NARRATIVE APPROACH TO STUDY BUSINESS MODEL OF FLOWER
SELLERS AND ROLE OF MICRO FINANCE

Dr.K.Prabhakar, Professor
Velammal Engineering College,
V.N.Aruna,BE PGPBA,

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Abstract
Flower sellers are part of Tamil culture. They are found in every town,
predominantly women. Use of flowers for different festivals, occasions or as an
expression of auspicious nature of event is part flock lore of Tamil culture.
However, it is not restricted to Tamilnadu and may be generalized for other
parts of India. However, their business models are least studied and seldom
cared for by management researchers. One of the estimates indicates the flower
market in Chennai is one hundred cores per annum providing employment to
approximately one lakh thousand women. As predominantly the business is
carried out by women with less education, narrative approach has been used to
obtain information and make some inferences. The model given by
www.businessmodelgeneration.com is used to discern different dimensions of
business. For this study 20 flower sellers were interviewed –mainly about their
background and their business model with Focus on how they manage their
finances and role of micro finance. Also included in this report are insights
from 3 others who are a part of the world of micro finance – Mr Matt Duncan

of the Grameen foundation, Ms Rebecca, centre leader of Equitas in
Choolaimedu and Mr Viswanathan, a local money lender or in international
terms money shark. Some of the results are counter intuitive; they prefer the
money shark. The inferences are given in the form of points to ponder on what
should be done by state, administration or civil society to help these millions
who are just have no voice or just not worthy to reach except during elections.
Key Words: Business Models, Self Help Groups, Micro Finance Institutions,
Money Sharks, Usury Interest rates, flower business.
The key words are defined here as they are not universal and contextual in the
case of Tamilnadu and India.

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Business Models
A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates,
delivers, and captures value - economic, social, or other forms of value. The
process of business model design is part of business strategy. In theory and
practice the term business model is used for a broad range of informal and
formal descriptions to represent core aspects of a business, including purpose,
offerings, strategies, infrastructure, organizational structures, trading practices,
and operational processes and policies. Hence, it gives a complete picture of an
organization from high-level perspective.
Self Help Groups
These definition of self-help group is specific to Tamilnadu and the information

can be obtained from the website ( is
group of rural poor (includes urban poor; included by researcher) who have
volunteered to organise themselves into a group for eradication of poverty of the
members. They agree to save regularly and convert their savings into a
Common Fund known as the Group corpus. The members of the group agree to
use this common fund and such other funds that they may receive as a group
through a common management. Though the norms appear out of reach for
rural poor and women, it has been observed by researcher due to strong value
systems some of the women groups do follow the norms. This aspect is needed
to be researched further. The group formation will do keeping in view the
following broad guidelines;
Generally a self-help group may consist of 10 to 20 persons. However, in
difficult areas like deserts, hills and areas with scattered and sparse population
and in case of minor irrigation and disabled persons, this number may be from
5-20. The difficult areas have to be identified by the State Level SGSY
Committee and the above relaxation in membership will be permitted only in
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such areas. Generally all members of the group should belong to families below
the poverty line. However, if necessary, a maximum of 20% and in exceptional
cases, where essentially required, up to a maximum of 30% of the members in a
group may be taken from families marginally above the poverty line living
contiguously with BELOW POVERTY LINE definition: as per Government of
India, earning at Rs. 10 or less per day approximately, per person, considered as

below poverty. As per the Government of India, poverty line for the urban areas
is Rs. 296 per month and for rural areas Rs. 276 per month, i.e. people in India
who earn less than Rs. 10 per day. This amount will buy food equivalent to
2200 calories per day, medically enough, to prevent death. This actually
translates to Rs. 3650 per year or US $ 75 per year. These SHGs are planned to
help the families of occupational groups like agricultural labourers, marginal
farmers and artisans marginally above the poverty line, or who may have been
excluded from the BPL list to become members of the Self Help Group.
However, the (ABOVE POVERTY LINE) APL members will not be eligible
for the subsidy under the scheme. The group shall not consist of more than one
member from the same family. A person should not be a member of more than
one group. The BPL families must actively participate in the management and
decision making, which should not ordinarily be entirely in the hands of Above
Poverty Line (hitherto referred as APL) families. Further, APL members of the
Self Help Group shall not become office bearers (Group Leader, Assistant
Group Leader or Treasurer) of the Group.
Managerial Aspects relating to the group governance
1. The group should devise a code of conduct (Group management norms) to
bind itself. This should be in the form of regular meetings (weekly or
fortnightly), functioning in a democratic manner, allowing free exchange of
views, participation by the members in the decision making process.

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2. The group should be able to draw up an agenda for each meeting and take up
discussions as per the agenda.
3. The members should build their corpus through regular savings. The group
should be able to collect the minimum voluntary saving amount from all the

members regularly in the group meetings. The savings so collected will be the
group corpus fund.
4. The group corpus fund should be used to advance loans to the members. The
group should develop financial management norms covering the loan sanction
procedure, repayment schedule and interest rates.
5. The members in the group meetings should take all the loaning decisions
through a participatory decision making process.
6. The group should be able to prioritise the loan applications, fix repayment
schedules, fix appropriate rate of interest for the loans advanced and closely
monitor the repayment of the loan instalments from the loaned.
7. The group should operate a group account preferably in their service area
bank branch, so as to deposit the balance amounts left with the groups after
disbursing loans to its members.
8. The group should maintain simple basic records such as Minutes book,
Attendance register, Loan ledger, General ledger, Cash book, Bank passbook
and individual passbooks. The sample preform for maintenance of above
records by the group is in the Annexure II for guidance. These could be used
with necessary changes/ modifications wherever required.
9. Fifty per cent of the groups formed in each block should be exclusively for
the women. In the case of disabled persons, the groups formed should ideally be
disability-specific wherever possible, however, in case sufficient number of
people for formation of disability-specific groups are not available, a group may
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comprise of persons with diverse disabilities or a group may comprise of both
disabled and non-disabled persons below the poverty line.
Definition of Microfinance and MFIs
Microfinance services as “providing financial assistance to an individual or an

eligible client, either directly or through a group mechanism for : i. an amount,
not exceeding rupees fifty thousand in aggregate per individual, for small and
tiny enterprise, agriculture, allied activities (including for consumption purposes
of such individual) or ii. An amount not exceeding rupees one lakh fifty
thousand in aggregate per individual for housing purposes, or physisuch other
amounts, for any of the purposes mentioned at items (i) and (ii) above or other
purposes, as may be prescribed.”
MFIs could play a significant role in facilitating inclusion, as they are
uniquely positioned in reaching out to the rural poor. Many of them operate in a
limited geographical area, have a greater understanding of the issues specific to
the rural poor, enjoy greater acceptability amongst the rural poor and have
flexibility in operations providing a level of comfort to their clientele.

There

are several legal forms of MFIs. However, firm data regarding the number of
MFIs operating under different forms is not available. It is roughly estimated
that there are about 1,000 NGO-MFIs and more than 20 Company MFIs.
Further, in Andhra Pradesh, nearly 30,000 cooperative organizations are
engaged in MF activities. However, the company MFIs are major players
accounting for over 80% of the microfinance loan portfolio. (www.nabard.org)
Usury Interest Rates
Usury was interest above the rate allowed by law. Today, usury is
commonly used to refer to the charging of unreasonable and excessive rates of
interest.

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Loan Shark or a Kandu vaddi money lender
A loan shark or kandu vaddi money lender in local parlance is a person or
body that offers unsecured loans at high interest rates to individuals, often
enforcing repayment by blackmail or threats of violence. They are generally
part of criminal-police-politician-judiciary network and most of their tactics are
above law. Sometimes, the interest rates are as high as 300% per year and never
less than one hundred per cent per annum in most of the cases.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

2. Objective: ............................................................................................................................. 10
3. The flower sellers of Choolaimedu: ..................................................................................... 10
4. Limitations of the study: ...................................................................................................... 11
5. Narratives ............................................................................................................................ 12
5.1. Vasantha:........................................................................................................................... 12
5.2 Kannama.S: ........................................................................................................................ 13
5.3 Sivabaghyam: ..................................................................................................................... 14
5.4 Lakshmi: ............................................................................................................................ 15
5.5 K.Rani: ............................................................................................................................... 16
5.6 Uma: ................................................................................................................................... 16
5.7 Sakkarai: ............................................................................................................................ 17
5.8 Veeramma.M ..................................................................................................................... 17
5.9 Indira: ................................................................................................................................. 18
5.10 Anjalai: ............................................................................................................................. 19
5.11 Gowri: .............................................................................................................................. 19
5.12 Aarumugam Ammal: ....................................................................................................... 20

5.13 Vasantha:.......................................................................................................................... 21
5.14 Kuppamma: ...................................................................................................................... 21
5.15 Shanthi: ............................................................................................................................ 22
5.16 Lakshmi: .......................................................................................................................... 23
5.17 Leelavathy: ....................................................................................................................... 23
5.18 Tamizhchelvi: .................................................................................................................. 24
5.19 Panjaksharam: .................................................................................................................. 24
5.20 Kannatha: ......................................................................................................................... 25
6. Business model of flower sellers: ........................................................................................ 26
7. Other insights and inputs: .................................................................................................... 26
7.1 Vishwanathan:.................................................................................................................... 26
7.2 Rebecca: ............................................................................................................................. 27
7.3 Matt Duncan: ..................................................................................................................... 27
8. Observations: ....................................................................................................................... 28
8.1 Demographic aspects: ........................................................................................................ 28
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8.2 Business aspect: ................................................................................................................. 29
8.3 Financial aspect:................................................................................................................. 30
Appendix 1:.............................................................................................................................. 32
Appendix 2:.............................................................................................................................. 33

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1. Introduction
The two things that an average Indian buys on an everyday basis are vegetables and

flowers. Not bouquets or fancy bunches of flowers but long strings of fragrant flowers.
Flowers are an integral part of daily lives, especially to Hindus who consider them as a
superior form of offering to God. However, it is prevalent among other religions. It was an
anathema for the Tamilians, if the unmarried and married women did not wear flowers in
their hair. Now, even if they don’t adorn their hair with flowers, they at least make sure that
they adorn the pictures of their Gods with flowers. Flowers here not only symbolises love,
but also worship and respect.
Majority of households interacts with a flower seller on a regular basis and this proximity
is the key inspiration to conduct an exploratory study on their way of life. In a city that boasts
of dozens of flower sellers in every major street, their sheer number and their nature of their
business is apt for an exploratory study on micro finance. Some of the questions that need to
be answered are; how do these flower sellers run their shop? What made them get into this
business? How do they manage their finances? What kind of a role can MFIs play in the lives
of these women?
2. Objective:
To conduct an exploratory narrative research on the flower sellers of Choolaimedu (a small
representative place in Chennai city with populations of both upper, middle and lower strata
of society; Google map is provided in the Appendix 1) to find,
•

demographic background

•

business Model

•

Financial aspects relating to their life and business cash flows


The sampling method used for this study is snowball sampling.

3. The flower sellers of Choolaimedu:
Twenty flower sellers that the researcher had interacted with and 19 of them are
illiterate with only one woman who has studied till 8th standard. The flower sellers buy
flowers in bulk from either the Koyambedu flower market (whole sale market situated 12
kilometres from Choolaimedu or the Parrys market (smaller wholesale market 14 kilometres

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from Choolaimedu). (17 of the 20 buy from Koyambedu and the rest from Parrys). They buy
flowers every day, early in the morning at 4 am to 5 am. Typically, the sell flowers for 4
hours in the morning and 4 hours in the evening. Apart from buying flowers, the other
expenses that they incur for the business include travel fare, which ranges anywhere between
Rs 30 to Rs 40 per day, depending on whether they take the share auto, deluxe bus or the
regular low fare bus. At Rs 10 per bundle, the flower sellers spend Rs 20 per day for the
thread in which they tie the flowers.
Another important aspect of the business is the concept of delivering flowers to the
houses of some regular customers. 12 of the 20 flower sellers do flower delivery to houses
and they collect money from the customers at the end of the month. On an average, this
amounts to Rs 1000 to Rs 2000, which varies depending upon the quantity purchased.
Collecting the money on the monthly basis helps them to meet the beginning of the month
expenses such as rent, milk, grocery expenses etc.
There seems to be no association or any informal body which brings together the
flower sellers of Choolaimedu. Each seller operates independently and new comers don’t find
it very difficult to set shop as there is no collective opposition from the existing flower
sellers. Making a profit in this business is a gamble, as they deal with perishable goods,
which is of no use at the end of the day. The flowers that are not sold are usually given to a

nearby temple or go to the dustbin.
4. Limitations of the study:
•

In this study, only the flower sellers in the Shanmuganar Salai and Choolaimedu high
road were interviewed

•

The figures quoted for capital investment and profits made are the ballpark sum that
were told by the flower sellers and the researcher had no way of verifying it

•

The same goes for the amount of money that they borrowed from the money lender.
The flower sellers have the habit of constantly taking a new loan as soon as an old one
is paid off or to pay newer loans and there is no way to know the total amount that
they have borrowed

•

The flower sellers, being illiterate, were able to throw little light in the name of the
self-help group (now on wards referred as SHG) of which they were/are a member.

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They joined the SHG based on peer recommendation and in many cases, the group
leader being known to them personally.

A case by case description of the flower sellers are given below. To have a feel of the work
place photographs are added.

5. Narratives
5.1. SenTamilselvi
SenTamilselvi –The flower seller, who doesn’t know how to tie the flowers, was the first
flower seller the researcher encountered. Born and brought up in Chennai, she was into a host
of other jobs –a house maid, distributing milk packets etc before settling into the business of
flower selling. When asked about what made her get into the business, she simply stated that
it was old age. 10 years ago, she started selling flowers as her health started failing and hence,
could no longer do hard physical labour. Getting into this business was a little easy as her
aunt and her nieces are already into this business, which provided her with a decent exposure
to the business of flower selling. With her savings as the capital, she started this shop.
With two handicapped sons, this illiterate woman does her best to support the family
to make the ends meet. One son has a fruit shop nearby and another is an auto driver. With
the help of her sons, who sometimes go and buy flowers from the market and her daughters in
law who distributes flowers to the door steps of the customers, she manages this shop which
she has been running for 10 years.On a small table that is buckling under the weight of
flowers worth Rs 500-1000, she runs the shop. And as she doesn’t know how to tie the
flowers, she outsources it to another lady to whom she pays Rs 100 per day. Each day, she
makes a profit at the range of Rs 100 to Rs 200. This amount notwithstanding, she regularly
borrows money from the local money lender to meet her household expenses. To the money
lender, she pays an amount of Rs 50 or 100 per day, depending upon how much money she
has borrowed.
When asked about her awareness about Micro Finance Institutions, she proudly told
the story of how she managed to get a loan of Rs 10,000 from XYZ (to protect the identity)
recently in spite of her being 58 years old. “I gave them a photo of mine that was taken 8
years ago. In that I look 50 years old and thus managed to get a loan. If I told them that I am
58, they won’t give me a loan.” She giggles. Her daughter in law has also got a loan of Rs
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10,000 from XYZ. For this loan, she has to make a fortnightly payment of Rs 250 for one
year. She came to know about XYZ through her friends. However, she feels that SHGs are
not for her as the procedures involved are not transparent enough for her to understand.
Expansion Plans
Content with the shop, she has no further plans for expansion or generating more income. All
that worries her now is her 6 year old grandson who has to undergone an eye surgery.
5.2 Kannama.S:
Soft

spoken

illiterate

Kannama

was

watching curiously when I was speaking
with Vasantha. Kannama and Vasantha
have their shops right next to each other
and they whispered slyly as how the other
person’s business was affecting them. Her
voice is barely audible and her daughter
Kalpana came to my rescue by amplifying
what her mother spoke. The former Vellore
born vegetable vendor had come to
Chennai 40 years back and shifted to

flower selling business 5 years back as she
could no longer lift heavy basket of
vegetables. The 60 year old Kannama has 4 sons and a daughter. She buys flowers everyday
for Rs 1000 and makes a profit of Rs 100 to Rs 150 per day. Kannama is lucky to have the
support of her daughter in tying flowers and distributing it to customer’s houses. Also, her 4
sons and her husband pitch in to help her buying flowers from the market. In spite of the help
from her daughter, she outsources flower tying to a third party as she doesn’t know how to tie
flowers.
Expansion Plans
Totally unaware of MFIs and SHGs, Kannama prefers borrowing money from the money
lender. She gets the loan to meet her other expenses and has no intention of expanding the
shop further to generate more income. “Taking care of a shop of this size by itself keeps me
busy. If I expand, I will only end up making a loss” says Kannama.
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It was interesting to note that Kannama is unaware of MFI when her next shop neighbour has
got loan. .

5.3 Sivabaghyam:
Glib

and

oozing with

confidence,

Sivabaghyam is a woman of substance.

When asked about her education her
answer set the tone for the rest of the
talk

–“so

what

if

I didn't

have

education? I have talent and that’s all
that counts” the reply.
This 47 year old Chennai born mother of
two is a born business woman. With her smooth talks and a knack for identifying
opportunities, she is least handicapped by her illiteracy. Her shop is set opposite to a small
temple in the Shanmuganar Salai. Apart from selling flowers, she also sells other items that
are required for pooja on small scale –coconut, banana, lemon and betel leaves. She runs the
shop at a capital of Rs 500 per day. This may go up to Rs 3000 during festival times and
manages to make profit of Rs 100 –Rs 150 per day. She says that she can manage the shop
with the money she earns by it. And she also proudly points out to beautiful fresh Bangalore
roses which she always keeps stock.
Flower selling comes to her naturally as she has been on and off in this business since
she was 10 years old. This is also the family business of her in laws. Supported by her mother
in law and her husband who ties the flowers, she has a successful business and has managed
to educate her son, who is a BSc computer science graduate. Her daughter studied till 10th
standard and is now married. She borrows only for family expenses –weddings, deaths and

other occasions. Her experience with self help group was not all rosy. The 10,000 rupees that
she had borrowed from SHG required her to pay Rs 275 every 15 days and she quit the group
once she finished the loan. “1 year is too long a period for repayment and the meetings that
one has to attend is a pain in the neck” she says. She is comfortable borrowing money from
the local money lenders as she can finish of the loan within 3 months and avail another soon
after.

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5.4 Lakshmi:
55 year old uneducated widow with a 25 year
old widowed daughter to support is Lakshmi for
you. Her shop is very small when compared to
the previous 3. A small wooden plank set up at a
street corner is her shop, which she runs at a
capital of Rs 300 per day. For this she earns a
profit of Rs 50 and sometimes, this may go up to Rs 100 when her capital increases to Rs
500. Lakshmi was formerly running a small Tiffin shop nearby but she quit the business
when her knee started troubling her. 1 year ago, she started the flower business with the
money that she had saved and is helped by her daughter who ties the flowers. Lakshmi also
outsources flower tying and pays around Rs 30 per day for the labour. She manages the shop
from the money she earns from it and is supported by her son now and then. Her daughter
gives beauty treatment to women at their home. Lakshmi is wary of SHGs. She was
associated with one and had successfully repaid the Rs 5000 loan that she had taken. But she
decided to opt out when they offered only Rs 7,000 for an Rs 10,000 loan. “The SHG leader
is not trustworthy...they are trying to cheat us” is what she feels.
Half way through the conversation, her daughter Amdahl joins us along with her
daughter. She explains that now they have got a loan from Equitas for an amount of 15,000.

Lakshmi’s face beams with pride when she explains that she had used the loan amount to get
a cycle for her granddaughter. Lakshmi is now very strict about not taking any more loans
from the local money lenders as she feels that she can make the ends meet through her
business. “You get used to the money and then you start borrowing more and more. When I
was young, I could cope with the repayment, but now it is no longer wise. After repaying the
Rs 15,000, I am planning to sustain without any further loans and support my daughter in
whatever way I can” says this devoted mother and grandmother.

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5.5 Koran:
Seventy year old Rani doesn’t look a day older than 50 and has
a grit in her that enables her to carry on with her life. Deserted
by her 2 sons and a daughter, she now lives all alone and
sleeps in the verandah of a kind hearted house owner. “My
husband died with a loan of Rs 1 lakh 7 years back...when I
managed to finish that, I spent another lakh for my son’s
wedding for which am still repaying. In spite of that, they left
me all alone now” she laments.
A native of Dhindivanam, she came to Chennai 29 years back and has been into the flower
business for 12 years. When asked about what made her get into this business, she said that
when people came to buy fruits from her husband’s shop, they would also ask if he had any
flowers. Recognising this customer need, Rani started the flower business despite her
husband’s protests. Before getting into flower business, she was working as a maid.
Her age does not allow her to invest more than Rs 100 or Rs 200 per day for the shop
and she gets a profit of Rs 25 to Rs 50 per day. Very rarely she invests Rs 500 as capital. She
is now afraid of taking any further loans, even from the local money lenders as she feels that
at this age, it will not be easy for her to repay. “I can sustain the shop with what I earn. My

needs are also less and I don’t have to support any one anymore. So what is the need for
borrowing money?” she smiles. Though she is aware of SHG (which she associates with
misappropriation of funds) and MFIs, she feels that they are not needed for her.

5.6 Uma:
Thirty year old Uma is a class apart from other flower sellers as she does this business
to use her time productively, while for others, it is a means of livelihood. Her husband, in
association with his father, runs a successful garland business. This paved the way for Uma to
start selling flowers 5 years ago at her own doorstep. Flowers worth Rs 150 to Rs 350 is
brought from Koyambedu from her husband and her 2 children –a son and daughter who are
studying in 6th and 1st standard respectively helps her in delivering the flowers to the homes
of her customers. Though she is uneducated, she is determined to provide a good education
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for her children. With a profit of around Rs 100 per day and sufficient income earned by her
husband, she finds no need to borrow money from outsiders. However, she has borrowed Rs
3000 and Rs 2000 from her close friends who have started money lending business. “I got the
money as they have started this business very recently. I have borrowed money just to
support them” she says. When asked about SHG, she says that it is not for her as attending to
their meetings always throws a wrench in her schedule. With no plans of expanding the
business, she says MFI is not her cup of tea.

5.7 Sakkarai:
Into the flower business for the past 20 years,
Sakkarai is a proud mother of 2 sons, one of
whom has studied polytechnic and another is
into the flower business. 45 year old Sakkarai is
a Dindukal native and flower business is their

family business. Her late husband was also in
this business.
She started her business with a capital of Rs 100,
which she had borrowed from the money lender
and now she invests anywhere between Rs 250
to Rs 500 per day for her business, out of which she makes a profit of Rs 100 to Rs 150 per
day. She is unaware of the concept of micro finance and regularly borrows money from the
money lender and this sum ranges from Rs 1000 to Rs 3000, depending upon the needs. She
utilises this money to meet her household expenses and for paying her son’s education loan.
For the past 7 months, she is a part of a self help group and is raring to get done with it as she
finds it difficult to make the monthly payments and attend to the meetings. She says that she
is comfortably running her business with the money that it generates. Her sons are her pillars
of support and she is keenly looking forward for retirement from the business.

5.8 Veeramma.M
True to her name, Veeramma had
courageously battled it out with other
nearby flower sellers to set up her own
small flower shop in the Choolaimedu
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high road. The uneducated 30 year old Dindukal native came to the city of Chennai 3 years
back and started the flower selling business 6 months ago. Her husband who no longer
contributes to the family income made her take up this job. She is in the business of tying
flower since the age of ten. Her husband being in the flower business made her to choose the
business of flower selling to boost her income. She started out as a house maid and with a
generous help from her employer, she started this business with a capital of Rs 100. Now she
invests around Rs 200 per day and manages to make a profit of Rs 90. Her daughter, who is

now studying 3rd standard, is what keeps her going on. Having lost four sons earlier in
childbirth, her daughter is the centre around which her life revolves. She supplements the
income from flower shop by working as a maid. Back at her native place, she was a member
of a SHG but was not happy with it as she felt that she was being cheated. The experience
now has her shunning away from joining any SHG as she says that she cannot afford the
monthly payments, nor can she go for the meetings.
“Borrowing money from the local money lender works fine for me as the repayment
instalments is as small as Rs 20 per day for the Rs 2000 loan that I have taken. Also, I can
close the loan in a short duration as against the 1 year period it takes in SHG.” She says. The
amount that she borrows mainly goes for meeting her household expenses. She is not aware
about MFIs. Her little daughter helps her in the business by delivering flowers to homes.
Veeramma expressed that all she is looking forward is to give her daughter a decent
education and that is all that matters to her right now.

5.9 Indira:
A widowed woman with a child to support and supported by her sisters is Indira for you.
Come from a family that has been in the flower selling business for more than 3 generations,
she, along with her 2 sisters, mother and nieces and nephews runs this flower shop at
Choolaimedu high road. Answers for queries flew left right and centre from the 3 sisters and
a niece. Between the 4, they run a flower shop, a tender coconut shop, sells vegetables. This
big joint family have their shop in the same premises for the past 40 years. They invest an
amount of Rs 1000 per day for their flower shop and earn a profit of Rs 200 per day.
Uneducated native Chennaiites, Indira and her sisters regularly borrow money in the range of
Rs 5000 to 10,000 from the local money lender to meet their household expenses. They
sustain the shops from the income that it generates. Recently they have become a member of
Mahasemam and have obtained a loan of Rs 10,000 a few weeks back. The closely knit

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family system and the comradeship between the sisters ease the financial burden on the
family.

5.10 Anjalai:
55 year old Anjalai started selling lowers since she was 15
years of age and has been running the flower shop in the same
premises for the past 40 years. Mother of 4 sons and 2
daughters, none of her children has completed schooling and
her sons are working as contract labours.
Anjalai, who is uneducated, is a native of Chennai. Her small
flower shop runs at a capital of Rs 200 to Rs 250 per day. She
makes a profit of Rs 50 per day. Her husband helps her financially in the business and she
resorts for borrowing money from the money lenders to meet her household expenses.
Anjalai like many others is not keen about SHG as she feels that she cannot gel well with
other women. The regular meetings that one has to attend if they are a member of SHG also
keep her away from such programs. Ignorant about the concept of MFI, she showed les
enthusiasm to it even when explained as she felt that group dynamics with her peers in the
area is not her cup of tea. “Getting money from the money lenders is easy to keep track of
and is less of strain on the purse” she says. Anjalai has plans of selling bananas and coconuts
in her shop in the future and is working on how to generate the capital required for it.

5.11 Gowri:
Gowri is a 52 year old diabetic patient who laments that most of her income goes for
her medication. Her late husband was a rich man who had acres of land in Vizhupuram, but
the family came to poverty as the husband became an alcoholic and squandered away the
wealth. The mother of 5 daughters and a son, Gowri never did any work previously and lived
on her son’s support. 10 years ago, she took up the business of selling flowers with the help
of her daughters who are flower sellers. She started the business with an investment of Rs 50,
which has now increased to Rs 200 per day. She makes a profit of Rs 50 to Rs 100 and gives

this money to support her son’s business and her grandson’s education. She delivers flowers
to the home of her customers. Her son helps her in the business by buying flowers for her
from Koyambedu and apart from that, she has no one else to help her in the business. Every 3
months, as and when she repays a loan, she borrows another amount from the money lender
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to meet her household expenses and for supporting her son’s business. She was a member of
Mahasemam and opted out of it as she felt that there was a misappropriation of funds. So
now, she depends solely on the money lenders.

5.12 Aarumugam Ammal:
When asked for her name, her husband rushed
forward and said “Aarumugam Ammal” with a
heavy stress on “Ammal”. The husband and wife
duo hail from a family of flower sellers from
Kariampatti –a small village near Dindukal. She
was also the only flower seller I had encountered
to have had some education. She has studied till
8th class. 34 year old Aarumugam Ammal is
striving to make ends meet and also support the
education of her son, who is now in 11th
standard and daughter who is in 9th.
“We started this business because we fell into
bad times and badly needed additional income.”
says Murugan. Her husband Murugan sometimes helps her in running the shop. He works in
a flower shop in Parrys and they buy the flowers for the shop from Parrys. Into this business
for the past 10 years, Aarumugam Ammal sets shop for a capital of Rs 500 and makes a profit
of Rs 100 to 15 per day. Once, she was a member of SHG but unfortunately, the group has

dissolved and now, she is looking forward to join another SHG, mainly for saving money
rather than availing loan. “We borrow money from the money lender only during festival
times to infuse more capital to the shop. Otherwise, with the money that we earn between us,
we can manage our expenses” beams Aarumugam Ammal. The couple feel that it is best to
avoid borrowing as it becomes an unnecessary strain on their pockets. “It is best to limit our
expenses in accordance with the income” says Murugan. Incidentally, it was Murugan who
changed her wife’s name to “Aarumugam Ammal” from “Aarumugam”. “It’s a man’s name...
I wonder how her father gave her such a name” he grumbles well naturedly, while
Aarumugam Ammal smiles shyly.

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5.13 Vasantha
45 year old Vasantha has her shop right next to the
Choolaimedu bus stop and has been doing business in the
same area for almost 30 years. A native of Bunroti,
Vasantha inherited this shop from her neighbour from
Bunroti, who was moving to another area. Ever since, she
has been running this shop and currently invests Rs 300 to
Rs 400 per day as a capital, making a profit of Rs 100 per
day. Vasantha had to repay a loan that was taken by an
acquaintance in her name from a finance company nearby –Amma Finance in the
Choolaimedu high road. “They absconded with the money...I had to pay back for the Rs
10,000 loan” she laments. Vasantha’s livelihood and business revolves around the money she
continually borrows from the local money lenders. “It is no strain. I have to make a daily
payment of Rs 10 to Rs 50, depending upon the amount I borrowed. And once I finish of the
loan in 3 months, I avail another” she grins. When asked about SHG and MFI, she was able
to say that she was a part of both but was not able to explain the details of it. When pressed

further, she took me to the centre leader of Equitas, from whom she has borrowed Rs 10,000.
“I don’t believe in these SHG and MFI. I end up paying more. Never again am going to
borrow money from these people. Money lenders are the best choice” she says with
conviction and nothing could shake her conviction, even the calculations that I made for
her. With only one son, who is uneducated like his mother, Vasantha avails his help and her
mother’s for the business. “I am planning to build a home at my native. Once that is done, I
will retire...Have had enough of this business” says Vasantha.

5.14 Kuppamma
A huge red bindhi, lips that are stained maroon with constant
chewing of betel leaves and an attitude that is aimed at milking
sympathy –this is Kuppamma in a nutshell. This 65 year old lady
supplements her income by working as a night watch woman in one
of the flats nearby, though which she earns Rs 2000 per month.

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Fifteen years ago, she got into the business of flower selling, before which she worked as a
maid. Old age made her quit the previous profession and turn to the less labour intensive job
of selling flowers. Skirting around the topic of her family, this Chennai native talks about the
days when she started the business with a 50 rupee capital. Now she invests anywhere
between Rs 1000 to Rs 2000 per day for her shop. From this, she makes a profit of Rs 250 to
Rs 300. Kuppamma has availed a loan of Rs 10,000 from Amma Finance in Choolaimedu
and is looking forward to finish off the loan in the next 3 months. not a big fan of money
lenders or SHG, she says that borrowing money from neighbours and other known persons is
the smart way to supplement the income as she can repay the borrowed amount without
interest within a couple of days.


5.15 Shanthi
Fiercely independent and self-sufficient,
Shanthi literally snarled out when I asked
who helps her in running the shop. “I
don’t need anybody’s help for this.
Neither will I ever go and ask somebody
to lend me a hand” says Shanthi. 48 year
old Shanthi has been running this business
for 28 years. Mother of 2 sons and a
daughter, this uneducated woman has given her children the basic schooling. The capital for
her shop comes mainly through the money that she borrows from the money lenders. Shanthi
is also a part of a SHG, where she has successfully completed the repayment of a loan of Rs
10,000 and has now taken a loan of Rs 15,000 from them. She repays this loan through
monthly instalments while for the money lenders, it is through daily instalments. She,
however, is not aware of MFIs. She sets up the shop with a capital of Rs 500 to Rs 1000 and
outsources a part of the flower tying at a payment of Rs 20 per day for labour. The shop gives
her a profit of Rs 100 and she is quite content with what she has now, with no further plans of
expansion.

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5.16 Lakshmi
75 year old Lakshmi is a very intriguing
character. Estranged from her sons and her
husband, she has been living alone for the past 35
years. Coming from a family of flower sellers,
she buys flowers from her husband’s shop at
Koyambedu. “It is purely business. I pay him promptly...I don’t expect or want his help” says

Lakshmi. She has been into this business for the past 40 years. She invests Rs 700 per day for
the shop and makes a profit of Rs 50 to Rs 100 per day which though which she sustains her
life. A member of a SHG at Aminjikarai, Lakshmi is not eligible for taking loans, but she
uses the SHG to save Rs 110 per month. “I stay alone and there is no one to look after me. So
the only option available for meet my financial needs are the local money lenders. I regularly
borrow Rs 10,000 from them and repay it at the rate of Rs 100 per day and finish of the loan
in 3 months, after which I again go for a loan. It is through this money that I sustain my
business and my livelihood” says this lonely grandmother.

5.17 Leelavathy
With her hair tightly bound into a bun and
stern specs perching on her nose, Leelavathy
looks like your regular government school
teacher with a respectable look. But this forty
five year old 3rd generation flower seller
proudly announces that she will be the last in
her family to sell flowers. Leelavathy has
been running the shop for the past 30 years
and is proud of the fact that her only son has
studied B.Com. “He got a merit seat at the
Pachaiyappa’s College and we didn't have to
get even single paise as loan for his studies”
she beams with pride. The son now works with TTK Pharma. Leelavathy who is a member of
a SHG is waiting to get out of it as she feels that the group leader misinformed her about the
terms of the loan. She saves Rs 110 per month in the SHG and is waiting for the 3 year period
to get over so that she can come out of it. Once, she got a loan worth Rs 3500 from the SHG
and she says “enough is enough. I have repaid the loan and once my 3 year locking period for
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my savings gets over, I will get out of SHG.” She sets her shop with a daily investment of Rs
400 and earns a profit of Rs 100 per day. To meet her day to day expenses and to supplement
the capital for her shop, she prefers the local money lender from whom she regularly borrows
Rs 5000 and repays it in 3 months through a 50 rupee daily instalment.

5.18 Tamizhchelvi
32 year old Tamizhchelvi started selling flowers 3 years ago
when her husband deserted her. With a son and a daughter,
uneducated Tamizhchelvi says that all that she wants now is to
see to the fact that her children get good education. She started
the business with a capital of Rs 200, which she invested out
of her savings. And now, the shop has expanded and she
invests Rs 500 to Rs 900 per day, making a tidy profit of Rs
150 to Rs 200. Incidentally, the business that provides her
with livelihood is the family business of her in laws.
“I never borrow money. What I earn from the shop is sufficient to meet my needs” she says.
When I looked at her in astonishments, she smiles and says that her mother and her brothers
support her by giving provisions and some money for urgent needs. “It was them (her mother
and brothers) who married me to the man who deserted me. So it is their responsibility to take
care of me” says this Madurai native. With this support, she says that there is no need for her
to borrow money. Tamizhchelvi si a member in a SHG in which she saves Rs 110 per month.
“I got a loan from the SHG and transferred it to someone else” she grins. With her son and
daughter supporting her in the business by delivering flowers to the houses of customers,
Tamizhchelvi is happy with the way her business is flourishing. “I am planning to expand my
business soon by getting more varieties of
flowers” she signs of confidently.

5.19 Panjaksharam:
You ask her about her age, it comes with a

disclaimer. “Am only 56 years old, but my hair
has

gone

white

prematurely”

says

Panjaksharam, who has been selling flowers
since she was 10 years old. She fondly
recollects the days when she sold flowers with
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her father at the bus stop in Parrys. “Selling flowers is the only thing I know. It is in my
blood” she says. This woman of grit has been through the death of 2 sons and her husband.
“After my husband died 2 years ago, I stopped taking loans from the money lender. It is
better to get money from the neighbours and repay within a few days free of interest” says
Panjaksharam. With this flower business, she contributes to the running of the family of her
two remaining sons and is helped in her business by her sons and sharp 10 year old grandson
who ended up asking me more questions than I asked to his boisterous grandmother. Her
shop is one of the oldest in Choolaimedu, which she set up way back in 1968. Her regular
customers include the Amma Hospital, Aruna Diabetic centre and a couple of other clinics
nearby. She invests Rs 500 to Rs 900 per day and earns a profit ranging between Rs 100 to
150. Panjaksharam, who is not a big fan of SHG or MFI, says that she is content with what
she has and is keenly exploring various avenues of savings.


5.20 Kannatha:
Kannatha was the last flower seller I interacted with and her shop was also the smallest that I
encountered. 60 year old Kannatha is a resigned woman who has no one to support or look
after. Into this business for 35 years, Kannatha had a flourishing business in Parrys. She
shifted to Choolaimedu 5 years back, after her husband died. They never had any children.
“In those days, I used to invest Rs 500 to Rs 1000 per day in the shop which both I and my
husband tended. But now, I just put in enough capital (Rs 100 to Rs 150 per day) to meet my
daily needs.” She says. With the profit of Rs 30 to Rs 50 she makes, she meets her expenses
and pulls though the day. When asked how she can support herself on such a meagre income,
she smiles and says that she has money left from the jewels that she sold off, which she has
saved for a rainy day. Kannatha doesn’t borrow any money from the lenders and is not the
least bit interested in SHG of MFI. “I am just counting the days for God to call me from this
world” says Kannatha with a sorrowful smile.

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