I run a probiotic yoghurt making enterprise. No. Let me amend that a bit. I ran that business. I recently shut it down. Let me start at the beginning. Salem lies in a milk rich belt. You will find a lot of cows here and the milk is always good quality.
No. My husband runs a different business. But he helps me with all the paperwork of my business too. Actually, I was helping my father run his business before I got married. Our family has a cheese factory in Kodaikanal. Yeah. It is a reputed brand and it does sell quite well in the markets. All my cousins sell this cheese in whichever city they are now living in. So I knew how to run a business.
Initially, I just tried to sell the probiotic yoghurt that I manufactured on my own in Salem. But I didn’t have too many buyers. So I got in touch with a company that manufactured it. They were willing to sell my probiotic yoghurt under their brand name. My business was thriving quite well for several years you know.
It does require a lot of supervision too. Milk is a perishable item. So we have to work on all days of the week. And I made it a point to go to my factory every day and personally check the quality of the milk before they started making yoghurt out of it. And then I would go there in the evenings again to supervise the entire process.
But this carona virus – I tell you – it has changed so many lives permanently you see. The man whom I was supplying the yoghurt to – passed away recently. And his sons were not too keen about continuing with my products. And since there were no takers, I had to find buyers on my own. But with this lockdown, everything has come to a standstill.
My factory was working in a rented space. And I had to pay the staff and the labour salaries regularly. I was shelling out Rs.75,000/- every month from my pocket to hold onto something that made no economic sense at least for the time being. So I told my husband that it is better we shut it down. Even that is not easy you know.
We have to sell the equipment in our yoghurt making factory too before we clear the space. Since Salem is a milk rich belt, a lot of people have milk-related businesses. They were quite a few enquiries for our equipment from neighbouring cities too. Everyone is eager to buy machinery which is still in good condition at low prices, isn’t it?
But even the interested people are unable to come to buy it. Who will buy expensive equipment without seeing it and checking it first? No one. They are willing to come to Salem and buy it. But nobody is getting an epass to move to another city. So we are just biding our time. There is nothing else we can do about it anyway.
Yes, it was not easy to take that decision. But frankly Ma. None of us is sure about when the lockdown will actually come to an end. And the suspense is too stressful to bear. It is difficult to shell out so much money month after month over a business that may or may not survive in the future. So we decided it was best to shut shop.
That’s the reality. And we have to accept it. It’s terribly frustrating to sit cooped up at home all day long. We are all so used to being busy and moving around, checking on our factories and stuff like that. And now all we get to do is to sit at home. I’m glad I have my art to work on. That keeps me busy.
No. I don’t have any children. But my husband is the fourth amongst five brothers. Only he and his younger brother got married. The other three elder brothers are unmarried and live together close to our house. I don’t have a mother in law. So I have ended up becoming the only woman in our house.
The responsibility increases manifold. So my husband and I take care of the entire family now. His elder brothers live together. So if they fall sick we visit them. And we are the ones whom everyone consults whenever any family decision has to be taken. That’s what a family is all about, isn’t it?
Actually, I got married pretty late in my life. I never thought I would get married. But you know what the advantage of getting married late is? We are more mature. We appreciate the companionship more than anything else. And sometimes when my husband and I sit by ourselves, this is what I say – that only a mother’s love is unconditional. In all other relationships, it is a two-way process. We all need to invest in our relationships. Only then will it survive. I mean we all will tire of our efforts of maintaining the relationship if the other person does not reciprocate our efforts, won’t we?
Yes, I go out of the way to hold my hand out to others. But if the other person does not respect it or appreciate it and reciprocate the gesture, I just let go of the relationship. It’s as simple as that. Yes, Ma. It’s best, to be honest, and blunt in our relationships. There is no point putting on a façade. Of course, we should be polite and do our best not to offend others. But we cannot run away from the truth forever, can we?
That’s how it should be and is in the world of business too. We have to accept reality. Because whether we like it or not, we have to deal with it. Squarely. And there are no two ways about it. Well, I wasn’t going to mention this business venture of mine in our chat. But it’s fine. You can write about it if you feel we can learn something from it. I have no problem with it.