Orchid Entrepreneur and Bio Pools

Dear Reader,

If, and when, our passion becomes our profession, lasting happiness and success is almost guaranteed. Two of our stories this week go on to prove this.

My colleague Riya spoke to Vikash Kumar M, a chartered accountant, who got worried when he saw his children’s love for swimming pools. Almost every pool has chlorine, added to kill bacteria and prevent algae growth in water. But it can harm the skin, hair, and respiratory tract of humans.

To protect his children from harm, he created his first bio or natural pool at his farmhouse in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu as a chlorine-free swimming area. Soon it developed into a passion and he quit his CA practice to set up Biosphere Natural Pools, an eco-friendly startup that makes natural pools across India. The revenues in the first year stood at Rs1.5 crore and the rest of the details are in the write-up here. 

Similar is the story of Sabira Mohammed Moosa, who found it difficult to spend her time when her children and husband went to school and work. She decided to pursue her hobby of gardening and soon her terrace was full of jasmine, anthuriums and orchids.

Before Sabira realised, her home in Palakkad, Kerala, had become the talk of the town and people started visiting to ask for flower saplings. Today, Sabira has two orchid nurseries. She imports orchids and sells them across India, earning Rs4 lakh monthly. 

Our other story is also from Kerala. My colleague Chandhini spoke to Shajan Varghese, who cultivates the extra-large Punnathanam nutmeg variety, developed by his father Varkey Thoman in Idukki 30 years back. Many farmers have become prosperous by growing Punnathanam nutmeg since then.

Shajan has 300 plants over three acres and they bring Rs 14,000 to Rs 16,000 each, resulting in an annual turnover of over Rs40 lakh. Shajan also sells nutmeg saplings and seedlings worth around Rs 9 lakh. The demand outstrips supply as he sells only 1,000 saplings against a demand of 5,000 annually!

The ongoing 11-day Ganpati festival is all about modaks and other sweets. But there’s a lot more to Maharashtrian cuisine than modaks and vada pavs. My colleague Anu has put together a yummy piece on little-known foods from the state. 

Our Sunday story is on Lepchajagat forest village, the gateway to Darjeeling and Nepal.

In the Money section, my colleague Karan has shared five simple ways to save and grow your money. So if money management is on your mind, this one’s for you!

Happy Reading!

Warmly,

Rashmi