In Palandu village, roughly 15 kilometres from Jharkhand's capital Ranchi, lives Albina Ekka, whose journey is a lesson for anyone who treats circumstances as an excuse. Albina cannot read or write and signs only with her thumb, yet today she is a successful businesswoman. The 2,000 chikoo saplings she once planted have grown into full trees that now produce up to a tonne of fruit every single day, which is supplied to Bengal and several other states.
Albina runs the farm herself, with more than 25 people working alongside her, and her monthly income has crossed a lakh rupees. She explains that she farms on 2 acres of land, but the land is not her own. It was leased to her under a government scheme, and it was on this plot that she took up chikoo cultivation. She was also given training for it. Since the land is on lease, she has to hand over 20 percent of the profit to the government.
Organic Manure Behind the Top-Quality Fruit
Albina says the quality of her chikoo is excellent because only organic manure is used in its cultivation. Every day, 25 people look after the orchard. Traders come from as far as Bengal, Ramgarh, Latehar, Lohardaga, Dhanbad, Chhattisgarh and Odisha to buy the fruit. Around a tonne of chikoo is harvested each day, and all of it is sold off almost immediately.
The Journey From Labourer to Owner
Albina recalls that she once worked as a labourer in other people's fields. Despite having no education, she has become an entrepreneur. Her children, who earlier studied in a government school, are now enrolled in a private school. They are pursuing an MBA from a private institution, and one of them has already landed a job. Today she owns a car, a smartphone and every comfort she never once imagined having.
Courage Opens Its Own Paths
Albina believes that with courage and determination nothing is impossible; all one needs is the passion to work hard and move forward. Excuses, she says, are easy to find, but the day a person stops making them, the paths begin to open on their own. Her monthly earnings now comfortably cross a lakh rupees, and she has even built herself a permanent house.
