Omana with 'never-say-die' attitude tastes fruits of grit, hard work quite late

Mathematics was the favourite subject of Omana Soman in school. However, she could not find a solution to her life’s problems for a long time before persistent efforts based on new calculations finally led to success. Omana is now 63, and her life is an inspiring story of a woman who faced seemingly insurmountable challenges while young, but overcame them all with a firm resolve.

When Omana passed the SSLC (Class 10 final exam) with a first class and 99-percent marks for Mathematics in 1979, her teachers advised her to pursue the subject for higher studies and become an engineer.

However, her family was in deep financial trouble at that time. Her father had sold their house at Payippad in Changanassery to repay the money he had borrowed for Omana’s sister’s wedding and shifted to Karukachal. It was the time when Omana approached her father with the mark list expressing her wish to pursue studies. But he responded with a stoic reply, “Let us see.”

But fate took a cruel turn. The distance to the nearest college from Karukachal was considerable and Omana’s father’s income was not sufficient to pay hostel fees. Meanwhile, Omana’s father was injured in a mishap and the wound his leg became infected, forcing him to rest for several months. Omana’s brother-in-law suddenly passed away during that time, bringing more misery to the family. There was also pressure from society on Omana’s father, with people questioning the need to educate a girl who would anyway be married off eventually. Thus Omana started working as a daily wager at the age of 17.

Not willing to give up, Omana learnt typewriting while working as a labourer and in 1983, she shifted to Peroor in Ettumanoor after her wedding to Valiyaveetil Soman, a carpenter like her father.

Omana’s next attempt to make her life better was to appear for tests conducted by the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC). She cleared two tests for candidates who passed SSLC and received appointments in Kannur and Thodupuzha. Again, the distance from her house posed a hurdle and she did not join the posts. During this period, Omana became a mother to two children and she abandoned her ambitions for a job forever.

Later, she learnt occupations such as tailoring, embroidery and glass painting, but did not receive sufficient work orders. Omana also acquired training in book-binding under Kudumbasree, but couldn’t excel in sales.

After these failed ventures, Omana spent some time as a homemaker. Still keen to find a way forward, she participated in a job training programme organised by Archana Women’s Centre at Ettumanoor, which proved to be a turning point in her life. While the programme had classes on occupations such as tailoring, driving and soap-making, it was wood-work that attracted Omana’s attention. As a child, Omana had keenly watched her father in his trade as carpenter, but he never allowed her to enter his workplace.

But now, Omana felt that her calculations in life were finally proceeding along the right path and she devoted every spare minute to learning the craft of woodwork. She was so dedicated to studies that she ate breakfast while rushing to the bus stop to reach the centre after packing off her children to school and husband to his workplace.

On completing the six-month training successfully, Omana started her own carpentry workshop. Incidentally, she was allowed to operate the workshop of Archana Women’s Centre at Caritas Junction.

Omana’s life took a dramatic turn soon. With carpentry in her blood, along with the necessary training and dedication, Omana now creates a wide variety of wood products including door frames, windows and kitchen cabinets; household items ranging from cots to almirahs and decorative pieces such as lamps and jewellery boxes. Another notable achievement of Omana’s team is constructing a house entirely with bamboo at Mundar in Changanassery, which had witnessed a flood.

With all the numbers at the right places, Omana is presently a contented person. Her one son Salaj, who has an MBA degree, is a manager at a private firm in Kannur and the other son Sanaj is a computer engineer preparing to travel to Poland. Meanwhile, Omana’s husband Soman assists her at the workplace.