Driven by passion
Giving a twist to the tale of parents helping children realise their dreams, Sita Tenneti is pursuing her love for cooking and making pickles in a professional way — thanks to her son and daughter-in-law’s support. Sita now is able fulfil her long-cherished dream of being an entrepreneur. But how? “Logistics, especially that of delivering kept her simply toying with the idea. She is a great cook and her pickles are out of the world. She makes them with a lot of passion and mostly shares them with friends and relatives,” says her son Ravi.
“That happiness and passion with which she sets out to procure the raw materials itself makes the pickle taste better. She is against store-bought pickles because of the quality of oil, spices etc. Ever since I remember, we have been eating pickles made by her,” says Ravi.
Instead of letting his mother simply daydream about the idea, he and his wife Sumalatha egged her to get going and the rest will fall in place. Sita knew next to nothing of how things would work out. To begin with, Ravi, also an eager food photographer, posted photos of her pickles on social networking groups. “The response was overwhelming and we immediately set forth with the orders,” says Ravi.
Ravi and Sumalatha — both IT professionals — distributed samples to friends, and word of mouth brought in good tidings. Even now what matters to Sita is not the money, but the fact that pickle lovers get a taste of good pickles. And she makes 14 varieties!
How does the pickles get delivered? “My son and daughter-in-law take time out to go and deliver the orders after work. It is more than hectic for them but they are doing their best to keep me motivated. It is really fun and encouraging to work on something that one is passionate about and my children are doing their best to show me the way to realise my dream,” says Sita.
At Pickle-licious on facebook, Sita’s pickles look tempting.
Hands-on partner
In another part of the city, Vishnu Kompella, an IT Professional is a hands-on partner to his mother Srivalli Sambasiva Rao. Besides helping with packing, delivery and procurement, he also helps his mother make the pickles. Vishnu’s mom’s story about pickles goes this way: “Every year we travel to a common destination either a cousin’s place or an uncle’s home. It is a big family gathering. And every time mum travels with loads of mango pickles of the season and everyone comes prepared to take their share. It is a family custom and my mother has been doing it enthusiastically over the years. Yet she’s been shying away from being an entrepreneur. But this year we convinced her and she reluctantly agreed. I began with posting photos of pickles and cajoled her to allow me to put her photos. So far I have been able to post only one photo of her. She is a shy person but her pickles are fiery and spunky.”
Srivalli says she’s learnt to prepare pickles from a young age. “This is the season to just eat pickle and rice,” she says with a motherly smile and offers some pickle-rice with ghee.
Srivalli says, ‘her assistant’, Vishnu is busier then her, “I am just the pickle maker, the rest is his department. We take orders till Friday and begin distributing on Sunday. He sits and maps out the route and begins delivery.”
What is the challenge she faces? “Nothing except when surprise bulk orders come to be delivered at short notice. It is not the pressure of preparing it, but the pressure of giving someone what they need at that moment,” says Srivalli.
Look for Avakai.com on facebook to see what Srivalli has to offer.
