Married at a young age, she became a mother of two kids by the time she was 22. “I was a young mother and our family income was very low. But as a family we pulled through with small odd jobs and a little help from my parents and family members.”
Few years into her marriage her daughter was diagnosed with bone cancer and that hit the family hard, financially. “On one side we were going through a very tough time and then cancer crept into our lives as a shock. Subsequently, I lost my child at a tender age of 8.” As if worries were meant to follow in quick succession, her husband to was diagnosed with liver cancer and he in a few years passed away. “Drowning in debt and with no outlet, I decided to visit our village library as a way of escaping my reality,” she says, looking back.
One day as she was going through books, she read up about a training workshop on honeybee cultivation. She speaks about how she mustered up confidence to ask her family if she can attend this. “I nervously asked my family if I can learn this and may be try it as a business. At that time my total income was 6,000 a month and I couldn’t afford it. My family helped me. After the training I started with two pods of honeybees inside my home.”
Today, Honeybee Josephine has her own farm where she cultivates honey and supplies it across India in different flavours including, cardamom, elaichi, coffee, chocolate and even green tea. Her farm was the shooting spot for director Shankar’s magnum opus I, the movie. Her indomitable spirit coupled with an understanding son lead her to the next phase of life of mature-age love and matrimony. “My son who saw me struggle as a single woman found me a match and even got me married to my second husband. We as a family now run our business,” she smiles.
