Challenges are part of life, and one must face all life’s problems with strength. Shobha Jadhav’s story is a standing testimonial for this statement.

Everything was going merry in Shobha’s life when suddenly tragedy hit her happy home and her husband, Balkrushna, was bedridden by a paralysis attack. He also lost his job due to this medical ailment. With no financial backup and children to take care of Shobha had to stand up for her family. While life kept testing her at every corner, Shobha was determined to keep fighting for her husband and her children.

Shobhatai’s maiden home was financially well-to-do and even after her marriage, her husband’s job gave them a stable life. She had no experience in farming before marriage. After marriage, Shobhatai would assist in the farming chores with other family members. Later Shobha shifted to Niphad with her husband and children. There, after all her home chores were done and the children went to school, Shobha learned sewing in her free time. Everything was going well until 2002. Balkrushna was struck with a severe paralysis attack. Shobha's entire family was shaken. On one hand, Shobha had to take care of her ill husband. And on the other hand, manage the medical expenses. Shobha's sewing skills came to use in supporting her family. Balkrushna had lost his job due to his medical condition. His savings were the financial backup the Jadhav family had.

Shobha decided to buy a piece of land near the Wagad Dam. With this farming became their primary source of income. While the land was near a dam. The terrain was mountainous, not plain land, and far away from the village. Shobhatai worked alone day and night to make the land fertile and cultivable. Early she grew Soyabean and Tomato on the farm. Later, she started grape farming. She ensured the quality was maintained at every stage of the harvest. Today, Shobhatai cultivates export-quality grapes and is one of the trusted exporters in Sahiyadri farms.

Back in 2011-12 when she already had a lot going on in her life, another incident shook the boat for Shobha. One fine day, when working on the farm, Shobha was suddenly bitten by a poisonous snake. This incident scared her entire family and had them all worry about her safety.

To avoid such incidents in the future, Shobha decided to take up another land. Taking up new land brought another spectrum of challenges for her. From digging up a borewell to setting up proper irrigation methods took up all the investment Shobha had saved up. She had to take up a new loan to set up the new farm. Shobha had to set up the wire structure for the vineyard, but she didn’t have enough money to arrange laborers to do the job. Thus, Shobha alongside her husband, made the structure using almost 4 quintal wire. It was like Shobha had become used to taking up new challenges. But all her hard work paid off when her farm flourished and gave her enough profit to educate her children and save up for their marriage. Shobha even supported her daughters-in-law to pursue higher education and chase a career of their choice.

Today, Shobha cultivates the Arra-15 variety of grapes on her farm and also has set up solar dryers for the dehydration process. Shobha expresses immense gratitude towards her farm and truly believes that the soil of her farm has given her all the happiness in life. Her devotion and gratitude towards her farm shines out of her words and her work.