Slice Of Life: ‘It was hard to find healthy food in city’

Chennai

I am from Melmaravathur and moved to Chennai 13 years ago after my marriage. As I have completed nursing course, I started to work in a private hospital. Having grown up in a village, I was accustomed to having only natural and healthy food every day since my childhood. However, after moving to the city, it became nearly impossible to find natural food, while I found it difficult to eat unhealthy food. Later on, I decided to start a shop of my own to create awareness about the unhealthy food that everyone is consuming. One of the important requirement for healthy food is oil. So, my brother and I decided to start an organic oil shop in East Tambaram. Though we did not know how to operate the machinery, we learnt the nuances of it and started the shop two years ago. My sister, who is a graduate, quit her job and started to concentrate on the shop. Initially people hesitated to buy oil from us because they thought that branded oils that are continuously advertised on television were the best. But after buying samples, they realised that these were the only natural oils. Many regular customers have told me that they have not visited a doctor since the day they began cooking with natural oil. We intend to spread the goodness of natural oils and have planned to take this message to all.