Ex-Rice Farmer, 67, Values Work While Selling On Streets Of Suva For A Living

Life isn’t ready-made; rather we work up the ladder with our own strength.

This is the motto of 67-year-old Ashok Kumar, a former rice farmer and a construction worker.

From his Nakasi house he has been selling homemade scrunchies (a circular band of fabric-covered elastic used for fastening the hair) and face masks for almost a year now.

While he believes not having a proper education was a barrier, it is no excuse for giving up on providing for his children’s future.

“I have never been to school since childhood; I became a rice farmer at the age of 11 and used to work in Naulu for a company,” he said.

“Being a rice farmer wasn’t easy, but it was something to get along with life. During harvesting days I used to wake up as early as 5am and work till 1pm. When I turned 18 years of age I stopped and went to work in ."

“I worked at the construction company for around five years after which I started doing private jobs and also worked at the Raiwaqa Market as a labourer. Doing private jobs was a bit tough for me because there were times when people didn’t pay me.”

The father of two children believes his generation are always up to something. He said sitting idle at home just doesn’t suit him.

Mr Kumar came up with the idea of selling hair scrunchies and face masks on the streets of Suva while discussing with his wife about the cost of things.

“My wife and I saw a lot of people going around with the scrunchies either on their hand or hair with all sorts of colours."

"It amazed us and we thought of why not try to make it locally and sell it,” he said.

“My wife does sewing so she started making the scrunchies with different coloured materials while I helped her."

We also knew that to sell the scrunchies we had to get people to notice them because there are other shops in Suva that have it too.

“So we thought of saving the cost of space and selling it in a more attractive manner. So I started traveling to Suva around 8am and sell on the streets of Suva till 6pm,” Mr Kumar said.

The scrunchies cost $2 and the face masks cost a dollar.

His advice: “Money is something that keeps coming and going. We have to work hard for every need and want."

From the very moment we start walking and talking, the decisions we make are our future.

So focus on every detail of life when you are young so at a ripe age you can relax.

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