It’s a quarter to 10 in the morning and Ayesha Kalkandu is in a frenzy. The kitchen is a mess, the batter bowl has just tipped over and she is yet to ice the cake. Still, she somehow has to make it to court in 45 minutes because lawyer Ayesha can’t afford to be late.
“One is my passion, the other, my profession,” says the 26-year-old who bakes under the name Rock Candy’s. This act, of balancing work and baking, is something some women in Chennai have been attempting for various reasons.
A month ago, 34-year-old Shantala T. Medappa realised that Chennai is the best place to start an ice-cream business, considering that it simmers the year through. A professional yoga instructor for seven years, Shantala says her home-made ice-creams, Old Mercara, have found a customer base only because of yoga. “I usually get to see the nicer side of people. No one comes to a yoga session bearing their aggressive side,” says Shantala, whose students and friends have helped her spread the word so rapidly, that she initially had to make 35 litres of ice-cream in five days.
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“I love chocolate pastries. I couldn’t afford the really rich ones when I was in college, so I tried to make them myself at home,” says 27-year-old Diana Hemalatha Selvaraj. She’s been making cupcakes and chocolates under her brand, Baker’s Bakes, since 2012, while simultaneously working in her father’s audio-visual equipment rental company.
“Work takes a huge chunk of my time since it’s with the entertainment industry,” says Diana who pitches in for events that usually run late into the night. On the nights when she is free, she bakes. “I have to compromise somewhere or the other; I end up compromising on sleep,” confesses Diana.
With working at a single job leaving most people drained, managing two lines of work is no mean feat. “For me, baking is a stress buster. After a whole day of standing at the site, it’s good to come back home and chill in the kitchen,” says 26-year-old architect Shreya Mathew who bakes under the name, ‘Icing on the cake’.
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“You get variety in work and you get to earn from it,” says Neha Lulla who is a photographer on some days and a baker, for ‘The Sweetest Thing’, on others.
This alternate line of work also serves as a creative outlet for some of these women who make customised cakes which involve elaborate icing. Ayesha, who has been drawing and sketching since she was a kid, enjoys icing cakes because it indulges her artistic side. Shreya feels the same way, but if she had to choose between the two professions, she would choose architecture. “It’s an unbelievable feeling to be able to walk through your art, I wouldn’t want to give that up,” she says.
Diana, however, feels Baker’s Bakes is her own and therefore priority. “I want to establish my baking business so that I can bake even after getting married,” she says. “I don’t want to give up either,” says Neha even though she admits that managing her time is a challenge.
Friends and family play a big role in helping these women. While Shantala has been making ice-creams for the last four years, she only started marketing it at the insistence of friends.
Neha wouldn’t have considered making a parallel profession out of baking if her cousin hadn’t pushed her to do so. For Diana, her entire family pitches in: father and brother help out with the business, while mother and sister assist in baking.
“It’s all about time management. Delivering on the deadline is always the biggest challenge,” says Neha. These women race against time juggling two lines of work, but it’s their passion that keeps them going.