Spice rise
Parvana K B
Thiruvananthapuram-based Deeja Satheesan is grit and determination personified. Wheelchair-bound due to polio since childhood, she refused to let her disability define her life.
It was in 2018 that she turned her love for cooking into a pickle business ‘Nymitra’, from her home kitchen. With influence from her father, who used to cook at hostels, and an encouraging push from her friend Naushad Khan.
The initial days were tough, she says. Sitting on the wheelchair for over 10 hours, Deeja prepared pickles with precision – the right blend of spices. Her products, free of artificial preservatives, won taste buds.
“I love cooking, but it was not my passion. It was rather a means of livelihood. I was ready to give my all to make my products the best,” she adds. Her journey was not without challenges. The pandemic almost snuffed out the budding business. Yet, she persevered, gradually building her customer base with the support of her mother, sister, and aunt in the kitchen, along with Naushad, who has been the “backbone” of her business.
Today, along with 25 varieties of pickles, she makes idiyirachi (pounded dry meat) and chutney powders, catering mainly to hostellers and NRIs.
Now 41, Deeja earns about Rs 2 lakh a month through her business. “My journey is about proving that disability doesn’t limit dreams. I didn’t want to sit in a corner because of my limitations,” she smiles.
Transcending barriers
Mahima Anna Jacob
At the age of 20, Amritha Joseph Mathew realised she was a transwoman. Having witnessed the contempt with which society often viewed the transgender community, she knew her journey ahead would not be easy.
Yet, she has persevered with grit. Today, at 32, Amritha is a food entrepreneur running a successful pickle and juice shop near the Kakkanad Collectorate Civil Station in Kochi, a venture she began in 2017.
Taking up challenges was not new to her. “I used to do odd jobs to pay fees during my school days, as it was hard to make ends meet with my mother Mary’s negligible income,” recalls Amritha.
The mother-daughter duo started selling homemade pickles and fresh juices branded ‘Amritha’. “My mother once gave some of her pickles to our neighbour. They ended up placing orders for a few batches. That’s when we got the idea to start a business.”
Their lime, mango, chicken, fish, beef, and bitter gourd pickles and Kakkanad Neeli are popular at Kudumbashree melas. Currently, Amritha has put up a stall at Delhi Bharath Mandap, where National Vypaar Mela is underway. “I still face discrimination. It’s saddening, but I ignore ridicule. I am hoping to expand the venture and create opportunities for the trans community,” she says.
Power-packed lunchbox
Aparna Nair
The going got tough for her on several occasions, but every time it did, she got tougher.
Shalin Eliz Eby, whose initiative Ente Chottupathram (My Lunchbox) in Thiruvananthapuram is not only winning hearts but also inspiring many to face tough times with renewed vigour, now looks back on those days when life threatened to beat her down.
“I was a single mother in 2010 with two school-going children and no family support. I did odd jobs, including taking care of friends’ ailing parents. There were difficult moments, both financially and from people who wanted me to compromise my values for better career prospects,” she recalls.
The 2018 floods saw Shalin actively participating in relief work under the ‘Oppamundu Trivandrum’ banner. Hoping to steady her life, Shalinexplored the live ice cream’ concept through her venture ‘i-fruit’. It served fresh ice cream, free from artificial additives and sugar.
However, her i-fruit outlet faced a jolt right on its launch day — Covid 19. With a loan to repay and several commitments to meet, Shalin turned to odd jobs once again, including making masks.
As the lockdown eased, i-fruit reopened. Then came the turning point. “One day, I asked a few outstation students from Swathi Sangeeta College, who were standing near my shop, whether they had lunch. They said they had only puffs and lime juice (which would cost about `30), as a proper meal would cost about `50. That disturbed me,” she says.
“The next day, I told them that for `30, I could provide them lunch every day. I got steel containers and wrote ‘Ente Chottupathram’ on them. That’s how the venture was born, starting with just five students.”
Today, Shalin’s venture feeds about 180 people daily. “They include the elderly who live alone, those too busy to pack lunches, and students in hostels and PG accommodations. My day starts at 5am. Though I have some helpers too, I personally oversee the cooking.
Her efforts don’t stop there. Shalin has a forum named Kriya, which supports women’s vegetable gardens. “Even coconuts are couriered to me from as far as Malappuram via KSRTC, for which I pay the homemakers,” she shares.
Jasmine also runs a social activity forum to guide women with entrepreneurial skills. “We just need to stand firm and work hard. I could do it. If I can make it this far, anyone can.”
The eye-opening neyyappam
Mahima Anna Jacob
Jasmine Aji navigates her kitchen with confidence and ease, despite being blind. Every day, she relies on her keen sense of smell to guide her as she prepares snacks for her venture.
She knows exactly when a batch of neyyappam is ready, and the sweet aroma wafting through the air tells her if any ingredient is missing. With her hands, she checks the texture of the ingredients, taking careful tastes to ensure everything is just right.
Thirteen years ago, Jasmine faced a life-altering challenge when she was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, which causes progressive vision loss. Jasmine lost her sight completely at the age of 39 in 2011.
This pushed her to adapt and redefine her future. At 52, Jasmine now runs a thriving snack business named ‘Appoos’ in Thodupuzha, specialising in neyyappam, avalosunda, and rice/wheat/ ragi flour.
Her venture also offers eight varieties of millet puttupodi. The neyyappam, however, is the star, selling a daily volume of about 30kg. During seasons such as the Velankanni church festival, it goes up to 7,00kg.
“It started with a random experiment,” Jasmine shares. “One day, I wanted to make neyyappam using a recipe I cherished from my childhood. My mother had passed away when I was young, and I have vivid memories of her friends and siblings preparing neyyappams on her remembrance days (as part of Christian tradition). I decided to try my hand at making them in my husband Aji’s home. The dish was well-received and he then placed a few sample packets for sale at his provisional store, and to our surprise, they sold out quickly.” Jasmine’s journey has been far from easy.
She once dreamt of establishing a centre dedicated to all aspects of home science. However, she put that dream aside to focus on her son Akhil Aji, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was just six months old. “Now, he is 25. We have spent a significant part of our lives in various hospitals across India,” she adds.
It was during this challenging period that Jasmine began experiencing vision loss. The series of unfortunate events in her life seemed unending. “Seeing my situation, a church priest encouraged me to divert my attention to something that would give me a new purpose in life. That’s how the venture began, and it was named after my son’s nickname, ‘Appoos’,” Jasmine says.
“I did not want to burden anyone. I wanted financial independence.”
Now, a decade later, Jasmine continues to deliver homemade snacks with the same excitement that was there when she made neyyappam for the first time..
Her business has not only transformed her own life but has also empowered her team of 12 women. “I am committed to ensuring that women are independent in every sense,” Jasmine adds.
Snacking a punch
Mahima Anna Jacob
Never in her wildest dreams did Nazeema A imagine she would one day run her own food business. However, driven by the need for financial independence and the responsibility of supporting her family, she took up the apron in 1996, when she launched Amina Food Products, a homegrown business in Manjaly, Ernakulam.
Her culinary skills quickly earned her a reputation. And to the residents of Manjaly, she now is their ‘Samosa Ittha’. “It was about survival. My husband didn’t have steady earnings, and the environment I found myself in was stifling,” she recalls.
“I considered leaving the marriage, but stayed put considering my newborn daughter. I had to find means to raise her well.”
Initially, Nazeema, 57, tried her hand at tailoring, but it didn’t provide the financial stability she needed. It was her siblings who recognised her skill in making snacks such as samosas, cutlets, and pathiri, and encouraged her to explore this as a business opportunity.
“One of my brothers ran a bakery in Ernakulam, and he asked me to make 10 cutlets for the shop as a trial. I couldn’t even afford oil, so I had to sell chicken eggs just to scrape together the money,” she recalls. “There was a point when I was tired of borrowing money and felt like a burden to everyone. That’s when I thought of starting a business – to become self-reliant.”
Nazeema’s snacks became a hit, and she soon found herself making hundreds daily to meet the demand from local caterers. “As business grew, I expanded the menu to include items such as biryani and mandhi,” she says.
However, disaster struck during the 2018 floods when the machinery for her food business was severely damaged. “I joined Kudumbashree and managed to make money to keep the business afloat,” she says. “I handle the business all by myself and make items based on the orders I receive. Food has been my source of hope, and it is what helped me live.”