Sushila's story is full of tragic incidents, one after the other. She was one of six siblings and four daughters, born to parents who were uneducated, superstitious and had a great bias against a girl child. She was married off early to a sick man who died after about one year of her marriage. As a widow she returned back to her parents where she was not really welcome. Soon after that, she was married off to another man. Her second husband is unemployed and has no inclination to work and support his family. Sushila Devi worked as a maid in homes close to her neighborhood and somehow managed to buy food for the family. Sushila is only 30 and has already experienced the worst of life. When she learnt about Vatsalya's skill-building program, Sushila enrolled. Sushila is a very hard-working woman, a bit depressed though, as she finds life too hard, living on her own, with almost no support from family. Coming to the center and spending some time there relaxes her greatly, she admits, as at home she is faced with either her demanding and hostile husband who does nothing, or her children who can barely understand their mother's plight. At the center, with many other women like her, Sushila finds the emotional and psychological support that she has never had before in her life. Sushila says coming to the center itself seems to her like a big reward. She finishes her work as a maid in the various houses that employ her and rushes to the Vatsalya center every day! Sushila wants to give a very good education to all of her three children so that they have some interesting career options. To a hypothetical question as to what she would do if she got five lakh rupees, Sushila says she would spend it all on her children's education. And in spite of all the struggle and unhappiness that she has endured, Sushila says, she would like to be a woman in her next life and work for women's empowerment. Between peace and happiness and success and wealth, Sushila chooses peace and happiness. 22