“Patience is not sitting and waiting, it is foreseeing/ It is looking at the thorn and seeing the rose, looking at the night and seeing the day/....”

The 13th-century Persian poet Rumi, like thousands of poets before and after, expounded on the virtues of patience. But how many of us remember them or their words? Some of us who have been fortunate enough to be healthy amidst the pandemic have already started cribbing about being in quarantine. And we have forgotten how hard it has been for our frontline COVID-19 warriors. We need to count our blessings in surviving the health and financial crisis because many find it hard to do or did not survive.

But many like Purnima Malik did not wait for the crisis to take a toll on them. Instead, they “looked at the thorn” and saw the rose blooming...or, in her case, heard the chickens cluck!

Last year, when India went into months of lockdown to battle the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Purnima had just settled down after her daughter’s wedding. The preparations for the wedding had lasted months, leaving the family no time for rest. Purnima’s two sons were busy gathering resources and making arrangements; her husband oversaw the plans and invitations. As for the bride’s mother, Purnima was in charge of looking after her daughter’s bridal needs.

Indian weddings, however big and fat or small and humble, do cast a financial burden on the families. Purnima thought they would soon recover from the wedding expenditure. Her husband works in a nearby potato warehouse. Her sons were one of the busiest van drivers in their small village near Tarakeswar in Hooghly district of West Bengal. Little did they knew that their fate, including that of everyone in this country, was about to change. The lockdown grounded the sons as the government ordered all public transport off the roads. They could only sit at home and hope for a quick return to their normal daily routine.

Purnima was thunderstruck. The Malik family was gripped with the fear of both health and financial crisis. With only one source of income—her husband’s job—Purnima managed to run the house and weather the months of lockdown. But it wasn’t enough to tide over the monetary void. She realised that no good will come from “sitting and waiting”. She needed a plan, another oar to cling onto.

The yearning to do something on her own took Purnima to the nearby branch of Village Financial Services. It was the day when the country unlocked with precaution. VFS put Purnima in its JLG group Payel, Purnima started her chicken farm. Her sons helped her with the contacts of poultry and poultry feed suppliers. Her daughter helped in spreading the news of the new business.

Purnima was finally able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Purnima’s farm is now a go-to place for the locals whenever they look for chicken meat. Purnima monitors the upkeep of the farm meticulously, ensuring that the standard hygienic and health conditions of the birds. Purnima calls in the local vet regularly for check-ups. She makes sure that her farm meets the best standard of safety and quality checks.

Sometimes, Purnima wonders what would have happened if she had not taken that leap of faith and applied for a loan from VFS.

For every entrepreneur, the first step is a leap of faith, a jump into the unknown. The ones who can muster the courage learn to build their way. Their resilience comes from “looking at the night and seeing the day....”