Slice Of Life: ‘Had to close my shop due to demonetisation’

I am a native of Rameswaram and came to the city 13 years ago in search of a job. I started helping my uncle to run his departmental store. Nearly five years ago, I started my own store in Ekkaduthangal. A few years later, I wanted to expand my business and started another shop in Adambakkam. My parents are in Rameswaram. My wife and I take care of our shops. We stay in a rented house in Ekkaduthangal. I suffered major losses due to demonetisation and had to shut my shop in Adambakkam. After the situation became normal, I borrowed money from my friends and opened the shop again. Currently, I have managed to recover a bit from the losses. I am planning to open another shop soon. I am very happy with how the city has transformed in the past decade. I want to settle down with my family here itself. However, pollution is one of the major problems plaguing the city. When I came here, there used to be more trees in the neighbourhood. Now, it is only buildings everywhere. My native is not polluted as much as Chennai. We should take responsibility to control the pollution and restore the greenery. I also believe that use of plastic must be discouraged as it harms the nature.