quietly between a group of settlements. Sumathi lives in an old-fashioned mud house with a thatched roof. "We are daily labors we work in the fields most of the day and at times we also work as construction helpers" said Sumathi. With regular cultivation happening she does agricultural work regularly. They started constructing a new house in the adjacent plot but had to stop it due to financial constraints. They had started construction with the idea of marrying off their two sons but things didn't work as planned and they had to stay put. Sumathi then decided to purchase a cow with the loan amount. This was her second cow and she has been rearing cows for as long as she could remember. It supplemented her daily wages and helps her save money. She showed me the stopped construction which looked like an incomplete arrangement of bricks stacked over the other. "With my elder son working I hope we save enough to restart the construction". She said that moving into the new house with her daughters-in-law is her dream. She led to her backyard where stood an animal shed which housed her cow and animals. Despite her own family failing to construct a proper house in human terms she has made sure her cows get a proper enclosure. Whether it is a moral respect shown towards her means of income or be it a basic human act I couldn't decipher. I returned to the road lined with green fields to for the next borrower.