Slice Of Life: ‘Haven’t recovered from the loss incurred in 2015 floods’

I came to Chennai with my parents around 20 years ago from my native in Vellore. I completed graduation and was doing small scale fabrication works. As I did not find it much profitable, I opened a small photocopy store in Ekkatuthangal in 2015. I later expanded it to a browsing centre in the locality as there were many IT companies in the neighbourhood and I assumed that there will be considerable demand for such services in the area. However, I suffered a huge loss in the same year due to the floods and all my machinery were damaged. I had to restart the centre and bought new machines also as most of it could not be used again. Despite investing a lot of money, I could not recover my money. I earn a maximum of Rs 500 every day. My wife also takes care of the store when I am not available. I have just admitted my two kids — a girl and a boy — to a school and I want them to study well. However, I want my kids to follow their interests and choose a career that they like. Over the years, I consider that intra-state trade in the city has reduced while it has increased with other States.