“A dream does not become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work” – Colin Powell, Former US Defense Secretary.
Jasoda Das who hails from Guwahati comes from an economically deprived family. With responsibilities of an ailing mother and financial difficulties , she had to leave her studies at a young age and she single handedly managed all the household chores. Jasoda’s father who worked as a security guard for a private firm lost his job and the family started to face further financial crunch. With the sole bread winner of her family losing his job, Jasoda started to work as a maid in her neighbouring houses.
Although she started to earn a little, she always dreamt to do something big in the weaving business , which had been her passion. Jasoda had a keen interest in the art of weaving since her childhood. As a child she used to closely observe her mother weaving assamese traditional attires and thus by watching her mother, she gained the skill of weaving.
Unfortunately, the health of Jasoda’s mother detoriated with time in absence of proper medical care. Her mother’s wish was to see her daughter happily married and so her father fixed her marriage in a hurry. Jasoda was married off to a boy within a few days and she started a new phase of life.
Initially, her married life was quite happy and prosperous. Her husband owned a grocery shop and they were financially stable. However, fate had other plans in store for them. On one unfortunate day, the shop was heavily damaged in a thunderstorm and they suffered heavy financial losses. After the incident, they were totally broken. Gradually, they exhausted all their savings and became financially broke.
Jasoda, however without losing courage decided to do something on her own to support her family. She started to weave traditional assamese attires and by selling those attires she started earning an income. With passing time her dedication and persistence have only brought newer experiences and opportunity for her business. She has become an expert in weaving beautiful traditional assamese attires and by vending those attires their financial condition has improved a lot.
When you face difficult times, know that challenges are not sent to destroy you. They are sent to promote, increase and strengthen you. Life has many ways of testing a person’s will, either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happen all at once. All we need is hope and strength.
With her infinite hope, Jasoda has proved herself as an influencer for us. She overcame the hurdles of poverty to prove her merit. When she had started there was hardly any encouragement for her but through her perseverance she was able to gain the confidence of her family. Now her entire family is involved in the weaving business. Through her hard work and patience she set an example for the other women like her in the society. There are no limits to what you can accomplish, except the limits you place on your own thinking. Jasoda is now confident that wherever she is, even under the most distressing circumstances, she can sail through!
Jasoda now believes, as women, one should never lose their identities; or let go of our ambitions or should not settle for anything less! This is why sky is NOT the limit.
(As narrated by Ms Jasoda Das to Ms Anindita Sarma)
