Drive to strive made Valleswari strong

HYDERABAD: A mother of two and a housewife who could not, at one point of time, pick up the courage to cross the road, now runs a driving school, apart from tailoring, handicrafts and catering businesses. "It was due to a financial crisis and the need to support the family that I had to begin something. It was only last May that I learnt how to drive a four-wheeler," M Valleswari, a resident of Musheerabad, said.A native of Visakhapatnam, she completed her matriculation and a certificate course in teaching and tailoring. Before she was to join a degree college, she was married. Though she began tailoring and handicrafts as a hobby, they came to her aid in time of need, she said. Valleswari worked as a teacher of mentally-challenged children at Sweekar Rehabilitation Centre for about six months. The birth of her two children meant more work at home and she divided her time between children and tailoring. Initially, she had only been stitching garments for her family but later received orders for readymade shirts and women's garments, she said. It was in February last that some elderly people in the neighbourhood requisitioned her catering services and so she began supplying tiffins, meals, sweets and pickles, Valleswari said. "According to the orders received I do all the cooking be it for 100 members and provide them all at a time," she said. Her husband, an engineer with the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board, her mother and her two children - daughter in Class Six and son in Class Eight - support her, she said. So far, she has taught eight persons how to drive at her Om Sai Driving School at Padmaraonagar and is in the process of teaching 10 more. "I cannot remain idle. And I do not mind working odd hours though I suffer from body pains at the end of the day," she said.