Farida Begum leads a quaint life in Gangadhar Nagara in Kanakapura Road Bangalore. Couple of years ago life for her was a regular struggle. She along with her husband runs a small scale business. They manufacture mattress and also sell eggs. The profit margin was minimal as their investment was very small. This business was conducted from home. A business with hardly any profit made Farida Begum and her husband Alam Pasha think. How could they expand their small venture and make it big?

Chikkarangappa (39) is physically challenged since he was three years old. Walking without a support stick is next to impossible for him. He lives with his wife Bharathamma (30) in Yaradakatte village, Hiriyur taluk, 90 kms away from Tumkur. For living Bharathamma rolls beedis while her husband is a stamp vendor. The areas in which they live has seen drought 59 times in the past 100 years. There is no lasting water source in this area. But today this family has a toilet and a water connection at home. All this was possible because of Grameen Koota and Navya Disha.

Life was a series of unfortunate events when Sujatha’s husband died in 2007. The family lived on the income of cloth selling. After her husband’s death it was difficult for Sujatha to make ends meet. But today life is much more welcoming, thanks to Grameen Koota, she says.  “It was Grameen Koota (GK) that made it possible for me to start and continue my business,” smiles Sujatha. She makes candles for earning a livelihood. 

Meet Rezwaan, the proud owner of ‘Madeena Bangle Store’.This resident of Uppaharahalli in the outskirts of Tumkur town greets you with a smile. She is a well known person in the vicinity of her town, for her hard work and determination. Rezwaan is an example for all those women who dare to dream big. Rezwaan stays with her husband Habibulla Sherief (40) and two school going children. Her daughter Sameena is 16 and son Sameer is 11. Years ago her life consisted of mundane household activities. When her son turned 11 she found that she had a lot of time at her disposal.

Radhamma (47) and her husband Narayanappa (53) live in Kolihalli village, 10 kms away from Tumkur. When GFSPL opened a Kendra in the village in 2005, Radhamma became a member and progressed gradually with GK loans. “GK has been a great source of help for us. We were able to grow faster with GK loans,” Radhamma said.

Radhamma's first loan was Rs 7000/- with which she started a mobile bangle store. She still runs this mobile store, and sells bangles whenever there is a marriage function or festival in the village and surroundings. 

Savitramma and her family live in Kuppur, a village 8 kms far from Tumkur. She joined Grameen Koota's (GK) group lending program in 2003. With her exemplary credit discipline she has gained much from the opportunities GK offers. “We were able to have good profit from agriculture thanks to GK's timely support,” Savitramma says. Since 2003 she has taken 8 times income generation loans for her vegetable and flower cultivation, which helped them to earn a livelihood from their small farm, through out these years.

Praveen is an employee working at the More Store (Aditya Birla Group) at Bilekahalli, Bangalore. He got trained by the GRAVITY program, and has got placement at this store four months ago. Praveen said that Grameen Koota is well-known in his native place and it was through his mother that he came to know about GRAVITY. “My mother inspired me to join the training program and I did it in May-June 2011. Now I have a job,” Praveen said with a sense of achievement. 

Sarasu Ashok (38) from Channapatna runs a successful enterprise creating and selling bamboo handicrafts. She and her husband, Ashok are skilled artisans who have trained 7 workers to craft quality bamboo merchandise. “Seven years ago my husband and I would make baskets to sell in the local market. We wanted to do more, but we did not have the money,” recalls Sarasu.

Shireen used her first loan from GK to finance the purchase of an autorickshaw. However, her alcoholic husband did not shoulder the responsibility as the vehicle's driver. Instead, “on most day, the police would bring him home and he would be drunk,” Shireen says, explaining that they could not gather enough fares each day to maintain the auto and the home. After selling the autorickshaw, Shireen has been functioning like a single parent, working 2 jobs (beedi rolling and tailoring) to raise her 3 children. “Even today I hardly see my husband. He is away drinking all day.”