Jothi Shanmugam, 39, left her husband 12 years ago after violent disputes. The marriage was arranged when she was 15 and her husband was 33. Her husband would not give her any money. She was just barely able to feed her four children with her mother’s help. She had to work for daily wages in the fields and in a laundry, where she was abused, in order to pay for the children’s education. At that time she was so miserable, she decided to find a way to do business on her own.

Jothi's mother had a petty shop and inspired her to be an entrepreneur. She began stitching blouses and then applied for a loan. Jothi bought an electric popcorn cooker and supplies, paid for a connection to electricity, and makes and sells 1,000 packages of popcorn a day at one rupee each. She employs three people to help her make and distribute the popcorn by bicycle to petty shops and roadside stands.

Jothi'a children are now 21, a son who is a painter, 18, a son studying electronics, one married daughter and one at the university. She pays 500 rupees a month to educate her son and daughter.

Jothi would like to expand her business to be able to employ five people and increase production.