Video – 1:
When we met Raju in our village and asked him, “What was the biggest challenge you faced in your life, and how did you overcome it?”, he shared the following:
"I used to work as a daily wage agricultural laborer to earn a living. A few years after my marriage, I fell seriously ill. The doctors advised me not to do hard labor or outdoor work, but said I could do light work in the shade. Since I was uneducated, I felt that I couldn’t support my wife without doing daily labor. But I had no choice, as the doctors told me not to go out to work.
My wife and I became a burden to my parents. Even they started looking down on us, saying, 'How long can we take care of both of you?' I felt hopeless and was wondering what to do with my life. That’s when I got the idea that if I learned tailoring, I could stand on my own feet. I put in much effort and patience, and learned tailoring for six months under a tailor in our village.
During those six months, I had no income at all. But I endured it with hope, believing that this skill would help me in the future. Today, the profession I learned through hardship is helping me support my family."
Video – 2:
When we met a man named Shivayya in our village and asked him, "What is the happiest moment in your life?", he shared the following:
"I am 54 years old. I have 20 cents of land. I grow vegetables on that land and every day, before dawn, I go to Kotturu, which is 10 kilometers away from our village, to sell them. Sometimes, we don’t get a fair price for the vegetables we take. That’s because we sell our produce to the traders, who don’t offer a reasonable price. Since we cannot bring the vegetables back home, we must sell them at whatever rate they offer.
Even though we don’t always get a reasonable price for the vegetables we work so hard to grow, we feel a deep satisfaction that we are living off the crops from our land. That satisfaction always brings us happiness. Without migrating to other towns for work, we continue to live in our village, working hard on our land, and we are able to give a good education to our three daughters. That, to us, is the greatest joy and fulfillment in our life," he said.
Video – 3:
When we met a man named Ravi in our village and asked him to share his life experiences, he said:
"I am 60 years old, and I was born deaf. Because of my hearing disability, I was often mocked by other children when I was young. In those days, we didn’t know where schools for hearing-impaired children were, so I couldn’t get an education, even though I had a strong desire to study. My parents didn’t know about hearing aids back then; even if they had known, they couldn’t afford one.
Due to my hearing problem, people around me often looked down on me. But my parents encouraged me and raised me with courage. Since I had no education, I worked as an agricultural laborer in our village. Through hard work, I saved money and eventually bought my own piece of farmland.
From being a daily wage laborer to becoming a landowner and employing a few people to work on my farm — that is the most unforgettable and sweetest experience of my life," he shared.
Video – 4:
I met a man named Shiva in our village who runs a small grocery shop. When I asked him about an unforgettable experience in his business, he shared the following:
"I am doing this business because of the encouragement from my father. In the beginning, I was very scared, but my father gave me the courage and taught me the basics of running a business. He guided me step by step.
At one point, when my business was doing well, I stopped listening to my father, didn’t respect his advice, and started making decisions on my own. Because of that, I suffered a loss in my business.
When I felt hopeless, my father stood by me, comforted me, and once again filled me with courage. That moment is unforgettable in my life. With the strength he gave me, I worked hard and rebuilt my business.
I have learned one valuable lesson in life — we should always respect the words and guidance of our elders," he shared.
Video – 5:
I met a woman named Lakshmi in our village. She is 50 years old. When I asked her about a challenge she faced in life and how she overcame it, she shared:
"I was married at a very young age. My husband used to come home drunk and beat me. Even though I faced hardships from a young age, I continued to support my husband by working as a daily laborer. I became a mother at a young age, and even though I often felt hopeless about life, I continued living for the sake of my children.
Despite not receiving much support from my husband, I worked hard and made sure both of my children received an education. I married them at the right age, unlike how it happened with me.
Through all kinds of struggles, I learned in life that we should never lose courage," she said.
Video – 6:
I met Sadhu Charan, a 60-year-old temple priest from our village, and asked him about the happiest moment in his life. He shared the following:
"I come from an impoverished family, and ours was a large household. My brothers left our village and parents to search for a livelihood elsewhere and settled near a nearby town. But I had to stay back in the village to look after our parents and continue our family tradition of serving as a temple priest.
Living as a temple priest is quite difficult because the income is very minimal. It was hard for me to support my family and parents with such a small income. But because I loved my profession deeply, I endured the hardships and continued my work.
Eventually, I was able to achieve my life’s dream of building a house of my own. That is the happiest moment of my life. Life has taught me that no one will always be there to support us; we must build self-confidence and move forward on our own," he said.
Video – 7:
I met a man named Buddu in our village. He is 49 years old. When I asked him to share his life experiences, he said:
"I used to make a living by grazing cows. Every day, I pack my lunch early in the morning and take the cows to the hill area far from the village, returning only after dark in the evening. Sometimes, I couldn’t return home at night due to certain situations. On such days, with no food available, I had to eat fruits and nuts found in the area and come back home the next day.
In my life, every day feels like a challenge. Since I spend my day in the hills, I’m always at risk — I never know when a wild animal might attack. Still, my family survives on the income from selling our cows' milk. So, to ensure the cows get proper food, I must take them to the hills and bring them back daily.
I don’t get a single day off. If I take a day off, our cows won’t have food. I worked continuously, which affected my health. During that time, my younger brother stood by me and helped me.
Since I didn’t know modern dairy farming methods, I eventually sold all my cows and started working as a daily wage laborer," he shared.