Serendipity drew Niranjan Nath Acharya from Kekri city in Rajasthan, to Srirangam in Tamil Nadu in August, 2002. “I looked up a map of India for the hottest places in the country, and found that Tiruchi was one of them,” says Niranjan. “At the time, it felt like the perfect city to sell ice cream.”
And just like that, the enterprising Niranjan, gave up his job as a salesman in a textile store in Rajasthan and decided to seek his fortune down south.
He covered the 2,237 kilometre distance between Kekri and Tiruchi by hitching rides on trucks with 2 assistants and a hand-crank ice cream churn from Rajasthan and landed up in Tiruchi, hoping his idea would take off. But it wasn’t to be. Or at least, not like he had planned it.
Auspicious start
“When we came to Tiruchi, we couldn’t find a place to stay. And I had only ₹5,000 in my pocket to take care of all three of us. Someone told us, ‘go to Srirangam, at least you’ll be able to find a temple shelter for the night’. It was 7pm when we reached Srirangam, and again, it was the same story. There was no room available.”
Niranjan’s assistants asked him to visit the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, but he refused. “I told them that I was here to start a business, and not to perform pilgrimage,” he says. But he offered a silent prayer from outside, hoping the divine force would help him to decide the next course of action.
The trio spent the night on the pavement, quite sure that they would have to leave for Maharashtra the next day if nothing worked out in Srirangam. At least Hindi was more widely spoken in that State.
Here too, a surprise was in store.
“In the morning, a man turned up on a bicycle, asking if we were looking for accommodation, and after some negotiation, we found a room in Amma Mandapam Road,” says Niranjan. “I didn’t know Tamil, but my landlord, an Army man, knew enough Hindi to help me find grocers to supply the ingredients for my ice cream business. We used to buy around 25 litres of milk per day, boil and cool it, and then churn it into ice cream using the hand-crank machine after adding flavouring and sugar to it. We would transfer the set ice cream to metallic containers that were kept in wooden pushcarts packed with dry ice and salt and then sell it all along the market areas. Slowly business picked up,” recalls Niranjan, who used the manual churn for 10 years before shifting to mechanical production.
Ethnic ice
Soon, he diversified into making kulfi, an ethnic Indian ice cream that is made by boiling down sweetened milk and freezing it in conical moulds. Nuts, milk solids (khoya) and fruit pulp are also used for a richer taste.
“Kulfi has made my name,” says Niranjan. “No matter how many ice creams I sell, it is my badam-kesar (almond-saffron) kulfi that is most popular during the wedding season.”
Niranjan prefers to freeze kulfi in a 100-litre vessel that is packed with ice (bought in 50kg blocks and broken down to size) and salt rather than use a refrigerator. “The old method sets the kulfi in around 2 hours, while an electric freezer will take 4 to 5 hours,” he says.
As his business grew, Niranjan decided to lay down his roots in Srirangam. His wife Meenakshi joined him in 2006, and the couple’s two children are studying here.
Today, Niranjan employs six staff and sells his ice creams at various locations across Tiruchi and Srirangam, and also undertakes mass catering orders. “My ice creams have taken me to Mayavaram, Madurai, Sivakasi, Salem, Erode, Karur and Seerkazhi. For functions, I make the ice cream at the venue because it is a perishable item, and take extra serving staff along,” says Niranjan.
Home sweet home
Last year, when unseasonable rains in southern Tamil Nadu brought a lull to the ice cream business, Mrs. Meenakshi decided to help out her husband by starting a night stall serving homely vegetarian delicacies like chapatti and sautéed vegetables, stuffed parathas and a few snack items.
“It’s completely my wife’s show, I just do the prep work,” says Niranjan with a smile. “We make sure that the food stays as fresh as possible by making it on the spot.” Their humble residence on West Adayavalanjan Street doubles up as their workspace.
Niranjan knows his children may not follow him into business, because it is very labour-intensive. “I’m educating them, so that they are free to decide their future,” says Niranjan, who has studied up to Class 10. “I’m content with my ice creams, and I’m proud to have trained a few people too. This is my way of sharing the knowledge that I picked up after coming to Srirangam.”
Niranjan has kept in touch with his family back home in Rajasthan, and they have also visited him in Srirangam. “I cannot travel when the children have summer vacations, because it’s the peak time to sell ice creams here. But I do go during other months when I’m not so busy,” he says.
Sometimes he prefers Srirangam to Kekri. “The people here have been very helpful. I have learned to speak Tamil, and can communicate easily with everyone. Lord Ranganathaswamy has kept me very near to Him, because I’m living and working so close to His abode. He heard my prayer that night,” says Niranjan.
