Amirtham, 47, has 4 daughters, two of whom are studying teacher education at the university, and a son 18 studying IT at a private college. Her husband farms 1½ acres of land given to him by his father. Amritham rents space on a coconut and banana farm and reaps the harvest from those trees. When the river has water, she cultivates a vegetable garden. She also buys greens, melons, flowers and corn from the village market to add to her sales. Then she gets up a 3:00 am and transports her load of produce by bus 25 kilometers to one morning and one evening market in Trichy. Sitting on the ground, she sells her produce. She can sell as many as 100 coconuts a day.

Before she took a loan the family was nearly starving. They had lots of debt just to rent their house and cultivate the land. They almost lost their land and their daughter had to drop out of school. The college invited her to return to school by paying in small installments.

Life is still difficult. Amirthamulavar would like the rent a stall in the market, expand the business, and buy some baskets to hold and display her produce.