The radio and television had been transmitting the cyclone alert for the last three days. Soma was busy stocking the temporary coop behind the house with bird grains. The 25-year-old mother of two was anxious and scared for her family and her home. A cyclone was about to come, pass through the rolling greens of Nadia, unleashing its fury on her village of Narayanpur and leave a trail of destruction. She packed some muri or puffed rice, some chirey or beaten rice and left with her husband and her children for the nearby Amphan relief shelter, the Nadia Madrassa.

Two years ago, Soma Bibi Mian had started her poultry business with a loan from Village Financial Services. Since then, it had been the family’s blanket of financial security. With time her coop of hens and chickens grew, and so did her business. From rice-eating ceremonies to weddings to funerals, Soma’s chicken was on every plate. So were the eggs.

Soma’s family and a dozen others made the school building their home for the next few days as the cyclone arrived and left.

Soma’s sincere faith in her prayers had shielded her house from major damage, but her coop had been flattened. None of its inhabitants was alive. As relief started arriving, Soma went back to her home. The children were happy to return to their neighbourhood. Her husband went around the house assessing the damages. Soma went into the backyard and saw the coop destroyed, the chickens dead.

Soma could see only dark clouds. Every time she looked at the flattened coop, her eyes filled with tears. She decided to concede defeat and give up her dream. Her husband and children tried their best to motivate her, but they failed. Days passed, Soma returned to the local VFS branch to declare her departure. She was standing at the very place where she had come two years ago with dreams for her family’s prosperity.

Something struck in her. Standing at the door, Soma recalled her days of hard work in building her prosperous hatchery. She remembered the morning she found the first egg laid in her coop. The children had run to her as their mother shouted in glee. She remembered the day of her first sale. It was the homecoming of her neighbour’s daughter from medical college. The proud mother of the new doctor had complimented Soma about the tasty eggs.

She realised that failure comes easy; winning is hard. Her memories of the flourishing coop would not let her rest in peace. She returned to her empty coop, fixed it, cleaned it, and got it ready for a new tenant. The next day, she returned home from the town market with the coop’s new inhabitants. She was ready to retrace her days of starting the poultry. Her children and her husband rejoiced over her decision.

Within a few months, she had regained her lost momentum and her old customers. She earned new customers for her eggs at the local weekly bazaar. Her husband helped her spread the word of her business. As the village started to recover from Amphan, the residents started to get back into their groove. Soma’s neighbours went back to their work. The season of weddings arrived yet again, and Soma made sure to make the most of it.

As the profits started coming in, Soma realised the merit of her decision while standing at the gate of the VFS branch office after Amphan. Her second innings was bearing more fruit than her first. This time she was armed with the knowledge of handling a poultry business.

While speaking to VFS executives, Soma narrated every small aspect of her journey. She wanted to make sure that the message we received was loud and clear: We all deserve a second chance in life. If that fails, then a third. But not acceptance of defeat.