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Eyeway Conversations with Geetha and Saleesh

Shilpi Kapoor21min

Eyeway Helpdesk

00:07

This podcast is brought to you by BarrierBreak Solutions Private Limited and Score Foundation.

George Abraham

00:33

Hi, my name is George Abraham and welcome to Eyeway conversations. My guest today are Geetha and Saleesh from Kerala. Geetha is visually impaired and she is an entrepreneur and today, we will talk to the couple and find out about their lives. Hi, Geetha and Saleesh, welcome!

Saleesh

00:55

Hi sir.

George Abraham

00:56

So you have been married for more than 16 years now. So, tell us how did you get together and get married?

Saleesh

01:05

Actually we met in college, sir, when we were studying for graduation in Kerala Varma College in Thrissur. At the time of the second year, we met and we talked and we became friends, and then we decided to get married after two years.

George Abraham

01:31

You know, Geetha is visually impaired, she's got very little eyesight or she's got no eyesight. In spite of that, what actually made you decide because it's very uncommon for people to want to get married with somebody who's blind?

Saleesh

01:51

There is nothing sir, actually we talked more at that time so I began to like her attitude and I didn't think more. And nothing unusual sir. I didn't consider her as blind. I considered her as a person actually.

George Abraham

02:15

When exactly did Geetha develop her eyesight problem? She wasn't born blind, right?

Saleesh

02:22

She was born with sight. And she started getting sight problems when she was in 8th standard actually. From 8th to 10th standard, her vision was diminished and completely gone by 10th standard.

George Abraham

02:41

So you know, she was studying in a school. So losing her eyesight, how did she manage to study and deal with her exams and all that?

Saleesh

02:53

She and her two brothers have the same problem in the same year. So the family was in big trouble that time. They didn't know what to do, what will be their future and they went to many hospitals to treat. But the result was worse because it was actually RP (retinitis pigmentosa).

George Abraham

03:20

Retinitis pigmentosa is something which you can't treat.

Saleesh

03:23

Yes, that is not recommended. Actually, she was very interested in studying. One of the master in school told her to study in Ernakulam, Kochi nearby the district and there is a center for the visually impaired persons to learn the brialle and all things. And she went over there because if she sit at home for a long year, nothing will happen so she wanted to learn. For the learning, she went to the botanical center and she learned braille and she learned some kind of bookbinding and then she returned, she got a little more confident to study more so she applied for to Kerala Varma College in Thrissur and she got through the entrance to the pre degree and she started to study.

George Abraham

04:25

You know, it's one thing to study in braille but where did she get the braille books from? Because books are very difficult to come by.

Saleesh

04:31

At that time in Kerala Varma college, there were a lot of opportunity to get the books because there were a lot of blinds in Kerala Varma college.

George Abraham

04:42

Oh, okay okay.

Saleesh

04:44

So, there are more than 20-25 blinds out there in that course. So there are many connections, they get books from the Kerala blinds federation. They provide the books for the blinds.

Eyeway Helpdesk

05:03

If you know of anyone with vision impairment who needs guidance on living life with blindness, please share the Eyeway national toll free helpline number 1800-532-0469 The number is 1800-532-0469.

George Abraham

05:32

So after college, did you get married straightaway or?

Saleesh

05:35

When I finished my 3rd year, I went for a job in Trivandrum over there. And for two years, I worked there for some companies as a marketing person.

George Abraham

05:49

Yeah.

Saleesh

05:50

After that, we got married.

George Abraham

05:52

Okay.

Saleesh

05:54

The problem were at both our home and we solved that.

George Abraham

06:00

Problems in the sense that the parents were not...

Saleesh

06:03

...was not a big one. But there were a lot of constraints from both families.

George Abraham

06:09

Yeah.

Saleesh

06:13

Very very natural constraints and we convinced them and we get the decision.

George Abraham

06:21

When you get married, it's easy to say that, okay you know, we love each other and we want to get married. But living together, there are so many responsibilities in the house. There is so many responsibilities as a family person. So how do you divide your work?

Saleesh

06:37

After one year of marriage, we started to live alone, actually. We went for a rented home and started a new life over there. So we started to learn cooking first. So after that, we divided the jobs in the home on everything we shared. But most of the jobs she's done it alone actually, because she wanted to do everything alone.

George Abraham

07:09

Right.

Saleesh

07:10

She want to learn everything. She wants to do everything in a perfect manner which is amazing. She wanted to do everything perfectly.

George Abraham

07:19

So she wants to learn new things. She wants to be independent, and she wants to manage everything on our own.

Saleesh

07:25

Yes, definitely. Even in financial matter, she's better. She's better than me, actually. And she's very good in calculation and mathematics.

George Abraham

07:36

Right?

Saleesh

07:37

She have a good sense.

George Abraham

07:41

So tell me about the parenting. How did you bring out up children?

Saleesh

07:47

It was fantastic actually. I mean, actually my first child, Gazal she cared for him from the very early stage when he was in infancy, there was no other lady in my house. So from the very next month, from the second month, she took care of him from taking bath to giving him food and giving him the breast milk and cleaning the clothes and everything she did very nicely. And people who were coming to our house used to appreciate her on how she's looking after the children. And the thing was that we took a big anklet, the payal...

George Abraham

08:49

Yes yes.

Saleesh

08:52

We put a sound oriented anklet like we say "kilikam", it will make sound when the child moves. That was the only helpful way to control the child.

George Abraham

09:14

So she knew where the child was going?

Saleesh

09:16

Yeah.

George Abraham

09:16

I read about Geetha in the newspaper where she was written about, she was profiled and they were talking about the business that she's doing. So tell me what is this business and why did you start this business? How did you start this business?

Saleesh

09:34

Actually, she's a talented person. So she wanted to do something to help me actually.

George Abraham

09:45

Right.

Saleesh

09:46

So we were struggling in the family and we needed to set up a home and we needed to buy a land and everything. So, she wanted to help me for that. Moreover, she wanted to engage in some way. So she tried to get a job in many private sectors, like telephone or receptionists like that...

George Abraham

10:10

Yeah.

Saleesh

10:12

...anything she can do that. She gets very familiar with the environment within five to six days but people were not that much confident in her actually.

George Abraham

10:29

Right.

Saleesh

10:29

That's why many rejections were there, even from the people we know.

George Abraham

10:35

Right.

Saleesh

10:36

So that made her a little dissatisfied. So she asked me what she can to do alone from the home. So I told her to tell what area of interest does she have. We can do that. So she asked me to bring some hens. So we bought and she made a cage for them. And she bring a vendor and she bought some iron rods, and she made a cage for the hens. And we bought that and she started to look after them. And she started to get the eggs from that. And she sent our son to the shops, and she called the shopkeepers, and started to sell the eggs.

George Abraham

11:31

Right.

Saleesh

11:32

Before that, in my relatives house, there was a turmeric farm.

George Abraham

11:37

Yeah.

Saleesh

11:38

So she likes this turmeric farming. So she tested the turmeric farming in my sister's home. And she thought to make something. And we used to make a turmeric product in our home every year, maybe once or twice a year...our current product.

George Abraham

12:01

Yeah.

Saleesh

12:02

So she told me she will make this one. And it is very tasty actually and it is very healthy also. So we used it every year for our children in our family. She asked me to modify this product in the different level to reach everyone and it has to be tasted by every child. Children shouldn't reject this one actually. So we just modified the product in a tasty manner. And she started to make some trials there at home, and she gave it to her friends and relatives to try this product for the first time. They were very happy with the products so she started to give the samples to the many unknown people to get their feedbacks. Everywhere she keeps some in her pocket or bag, whenever she go out, she gave out to test. And she's given it to more than 500 people to taste this product and it was very positive.

George Abraham

13:13

Right.

Saleesh

13:13

And she got the confidence to do that actually, when she asked me to do it as a business.

George Abraham

13:29

So if I might just come here. So this is a product which was actually made in your family house once or twice a year for the children.

Saleesh

13:39

Yeah.

George Abraham

13:40

And then she thought it was a good idea to actually package this and market this. So she did some kind of test marketing of this product with about 500 people. And the feedback was good and so you decided to kind of make this in a large scale and sell, is that correct?

Saleesh

13:59

Yes, yes.

Eyeway Helpdesk

14:04

To support our work with the blind and visually impaired, you can visit the donate page on our website, www.scorefoundation.org.in. Please note www.scorefoundation.org.in

George Abraham

14:31

Tell me what exactly is this product and you say it for children, it is made out of turmeric but what exactly is the product and what does it do for the children?

Saleesh

14:40

Actually this hair product is based on turmeric and this turmeric is a special turmeric, it is not a normal turmeric. It's a special terminal which is developed by Indian Institute of Spices Research and its name is Pratibha. This turmeric contain 6.2% curcumin. The curcumin is in bio active content in the turmeric which can help for the immunity as an immunity booster. It can help to prevent a lot of cancers, it can prevent a lot of skin problems and internal problems. So this is a very valuable ingredient and bioactive content all over the world which is already scientifically proven by many scientific authorities. So the curcumin is highly demanded but the thing is that the curcumin is not in our turmeric powder which we are buying from the supermarkets because they have already extracted the curcumin and after that the rest is made in to powder and it is coming in the market. So we are not the beneficiary of the curcumin. So this turmeric and dates and the almonds are cooked in the coconut milk in a traditional way and you can keep this product for six months and it can be used by anybody because the turmeric powder won't be eaten by the children easily as it tastes a little bit bitter. So many people don't like the taste of turmeric but they want turmeric. It should go inside the body but they do not like taste but this product is so so tasty and feedback was amazing. They were completely positive, we didn't get any negative comments from people because the taste is good. So we stuck with that taste and the combination and the exact proportion and she asked me to start it as a business. She became confident in the product and she started in that time to sell the eggs to people via WhatsApp and Facebook. So she told me it can sell via the social media. We can say about this product in social media and if somebody ask to buy we can courier it.

George Abraham

17:18

So she's also selling egg pickle is it?

Saleesh

17:21

In the early stages

George Abraham

17:23

Okay okay.

Saleesh

17:24

Before we started this turmeric business, during the period of the lockdown, the shops were closed every time so her egg sellinge was stopped. Then she started to make the pickle with eggs.

George Abraham

17:41

Right.

Saleesh

17:42

So, that was the first time she tried in the WhatsApp group to sell her products. So she know the potential of the social media if we post about the product and the detail of its ingredient and the making process. People will ask and we can give them via postal or courier, so she asked me to start this curcumin turmeric products by Whatsapp and Facebook. This is how how we started.

George Abraham

18:19

So when you sell a food product, a product which people eat, don't you have to get a clearance and a license from the health department?

Saleesh

18:28

In the early stage, we took all the license. We took the license from the health department, we took the license from the legal metrology and all. We took all the necessary and basic license in the early stage. I told you she wanted to do everything in a perfect manner.

George Abraham

18:48

Okay. So, what is your market these days, meaning do you sell only in Thrissur or do you have a market across the country?

Saleesh

18:57

Right now, we are getting the order even from Jammu and both from West Bengal and Delhi, mainly from the Maharashtra in Mumbai. In Mumbai, we have a lot of customers, we do have a lot of customers in Telengana and Andhra and also from the UP and Bihar we are getting order. Chennai too we have a very strong customer base.

George Abraham

19:29

Okay okay. So even now you are basically selling using Facebook and WhatsApp or you have other...

Saleesh

19:39

We have a website right now is to geethasfoods.com

George Abraham

19:44

Can you repeat it?

Saleesh

19:47

geethasfoods.com

George Abraham

19:48

It is understandable now that you've got so much of clientele and it's pan India that your customers are, you must be having a team of people working for you?

Saleesh

20:04

Yeah, right now we do have, actually she have five employees working with her. Three for cooking and making the products, one for the packing and there is a manager also, total seven people are there.

George Abraham

20:27

Again are you involved with the business in any way or you have your own job?

Saleesh

20:30

Actually I'm involved only during gap time, I have full time job actually. So right now I do have a job over there and I don't have the commitment.

George Abraham

20:51

So thank you very much. Geetha and Saleesh for actually talking to me and sharing your story because it's a very interesting story and it must be told so, happy to share it and wish you all the very best both of you.

Eyeway Helpdesk

21:21

This podcast was brought to you by BarrierBreak Solutions Private Limited and Score Foundation.

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