A bit spicy, a bit sour

After the death of her husband, a teacher at Asom Jatiya Vidyalaya in Assam, at a young age of 40 years, Dipali Bhattacharyya had no option but to set up the business they had dreamt of running it together. Although the company was set up after his death, the name Prakrity was his suggestion. “My husband died in 2003. We used to talk of starting a home business. He had always been supportive of my entrepreneurial endeavours, and this was my way of keeping his memory alive,” says Dipali.

Dipali, a homemaker, had a little experience in running a business. She started a small food delivery business from home in 1998 when her husband was alive. She employed a delivery boy to deliver the orders. A great cook, Dipali saw that people began loving her dahi vadas, sambar vadas, idlis and aloo chops. But she had to wind up the business after her husband’s demise.

Her initial capital for Prakrity was Rs 10,000. She had to take up business as a serious vocation as she wanted to make both ends meet and raise her daughter. She was popular among friends and relatives. Initially she served them. She honed up her skills by participating in small-time cooking competitions and won several of them. Often, she would win cash rewards or articles like kitchen utensils.

Registered in 2015, Prakrity is now a well-known brand in homemade pickles, snacks and other food products. Although initially she was ploughing a lone furrow, now her daughter Suditree also pitches in with help. In a month, Dipali sells about 200 bottles of her pickles, not just in Guwahati but in other parts of the country such as Bengaluru, and Delhi to name a few. The homemaker-entrepreneur earns close to Rs. 5,00,000 in a year.

“I always saw my father deeply involved in his spice business. My family had a brand called Gondhoraj Masalas. After my father passed away, my mother took over, and after that, it was my brother. But after he passed away too, we shut that business. However, I still remember how these unique spices were used to make the delicious pickles we ate at home. I would watch the process of making these very closely, and that is how I learnt,” says Dipali.

Dipali once participated in cooking competition organised by the Coconut Development Board. Recognising her drive, where she was selected for a CDB-sponsored training programme in Kerala. This opened a new vista before her. She learnt how to make coconut sweets, jam, toffee, cakes, ice-cream and even pickles. The trip inspired one of her best-selling products — the turmeric-coconut pickle. Dipali doesn’t follow a set recipe. She likes to innovate. The packaging, too, happens at home.

According to her customers, Prakrity pickles taste like homemade ones. That is the biggest compliment one can get, she says with a smile.