Vijaya Lakshmi Gugulothu

I am Vijaya Lakshmi Gugulothu and I live and work in Garakunta Thanda. It is a small village under the Ganugabanda post in Garidepally Mandal. My house is number 10-89/3. Life in the thanda is very different from the big cities. We are surrounded by fields and the pace is much slower. I started doing this work because there weren't many options nearby, and I wanted to help out my family while staying close to home. It is not a formal business with a sign or a lobby. People in the village just know me and come to my door when they need something. I usually work from my front room or outside under the shade when it is too hot inside. We deal with the weather every day—sometimes the rain makes the roads mud and it’s hard for anyone to reach us. Other times the heat is so bad we have to stop working in the middle of the day. I don’t have a big marketing plan or anything like that. Word of mouth is how people find me. I just try to do my work honestly and keep things moving. It is a simple life here in the village, and my work is a part of that. There are no big corporate goals, just the daily effort to get things finished. That is how we live and work here in Garidepally.