Jyotsnaben

One evening her husband came with news that she could avail a free counter at Gujarat Agro Exhibition in 2011. She looked around in the house and thought, what can be made for tomorrow? All she had was Kharek from Kachchh to sell. Soon she thought of a unique idea of making Kharek Pickle. Next morning she was ready at the exhibition counter with 6 kg of Kharek Pickle. It was an unforgettable experience for her as she was the only woman participant and other participants helped in boosting her confidence. Infact on the last day of exhibition she was invited to share a few words. This experience had turned her life into a new journey; thereafter there was no looking back.

She made a list of the busiest exhibitions of Ahmedabad such as Sports Club, Rajpath Club, Ahmedabad Haat, Kashiram Bhavan, Rani Sati, GCCI etc. and started putting her stalls. Mean while she gradually came up with more products like Bijora Pickle, Garlic Pickle, Green Pepper Pickle, Kerda Pickle, Chana-Methi Pickle, Amala-Ginger-Mint Sharbat, Kalkatti pan sharbat, Gotli (mango seed) mouth freshner etc. While makng these pikles she learnt of various health benefits of the ingredients such as Green pepper helps against Vertigo; bijara helps in Kidney Stone, Asthma and Diabetics. Due to her homemade and traditional products she got a chance to participate at Coimbatore for a Non-Residential Gujarati Community organized by the Government of Gujarat. Her stay there was for 8-10 days. This event proved to be a big jump in the preparation of quantity as she sold more than 500 kg of pickle and came back with sufficient return in terms of money, confidence, appreciation and love

One morning she decided to visit the office of SRISTI. She was familiar with the Sattvik Food Festival only as a visitor. This time she had a reason to visit; she wanted to earn more money through her skill as her daughter received an admission in Engineering and she needed money to pay her fees. Hence, she decided to work harder and seek for more work. The SRISTI committee came with some conclusion and allotted her a free stall at that time and continued to for a few years. Next few years she got a stall on discount. Her appearance in Sattvik Food Festival helped her generate a market for her products almost ten times. At present six women work with her. Few years back she suffered from brain stroke but she remained strong and continued working as soon she recovered.

She has motivated her sister-in-law and two of friends to start work from home and has a very important message for young women, -“ Nari Ek Shakti Che”.  She proved a famous saying in Gujarati-“ Darek Stree e Potana Pag Upar Ubha Rahevu Joie”.