A very independent person who seems to have taken her divorce entirely in stride, Arthika has not only managed to raise her two children herself, she has done so whilst increasingly diversifying and improving her business acumen.
A tireless entrepreneur, Irin Raja Arthika luxuriates in a large and breezy compound in a beautiful village in Eravur Pattu. “I moved here in April 2020 when I realized that it was not only cheaper, but I had more space to raise my animals”. The animals are droves of ducks and flocks of chicken who run around her yard, half of which is cordoned off and dedicated to growing vegetables.
Aside from breeding poultry and growing vegetables, Arthika also used to operate a small shop from which she sold breakfast meals. Complications associated with the pandemic have put a stop to that, but she hopes it will be temporary. Her primary venture right now is the manufacture of dried snacks, which she packets and sells to local shops herself. While she initially connected with the INSPIRED program to learn packaging techniques, shelf-life assessment and other aspects of her trade, the program ended up opening up many other horizons
“I made so many friends from other communities there” says Arthika, adding that she now has friends who are Muslim for the first time in her life. One of them, Nafira from Oddamavadi, has started a skills development program for unemployed women in the East Coast, and invited Arthika to teach them, “I am so happy to give back some of the skills and knowledge I have gained”.