Meenakshi Mehra, at 75, isn’t your common grandmother. Whereas her friends may be content material with retired life, she’s busy stirring up a storm within the culinary world. Her enterprise, ‘MomMade’, isn’t only a enterprise; it’s a testomony to the indomitable spirit that age can’t dim.
A number of years in the past, Meenakshi traded her architectural drawings for a spatula. This wasn’t an informal profession swap; it was a leap of religion, a daring defiance of societal norms. Why, you would possibly ask? As a result of age is merely a quantity, a constraint provided that we let or not it’s.
“It is without doubt one of the finest choices I made,” Meenakshi tells The Higher India.
Balancing household and profession
Born right into a household of freedom fighters, Meenakshi carries the torch of resilience and repair. Her mother and father, imprisoned for his or her unwavering dedication to India’s independence, instilled in her a profound sense of objective.
“My mother was jailed for 13 months and my dad was jailed for seven years in components,” shares Meenakshi recalling her childhood. Her mom, a pillar of energy, juggled family obligations whereas supporting her husband’s activism. “Dad was very busy serving to folks. Mother was our major caretaker and she or he has set an instance on the right way to handle the family effectively.”
As a toddler, Meenakshi grew up underneath her mom’s care, observing her dad’s philanthropic work. Witnessing his selfless acts instilled in her a powerful sense of objective and a want to make a optimistic affect on the world. This early publicity fostered a pushed spirit inside her, motivating her to excel in each her private and tutorial pursuits.
Meenakshi’s household recognised her budding curiosity in inside design throughout her faculty years and inspired her to pursue a proper training within the area. She launched into her journey at Chandigarh Polytechnic Faculty and later, accomplished her inside design course in Delhi.
Meenakshi was among the many first batch of scholars to graduate from the course in 1969, a time when such programmes had been nonetheless comparatively unusual. After her commencement, she honed her abilities at Supan Furnitures for 4 years.
Nonetheless, her dedication to household took priority. She selected to step again from her profession to lift her daughters. “I’ve two daughters, and I wished to supply them with the identical love and care that my mom bestowed upon our household,” the 75-year-old shares.
Meenakshi took a 17-year hiatus from full-time work. However her ardour for inside design rekindled in 1995. “I cherished my profession a lot that I couldn’t cease eager about what I may design subsequent,” shares Meenakshi. She resumed as an impartial designer, pushed by an insatiable curiosity to discover new design prospects. As one of many pioneers in her area, she had carved a distinct segment for herself, and through this era, catered to contracts from prestigious purchasers just like the American Chamber of Commerce.
“My journey in inside design has been a continuing studying expertise. From conceptualisation to implementation, each challenge introduced new challenges and precious insights,” she shares. “It has been a big asset in main my meals enterprise, supported by my daughters and associates.”
From design sheets to recipe books
The yr 2018 marked a pivotal level in Meenakshi’s life. “It was a really powerful yr for me. I misplaced my father-in-law in June 2018, adopted by my mother-in-law in September. To make issues worse, my husband was hospitalised in November, and handed away in December,” she says.
“She was slipping into the conventional routine of the aged like watching TV, however I knew my mom was not like that,” says Kanika Mehra Hemdev, Meenakshi’s youthful daughter, as she displays again on the troublesome time.
In 2020, the COVID pandemic additional interrupted Meenakshi’s inventive outlet, making it troublesome to coordinate with purchasers and handle her workforce. This pressured halt pissed off her, she recollects. It was throughout this era that the thought for MomMade was born.
Whereas Meenakshi had all the time loved making pickles for household and associates, the pandemic provided a possibility to show her culinary passion right into a business enterprise.
“My husband used to ask me to make completely different forms of meals and cuisines,” she recollects, explaining that it was his ardour for culinary experimentation that impressed her to create a various vary of flavours. “All people discovered my meals soulful and sometimes requested for extra.”
Kanika recognised her mom’s culinary prowess and, alongside together with her elder sister, inspired her to embark on this entrepreneurial journey. In 2021, on the age of 72, she launched MomMade, providing a various vary of merchandise together with pickles, sweets, namkeen, chutneys, and drinks. The initiative not solely tapped into Meenakshi’s culinary expertise but in addition offered her with a satisfying and interesting pursuit.
“My daughters had been instrumental in encouraging me to completely embrace this enterprise,” Meenakshi asserts. “They even assisted with branding and networking, propelling my small enterprise ahead.”
Catering to various tastebuds
Meenashi says she leaves no stones unturned to make sure that her merchandise are of the highest quality. “Even when I pay extra, I’m specific that I outsource the very best uncooked materials from the market,” she says. Her dedication to well being and purity is clear in her product selections.
Meenakshi strictly avoids synthetic components and preservatives, choosing 100% natural components. To boost the dietary worth with out compromising style, she replaces sugar with more healthy alternate options like jaggery.
Moreover, she prepares pickles in small batches, tailor-made to buyer orders, meticulously overseeing each step herself, and personally dealing with your complete manufacturing course of, permitting solely a helper to help with preparatory duties like vegetable reducing and cleansing, and remaining packaging.
Her bestsellers embody basic favourites like Punjabi mango pickle, nimbu katta-meeta (candy and bitter lemon) pickle, karela (bitter gourd) pickle, and garlic pickle. Different merchandise embody besan barfi, laddus, and gingerelle. Meenakshi is all the time looking out for progressive flavours. Impressed by on-line platforms like YouTube, she launched a singular uncooked dates pickle that rapidly gained reputation amongst her clients.
“I’ve problem in consuming sure nuts, so I requested Meenakshi to grind and add them for me. She was sort sufficient to customize the laddus as per my necessities,” shares Dr Mohini Sethi, a retired college of meals and vitamin at Delhi College, who has been a buyer of MomMade for over two years. “I all the time ensure that to spend money on pure and high quality merchandise,” she provides.
Meenakshi has not tracked particular gross sales figures; her major motivation lies within the satisfaction derived from crafting and sharing high-quality merchandise together with her clients. She believes that the enjoyment of making and the optimistic affect on her clients are the true rewards of her entrepreneurial journey.
“Just lately we had gotten a message from a girl that her six-year-old daughter may be very keen on MomMade’s Bajra Mathi and needs to take it to high school on a regular basis,” Kanika shares.
At this time, Mommade extends its buyer base from Delhi and Bombay to cities like Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bengaluru. The model’s lively on-line presence, which is managed by Kanika, helps acquire extra visibility for the merchandise.
“Pursue your passions no matter your age or gender. Onerous work will all the time be rewarded,” shares Meenakshi, a residing proof to the truth that age is only a quantity!
You’ll be able to go to her web site to seek out out extra.
Edited by Arunava Banerjee; All pictures: MomMade
