Goa has been and continues to be one of my favorite holiday destinations. I remember my very first trip when I was still in my teens. My father and I, on his favorite scooter, travelled from my hometown of Belgaum, about 150 kilometres away. I just fell in love with the culture, the vibes, the beaches, the cuisine, and the people. No wonder, then, that a good fifteen years later I fell in love and married a girl from Goa.
That girl, Sahana, though, doesn’t like Goa at all. Her usual refrain is, “It is one thing to visit a place as a tourist and quite another to live there as a resident”. Fortunately, both my kids fell in love with Goa just like I did with their mom. A family vacation to Goa was finally on, after a good 20 years since my marriage. We drove from Pune, in my favorite car, a Ford Ecosport, with a brief stopover in Belgaum. We celebrated New Year’s Eve on Varca beach, welcoming the year 2020 in high spirits.
Next, we visited Bicholim, a town in North Goa, where Sahana did her schooling. The moment we stepped into the portals of ‘Our Lady of Grace High School, she was jumping all over the place, unable to contain her excitement. The school was on vacation, so there were hardly any people. We spotted one middle-aged lady whom Sahana immediately recognized as her Math teacher. Much to Sahana’s disappointment, the teacher didn’t remember her, too preoccupied with her chores.
Later, we walked into the school library, where we bumped into the same teacher again. Excitedly, Sahana explained to me that she had never visited the library, while her elder sister, Chetana, would spend most of her time there. The moment the teacher heard the name Chetana, her eyes lit up. “Are you Chetana’s sister by any chance?” the teacher exclaimed excitedly. When Sahana answered in the affirmative, “Oh, now I remember it all, you are Chetana’s sister.” Her whole attitude had changed, now quite evidently. Chetana was a school topper and a state rank holder.
A Necessary Sacrifice: Pregnancy and Postponed Ambitions
That is quintessential Sahana for you, the star-struck sister of a school topper, the demure wife of a busy bee husband, or doting mother of an ambitious daughter. She never had any qualms playing second fiddle and always shying away from the limelight. I pushed her to take her career seriously, but to no avail. She had a breakthrough career option when she was pregnant with our daughter, Pravita. In the second trimester of the pregnancy, she quit her job. I was disappointed with her decision initially, but saw merit eventually, as the later stages of pregnancy were fraught with spotting. Her sacrificing her career saved the pregnancy.
Her story is so much like the protagonist of the movie ‘English Vinglish’. No wonder it is one of her all-time favourite movies; I recall her being moved to tears when we watched it in the theatre. As we drove from Bicholim to Madgaon, we all had a hearty laugh at her expense. Normally, she is a great sport, but that day she was quiet, her beautiful eyes staring out at the vast expanse of the ocean. I could sense that something had shifted inside her.
The glory of a business or a human is not in avoiding the falls but in rising each time one falls. Watching Sahana 2.0 renews our faith in infinite human potential. We are just one breakthrough away from the best version of what we can be.
~ Rajeev Hallur
The Quiet Shift: Finding Purpose in Pune
We returned to Pune a couple of days later, and I found her keeping to herself. After a lot of goading and coaxing, she proclaimed that she wanted to get into the food business. I tried to talk her out of it, for I thought Sahana was not cut out for business. She didn’t budge, so I decided to play along for some time, knowing well she would give up once the initial novelty wears off. She started off supplying homemade snacks in our neighbourhood. Those were Covid times, with their own challenges. After the initial enthusiasm, the order flow plateaued, and competition emerged, too.
She ventured into corporate snack boxes next. We struggled to keep the snack boxes hot and the business thriving. I got the feeling that the end of Foodelovery, as the business was called, was near. How spectacularly wrong was I? I hadn’t accounted for the newfound purpose in Sahana.
Finally, Foodelovery found a new direction in the health food industry. Sahana has found her purpose, and there has been no stopping ever since. We keep adding at least one customer every day. A sale happens either at stalls or on our e-commerce website every hour. It has been five years, and the only way I can describe it is “the glory of a business or a human is not in avoiding the falls but in rising each time one falls”.
Watching this version of Sahana renews our faith in infinite human potential. We are just one breakthrough away from the best version of what we can be.
Her Time to Shine: Stepping Back for Support
Last fortnight, there was a function to unveil my maiden book – ‘Love Multiplied’ in collaboration with 110 others – in Chennai. Sahana had the opportunity to set up a stall at the same ceremony. She was nervous, as this was the first time Foodelovery had a stall outside Pune. She requested that I be by her side through the function. For me, it was an opportunity to bask in the limelight that I rarely miss. All these days, Sahana has suppressed her desires and let me take all the glory. But it’s now her time, and I needed to take a step back and support her.
Foodelovery has become her identity and making people healthy her passion. Today, she is an entrepreneur first and continues to be a great spouse, a sister, and a mother. I recall the famous Marathi author Pu La saying
“कोकणत्याला माणसांना तिथल्या आब्यांसारखं किंवा फणसांसारखं पिकल्या शिवाय गोडवा येत नाही “
The people of the coast like its mangoes and jackfruits sweeten only when they ripen.
Sahana has just begun to bloom and her best is yet to be.
