ABSTRACT
In this chapter, by reauthoring the life stories of five HMI individuals, the author explores how they survive even through extreme paucity of resources; and how they face those challenges on their way to recovery and empowerment. The first two stories recounted in this chapter are of “Ruhi,” a migrant from Bangladesh, and “Kavita,” from Gujarat. Both had been victims to the patriarchal power processes all their life, betrayed, and denounced by familial relations and failed by society. The other three stories are “Lavanya,” “Muraad,” and “Nalini.” All three had lived their youth fighting against the suffering that life kept throwing their way. All five stories reverberated the challenges they suffered due to various forms of systemic, structural, or familial hurdles and got stuck in that maze of suffering. These stories, however, celebrate the abilities of these people to tolerate all forms of ostracisation yet never flee from life and endure the sufferings with immense fortitude!
