From the archive record
Women workers packing fruit and agricultural products into plastic containers at Meghali Bora's factory in Assam. Ten years after she started selling coconut ladoos to bail her husband out of a debt trap, Meghali Bora met Kangkaan Pegu in Majuli, a 527 sq km island in river Brahmaputra off Jorhat town 305 km east of Guwahati. The latter suffered from bipolar disorder, a manic-depressive illness marked by suicidal tendencies. Bora taught Kangkaan her conquer-adversity mantra: if your life is in a pickle, pickle your way out. She also trained the Mishing tribal girl in pickling 'tradition with a twist'. That meeting motivated Kangkaan; today, she finds solace in producing fish and pork pickles. It inspired Meghali too; she started Megha's - her organic food products brand. Meghali unwittingl