1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:18,880 Gayathri Nayagam did her master's in international business and wanted to work the Jebel Ali 2 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:20,960 Free Trade Zone in Dubai. 3 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:23,320 But life had other plans for her. 4 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:28,680 Her first job is running a business in the temple town of Tenkasi. 5 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:34,600 It's a store that has been around for over 90 years and she and her mother-in-law are 6 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:37,880 the first women to head the business. 7 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:43,200 Her story is about coming to terms with everything that life throws at you. 8 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:49,360 Welcome to My First Job, where we find out what drives people, how chance intervenes 9 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:51,700 and the lessons they've learnt. 10 00:00:51,700 --> 00:00:59,600 This is episode 11 and like every interesting career journey, it's full of twists, turns 11 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:01,240 and insights. 12 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,000 My name is Venu Gopal Nair. 13 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:10,760 I'm the host of the podcast and CEO of Ideascape Communications, an advertising agency into 14 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:13,680 branding, creative and design. 15 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:17,600 So settle in, sit back and enjoy the conversation. 16 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,000 Hi Gayathri and great to have you on the show. 17 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:22,160 Hi Venu. 18 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:23,160 What is it like? 19 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:26,400 You're running a business which has been around for a fairly long time. 20 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:29,000 Fairly long time is 90 years. 21 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:34,880 Give us a sense of what it is to run a retail store in a temple town. 22 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:37,600 Tenkasi obviously is very well known for the temple. 23 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:40,800 So this is like a semi-urban kind of a place. 24 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:46,800 So we have just been given, Tenkasi has been awarded a recognition of being the district 25 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:48,560 headquarters just two years back. 26 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:54,600 Till then it used to be a very laid back place, totally surrounded by a lot of villages. 27 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:55,600 Main thing is agriculture. 28 00:01:55,600 --> 00:02:02,200 There are no industries, no big factories or big organizations or anything. 29 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:03,640 Office is running over here. 30 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:10,000 Our main customers are just in and around this small place who come here mainly for 31 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:11,000 wedding purchases. 32 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:15,480 That has been our main point of focus. 33 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:22,560 Wedding silks is something which we are very proud to have been for so many years and people 34 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:30,440 still come and tell their grandfather, grandmother, they got their wedding sarees in the store 35 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:33,600 and they still have it and it is still wearable. 36 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:34,600 That is a great thing. 37 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:39,360 That is like amazing to hear all such stories. 38 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:45,760 So loyal customers who have been with us for so many years, generation upon generation 39 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:51,920 and even people who go out, they come back and they visit this place with fond memories 40 00:02:51,920 --> 00:02:54,440 of their childhood, coming and playing in the store. 41 00:02:54,440 --> 00:03:00,600 There used to be a sofa kind of a thing near the silk saree section. 42 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:06,600 All the kids used to jump around and over here usually when people come, they come in 43 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:07,600 big groups. 44 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,400 Say 20-30 people come to get a single saree for the wedding. 45 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:16,720 So most of the kids even fall asleep, they shop for around half day or sometimes even 46 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:17,720 the full day. 47 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:18,720 Wonderful. 48 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:19,720 So what is your childhood like? 49 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,720 Childhood, I was actually born in Coimbatore. 50 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,080 I totally bought up in Bangalore. 51 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:28,840 From my primary education till middle school, I was in Bangalore. 52 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:32,900 And then my dad used to work in a bank. 53 00:03:32,900 --> 00:03:34,720 So he got a transfer to UP. 54 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:39,360 We got shifted from Bangalore to a place called Muzaffarnagar which is very close to Delhi. 55 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:41,360 So we were there for around three years. 56 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:45,880 And then he luckily got a transfer back to his native Coimbatore. 57 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:49,600 And so I came back for my 10th, 11th, 12th and my college. 58 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:52,520 So did you pick up Hindi in Muzaffarnagar? 59 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:53,520 Absolutely. 60 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:56,560 Oh, that is a big story in itself. 61 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:01,520 I did my basic education in a government school. 62 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:05,560 My primary education was in Bangalore, which at that time used to be a government school. 63 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:09,360 First language was English, second language used to be Kannada and the third language 64 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:10,360 used to be Hindi. 65 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:14,640 And even in the sixth standard, Hindi used to be like hardly one sentence. 66 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:18,480 The answers used to be just in one sentence. 67 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:21,360 So putta kahan tha, ta yahan hai. 68 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:22,360 That's about it. 69 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:29,480 And that teacher used to write it on the board and we used to religiously see every word 70 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:32,080 and just copy it in our notebooks. 71 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:37,240 Was the thing till sixth standard and jumped to seventh standard and it was a CBSE school 72 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:42,440 where though medium was in English, but even English used to be taught only in Hindi. 73 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:46,360 So literally it was a big major shock for me. 74 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:47,920 The first period was Hindi. 75 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:53,000 Our teacher was like, she started giving out dictation notes and I was like, I just opened 76 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:54,000 the book. 77 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:57,880 I just started writing one word or whatever I could hear and people have just finished 78 00:04:57,880 --> 00:04:58,880 the one page. 79 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:00,200 I was like, this is not going to happen. 80 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:01,400 I just kept quiet. 81 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:05,000 I just waited it out and went and told her, this is not going to happen. 82 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:06,160 You have to help me out. 83 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:08,320 Three years over there was tough. 84 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:11,320 I think I totally lost touch with English. 85 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:13,120 I lost touch with Tamil. 86 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:14,120 I lost touch with Kannada. 87 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:19,120 Everything I forgot, I remembered only Hindi. 88 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:24,440 Back in Coimbatore was like, again, I get a refresher course for all these other languages. 89 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:29,840 I used to be like, why are you talking weird? 90 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:32,040 That slang absolutely stuck with me. 91 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:34,120 The Hindi slang stuck with me. 92 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:35,120 Even English was bad. 93 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:41,400 But you managed to pick up Hindi and convert completely into that. 94 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:48,680 There's absolutely no go when you have to be in a school and you have to talk to people. 95 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:54,200 Though we were encouraged, it was a convent school and we were encouraged to talk in English, 96 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:56,640 but everyone used to talk only in Hindi. 97 00:05:56,640 --> 00:06:01,360 If I asked them a question in English, say, I need this notebook or something, they just 98 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:04,000 not be bothered to even reply me back. 99 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:08,040 So I had no other go but to change myself and pick up Hindi. 100 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:12,760 And I'm very proud to say I even excelled in Hindi and the teacher was so happy at the 101 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,480 end of the 9th standard. 102 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:17,800 She was like, oh my God, look at this girl. 103 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:21,200 She's come from somewhere where she didn't know Hindi at all. 104 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:23,920 And she has stopped Hindi and Sanskrit. 105 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:26,120 Sanskrit was totally new to me. 106 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:27,720 I had to look back. 107 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:29,080 It feels nice. 108 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:32,120 But those three years were really tough. 109 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:36,200 But you still know that's the amazing part that you went from knowing nothing like you 110 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:42,920 said, the dog was here or there to actually talking in class. 111 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:45,320 You know, what are the things that you looked at? 112 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:46,960 What were your options? 113 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:52,440 Usually 10th standard, no schools, usually they don't entertain new admissions actually. 114 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:56,440 Once I had good grades, they were like, okay, so they took me in. 115 00:06:56,440 --> 00:06:59,160 After 10th, I had no idea what to do. 116 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:05,160 Since my dad is in the banking sector, I really like that I was more into what he was doing. 117 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:09,320 So I thought, okay, commerce is thing I'm going to go in for commerce, even though I 118 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:13,760 was very good at science, but I really thought commerce would be good for me. 119 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:16,800 And I even I got fairly good marks. 120 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:20,440 I think I was school third during my 12th standard. 121 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:26,320 After that, again, the struggle of getting a good seat in a college that started and 122 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:31,920 even though I scored 97%, I couldn't get a good college seat. 123 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:36,040 Nearest option was a good option was a college called GRD College of Science. 124 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:40,320 I was like, no, I'd rather do my correspondence and all that. 125 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:42,840 He was like, no, no, no, you're already very quiet. 126 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:44,640 You need to go and mingle with people. 127 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:48,560 And he literally pushed me to go into college actually. 128 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:53,280 And those three years of BCom also was like, it's very funny if I look back and see there 129 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:57,200 were hardly five girls in the class with 30 boys. 130 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:00,520 And we used to never interact with anybody. 131 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:06,400 And I had one good, very best friend with whom I used to only with her I used to talk. 132 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:08,200 And looking back, I even still laugh. 133 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:11,320 We both laugh like, oh, God, how we have been. 134 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:15,800 So you were the introvert that the whole world was trying to make an extrovert of? 135 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:18,840 Especially my parents, because they both talk well. 136 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:21,320 They're feeling like, why is she not talking? 137 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:26,880 Puzzled and even fearful, like I will not even talk at all or I'll never open up. 138 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:29,320 You were very comfortable being that, right? 139 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:33,440 You didn't require somebody to be around and have conversations. 140 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:38,600 Because I'm a single child, I've always been content with being with my own company. 141 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:43,480 I have never needed anybody to come and keep me company or keep me engaged. 142 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:48,760 That's actually a strength, being comfortable with yourself takes a fair amount of doing. 143 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:49,760 Because... 144 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:50,760 It's true. 145 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:51,760 Okay. 146 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:55,560 So you finished your BCom then? 147 00:08:55,560 --> 00:08:56,560 Yeah. 148 00:08:56,560 --> 00:09:01,840 So finished my BCom and I thought, okay, now is the chance when I'll be really rewarded 149 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:02,840 for my marks. 150 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:06,280 I got, I topped the college to have a change of place. 151 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:08,560 Same group where I used to not talk and all that. 152 00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:12,000 So I thought, okay, maybe I should have a change of place. 153 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:15,540 And I even got good admissions elsewhere for MBA. 154 00:09:15,540 --> 00:09:21,480 But then my HOD was like, I'll give you a marriage seat for Master of International Business. 155 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:22,480 So MIB. 156 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:27,920 And he was like, why don't you just, you just get me a university rank and I'll just give 157 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:29,920 you this seat for you free. 158 00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:31,720 I was like, okay, fine. 159 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:35,640 I was like, okay, maybe my dad's burden will be a little less. 160 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:39,120 I was like, okay, MIB sounded different too. 161 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:44,480 It sounded more better than MBA, but everybody else was doing MBA for a PG. 162 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:47,080 So I thought, okay, maybe, okay, MIB fine. 163 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:52,280 But those two years were like really the best years of my life, I would say. 164 00:09:52,280 --> 00:10:00,400 Really had a wonderful time in MIB with a class which is still close knit even to date. 165 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:02,880 We keep in touch with everybody. 166 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:07,400 Even though I still used to not talk much, but still I had a very nice time with all 167 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:10,960 those people, they accepted me for what I am. 168 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:12,000 So it was nice. 169 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:17,440 So you finished your MBA and then did you really want to take up a job at that point 170 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:19,040 or was it more about? 171 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:29,200 Actually MIB was like every semester they used to take us out for our IV visits and 172 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:31,240 used to be really good places. 173 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:36,960 They even took us to Dubai and Oman and we got to see the Jabal Ali port and all those 174 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:40,680 big, big giant corporations working over there. 175 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:42,440 I was really fascinated seeing that. 176 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:47,000 The first thought was like, I want to work in Jabal Ali in some big corporate like this 177 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:48,920 because it is like larger than life. 178 00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:56,600 At that point of time, it was newly constructed with 64 berths, manmade port and that itself 179 00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:58,600 felt like great. 180 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:04,200 So I was thinking, okay, maybe if I go for a job, I should work in such a place. 181 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:09,680 So I really was looking forward to that once probably the course completed and we started 182 00:11:09,680 --> 00:11:10,960 getting campus interviews. 183 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:18,640 I was selected for a few, but then what happened was like I met my husband when I was studying 184 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:19,640 in MIB. 185 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:23,160 He was my classmate and my very close friend. 186 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:25,440 He proposed to me and I said yes. 187 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:27,880 So that became my priority. 188 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:30,620 I thought, okay, I think I want to get settled. 189 00:11:30,620 --> 00:11:37,560 So that was a total change of plans and I think as soon as I finished my PG, we told 190 00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:42,080 to our parents and they said yes and just we just got married. 191 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:43,080 That's it. 192 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:46,800 So there was a change of scene at that point in time. 193 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:50,280 Life went on and you have two children. 194 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:52,520 Yes, I have two boys. 195 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:57,960 And then of course, you suddenly had to because of the tragedy that happened, you were at 196 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:03,200 a kind of crossroad and you had to figure out, okay, where do things go from here? 197 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:07,560 I know it's hard to this thing, but can you go back to some of the things that in your 198 00:12:07,560 --> 00:12:14,080 mind you decided that, okay, this is what I need to do and take it forward from there. 199 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:16,280 My husband is the only son. 200 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:19,040 He's got an elder sister, but he's the only son. 201 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:24,720 He actually wanted to go settle abroad and probably do his MS over there. 202 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:30,360 But then since he was the only son, parents were like, they pressurized him into coming 203 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:33,540 to their family business and get settled down here itself. 204 00:12:33,540 --> 00:12:39,480 And then he did try to go and study abroad, but it didn't happen. 205 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:43,860 So then he thought, okay, why not let us come and settle down here itself. 206 00:12:43,860 --> 00:12:47,640 So when we got married, he had already come into the business and he was working for some 207 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:49,040 time over here. 208 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:56,000 And once I also came here, it was like, literally I was a housewife for almost say, say 10, 209 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,040 12 years with both kids, small kids. 210 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:01,440 I used to take care of them and all that. 211 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:06,400 But he used to always tell me, you have to come, you have to come into the shop. 212 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:12,560 Once the kids were kind of big and he was like, you have to start knowing things, how 213 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:14,120 things work over here. 214 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:18,080 You have to understand what all goes into this business. 215 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:19,760 Also you have to know what all I know. 216 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:25,080 He used to keep telling me that I have to be his clone so that we can make this easier 217 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:26,360 for both of us. 218 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:30,600 Because even he goes in the morning, he comes back only at night, the whole day I have nothing 219 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:31,600 much to do. 220 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:32,600 Kids go off to school. 221 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:35,440 So then he was like, you come to start coming to the shop. 222 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:40,000 So I used to be like, not very happy coming to the shop and taking over business. 223 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:45,760 That was not my cup of tea I felt because like, since I'm from the working class background, 224 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:48,400 things I have never felt is all that. 225 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:53,500 No, I feel why you have to keep sitting full time taking all this tension. 226 00:13:53,500 --> 00:13:55,180 You go work for somebody else. 227 00:13:55,180 --> 00:13:56,740 You have your fixed timings. 228 00:13:56,740 --> 00:13:58,320 You finish your thing. 229 00:13:58,320 --> 00:13:59,320 You come back home. 230 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:01,360 You spend time with family. 231 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:06,160 This is like totally you lose your life sitting in a place. 232 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:07,920 I didn't see the point at all. 233 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:13,160 He used to say like, no, see, this is going to change once you come and sit here and you 234 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:15,740 start making money off your own. 235 00:14:15,740 --> 00:14:17,520 Then you will start getting an interest. 236 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:19,800 He used to tell me this often. 237 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:23,160 And I know that the monies have no interest. 238 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:24,520 I just want your company. 239 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:25,560 That's about it. 240 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:29,840 So the main reason I started coming to the shop is I could spend more time with him. 241 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:34,320 We used to share a cabin and he used to force me to do a lot of stuff. 242 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:40,760 Back then it used to be value added tax, VAT, file VAT every month, pay EF, PFESI challenge 243 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:42,560 and all those things he used to make me do. 244 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:44,840 And I used to be like, this is really hard. 245 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:46,760 He used to teach me and I used to always forget. 246 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:49,440 And he was like, why you have to do all this? 247 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:51,000 Get somebody to do it for you. 248 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:53,400 But he used to always say, no, you have to know. 249 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:54,920 You have to know that firsthand. 250 00:14:54,920 --> 00:15:00,480 You have to first equip yourself with knowledge and only then delegate it to somebody else. 251 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:05,960 The only thing I didn't try out was going to the counter and doing a sale as such. 252 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:06,960 Everything else I have tried. 253 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:08,720 I have tried building everything, cash. 254 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:10,360 He made me do all that stuff. 255 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:12,360 In a way it was very good. 256 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:19,280 It really helped me take over seamlessly because this is like without knowing anything, you 257 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:24,360 just come in, it's like being blindfolded and left off in a forest. 258 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:26,000 It is literally like that. 259 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:30,960 This exposure really helped me take over the business once he was gone suddenly. 260 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:36,080 Even though I did have a lot of initial hiccups, but I am very happy. 261 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:42,680 The staff, all these close to 100 people who work for us, they are so supportive. 262 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:44,840 I wanted to do that back to them. 263 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:48,360 I just didn't want to leave them hanging. 264 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:49,560 I can't do this. 265 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:51,720 It was very easy for me to say, no, I can't do this. 266 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:52,720 That's it. 267 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:53,720 Do something with it. 268 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:54,720 I am just going. 269 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:56,760 I am probably going back to Coimbatore or something. 270 00:15:56,760 --> 00:15:57,760 Easy for me to say. 271 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:02,640 But what about these 100 people with their families who are totally dependent on the 272 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:04,760 shop over here for so many years? 273 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:08,600 I still have staff who are working over here for more than 40 years. 274 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:10,200 They are pretty old. 275 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:12,840 Nobody is going to give them a job again. 276 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:17,400 And the good thing is over here, we don't chuck people out just because they're old 277 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:18,400 or something. 278 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:20,800 Even my father-in-law had the same ideologies. 279 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:26,480 He was like, you keep people till they feel, no, I'm not able to do this or they have 280 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:28,400 their own personal reasons to quit. 281 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:32,960 So till such time, we don't say, no, you can pack up and leave. 282 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:33,960 That's amazing. 283 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:40,040 Because in today's world, you hear of 600, 6000, 10,000 people being let go in one single 284 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:41,040 call. 285 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:45,960 Do you think it's part of an older time, a more gentle time? 286 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:47,440 They felt like family. 287 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:50,200 They used to take part in all the good and bad. 288 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:57,160 So you cannot expect that in the younger generation because of other society pressures also, I 289 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:01,320 would say, like they have their own cost of living is increased. 290 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:08,280 So they have no other go but to even if somebody gives you 2000 or 3000 extra because of their 291 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:12,200 family problems, they have no other choice but to move on. 292 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:15,600 So I wouldn't blame them totally or tell them they're not loyal. 293 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:16,680 I wouldn't tell that. 294 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:20,800 But earning becomes the number one main thing in life. 295 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:22,120 But nothing can be done. 296 00:17:22,120 --> 00:17:26,520 So to a large extent, coming into the business, it also meant the difference. 297 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:30,700 I think you were now making all the decisions, not just helping. 298 00:17:30,700 --> 00:17:35,280 You knew by then most of your vendors and people that you. 299 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:40,680 Since it's an established business, you also have say something like a flowchart kind of 300 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:41,680 a thing. 301 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:43,120 You know that goods come in. 302 00:17:43,120 --> 00:17:44,520 Next, what has to be done? 303 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:47,560 It has to be put under the LR entry should be there. 304 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:51,280 Then the process is already set in place. 305 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:57,240 So I need not keep monitoring people and being a ringmaster, getting work done, do this, 306 00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:58,240 do this, do this. 307 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:00,480 No, people know what is the next thing to do. 308 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:02,760 Since these people are there for quite a long time. 309 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:04,640 So that was also easier for me. 310 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:08,880 Many other things I had to learn from them actually to be true. 311 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:13,960 Never once I have felt like they are trying to say like, oh, God, this girl doesn't know 312 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:16,120 anything but she's come here as my boss. 313 00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:17,880 Why should I listen to her? 314 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:22,920 I have so much of experience, but I but still I have to listen to her. 315 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:28,960 Not once I have either heard a complaint or a behavioral change in any of them. 316 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:30,860 What is the best part? 317 00:18:30,860 --> 00:18:37,600 The goodwill that you earned in all the number of years that the businesses was around obviously 318 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:43,960 helped to get over that very difficult phase in which you had to, which you found yourself. 319 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:48,560 Now that you have managed the business for about four or five years, do you think that 320 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:55,400 there is anything personal that you bring to it or is it a continuation or a continuum 321 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:56,560 of the earlier thing? 322 00:18:56,560 --> 00:19:01,800 I think I have wanted the women's touch to the business because it's always been managed 323 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:04,320 by men as a typical small town. 324 00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:07,840 Really welcome women to be at the top of things. 325 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:10,680 And it could be very simple things also. 326 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:15,880 20 years back or not 20 years, say 18 years back when I just came to the town, I was so 327 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:17,760 used to driving a two wheeler back. 328 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,440 I told like, I need I'll bring my two wheeler. 329 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:21,440 It was a scooter. 330 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:22,840 I'll bring it over here. 331 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:28,080 And my father-in-law was like, no, no, no, you cannot go about driving a two wheeler. 332 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:29,880 You literally be the talk of the town. 333 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:30,880 That's what he told me. 334 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:31,880 And I was very shocked. 335 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:36,840 I was like, why should I be the talk of the town if I'm just I'm going to mind my own 336 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:37,840 business? 337 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:43,840 They don't welcome such kind of sudden changes and all that over here. 338 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:47,120 So driving a two wheeler, see there's a sudden change. 339 00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:48,120 Yes, absolutely. 340 00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:53,520 Because at that time, at that point of time, there was not a single lady who used to drive 341 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:54,520 over here. 342 00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:56,840 But then my husband said, no problem. 343 00:19:56,840 --> 00:19:57,840 See you have a car. 344 00:19:57,840 --> 00:19:58,840 You take the car and go. 345 00:19:58,840 --> 00:19:59,840 That's about it. 346 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:00,840 Simple as that. 347 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:03,040 You want to go around, take the car and go. 348 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:07,880 My husband gave me so much of, you know, motivation and the desire to do things which I really 349 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:08,880 liked. 350 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:13,180 And I used to really like, like driving a lot. 351 00:20:13,180 --> 00:20:14,640 So he was like, you do that. 352 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:15,640 That's your passion. 353 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:16,640 Do it. 354 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:18,680 You knock me daily in the store. 355 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:20,280 Come and pick me back from the hair. 356 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:23,080 I was like, I was very happy with that. 357 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:27,880 Once I started driving, even the small kids in the town used to come out and look like 358 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:28,880 and see. 359 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:35,560 And there was I still remember taking the car out and a small girl, she was hardly three 360 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:36,560 years old. 361 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:39,320 I'm not even sure if she could speak fluently. 362 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:42,520 She was like, you're so poor, you can't even afford a driver. 363 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:44,520 She asked me this question. 364 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:46,920 I was laughing at her. 365 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:49,920 What do I explain to a child? 366 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:52,920 I was like, no, I like to drive. 367 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,120 Oh, nobody over here drives. 368 00:20:55,120 --> 00:21:00,280 But it's amazing that the thing in the mind of the child, a woman who drives. 369 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:03,720 I'm so poor to afford a driver. 370 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:08,320 You know, these are things that I don't think you'll ever come across in the city. 371 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:11,440 Like you said, in Coimbatore, you would do it without a second thought. 372 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:17,560 And here you have to carefully consider what would the impact be if you were seen driving 373 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:20,640 around town alone in the store? 374 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,680 So like you said, you brought the woman's touch. 375 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:25,200 Now what do you think that is? 376 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:26,640 Is it in terms of color? 377 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:27,640 Is it in terms of deco? 378 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:31,040 Is it in terms of how you interact with people? 379 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:34,320 Everything, probably everything, a little of everything. 380 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:40,360 At least I had a chance to come to the store and start doing a few things when my husband 381 00:21:40,360 --> 00:21:42,240 was alive itself. 382 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:45,320 But my mother-in-law, she's now 75. 383 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,080 She's never had any exposure to the shop at all. 384 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:50,960 She's literally been at home all her life. 385 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:56,400 So once my father-in-law passed away first, so once he passed away, my husband was like, 386 00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:57,940 you're not going to be alone at home. 387 00:21:57,940 --> 00:22:00,080 So he brought in his mom to the store. 388 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:02,480 He was like, you come with us daily. 389 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:06,800 You, whatever time you are comfortable with, you just come stay here. 390 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:08,880 Just, you just be here. 391 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:09,880 That's about it. 392 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:11,480 Do any work. 393 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:12,480 Just be here. 394 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:14,360 She's very good at administration. 395 00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:19,880 My mother-in-law was like amazing at administration, getting work done from people, extracting 396 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:20,880 work. 397 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:21,880 She's very good at it. 398 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:26,200 So why don't you put that into action and start managing people for me? 399 00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:28,640 That's the thing which she gave her first. 400 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:32,120 For that, my mother-in-law was like, you think I have never done this before. 401 00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:33,720 I'm not sure and all that. 402 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:36,800 She said, no, no, no, you don't think anything about it. 403 00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:38,280 Just do what you like. 404 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:40,160 I give you full freedom to do that. 405 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:44,460 So that, that itself was a big change for her. 406 00:22:44,460 --> 00:22:51,680 So once just one year since my father-in-law passed away, even my husband passed away. 407 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:55,240 That's when I told my mother-in-law, no, you have to come to this job. 408 00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:59,480 You have to be with me because she's my biggest support. 409 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:04,320 I feel since I'm not a person who's very vocal, I get things through, done through her, you 410 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:05,560 know, something like that. 411 00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:10,120 It's easier actually for me to get work done through her. 412 00:23:10,120 --> 00:23:15,200 Just do this for me or get this work done from these people or manage this for me. 413 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:17,480 So she does that very well. 414 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:19,440 Half my burden is less because of that. 415 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:24,080 I don't need to go and do this ringmaster job of like, don't do this. 416 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:25,080 Why this is here? 417 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:26,080 Why does that? 418 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:27,080 Nothing of that sort. 419 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:29,240 I'm not doing any such things. 420 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:30,760 All those things she manages. 421 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:36,600 So that is a great big change from how this store has worked for so many years. 422 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:41,280 And also in terms of collection and all those things, saris are purchased by men. 423 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:45,640 The maximum they could do is like imagine how his wife or somebody would look like in 424 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:46,640 that sari. 425 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:47,640 That's about it. 426 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:53,240 But when we go in person and get, we, I feel have better perspective of the colors which 427 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:59,120 suit people and also the designs and what is in trend. 428 00:23:59,120 --> 00:24:00,800 That is also a big factor. 429 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:06,760 These people are so used to buying the same, same old, keeping to the tradition kind of 430 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:08,320 same old stuff. 431 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:14,200 Ever since we have taken over these five years, a lot of people have come to tell us personally 432 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:20,360 that they really like this change, this collection, even how people interact with them. 433 00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:21,640 All those things have changed. 434 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:23,440 It used to be like very mechanical. 435 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:27,460 It used to be, it's a lethargic kind of laid back town. 436 00:24:27,460 --> 00:24:28,680 People are lethargic. 437 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:31,120 They come, they'll be sitting, it'll be like this. 438 00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:32,120 That's about it. 439 00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:36,320 That's how they used to welcome people. 440 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:40,560 And nobody used to feel bad about it because they are so used to the store being like this. 441 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:42,800 So they still feel bad like what is this? 442 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:45,720 We are not being properly received or something. 443 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:50,560 It used to never be a complaint itself because and also everybody knows everybody. 444 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:57,520 Even people who come till now, now also, my staff, they call them with relation. 445 00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:01,880 They mention like mama, auntie, they call them like that. 446 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:04,200 That is a nice integral part of this. 447 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:05,200 Personal touch. 448 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:09,640 They ask them like how their family is, what the kids are doing. 449 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:11,080 So that is a good thing. 450 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:12,760 So that has not changed. 451 00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:18,600 But we have definitely told them like you also need to be a little bit active, more 452 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:27,400 active in welcoming people, you know, probably with a smile or even standing up or just not 453 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:31,680 be like, OK, if they want, they'll come and take, otherwise they'll go home. 454 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:36,320 No, that attitude has to be has to change. 455 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:41,080 So your selection of sarees, when you point it out, it seems obvious for 90 years. 456 00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:45,840 It's always been men who ran the store, who bought the sarees, who bought the stock, who 457 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:46,840 sold. 458 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:52,160 And here it is where in the last five years, it's it's completely shifted. 459 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:54,840 What are the kind of things that you look for? 460 00:25:54,840 --> 00:26:00,400 Color is one thing, but you're also very aware of how women want to be perceived. 461 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:05,600 Most of our purchases used to be from people who used to come and visit our store. 462 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:08,680 The whole samples used to be bought by those people, suppliers. 463 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:13,880 And they used to show us all the samples, even the colors, designs, everything, whatever 464 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:14,880 little thing they bring. 465 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:15,880 That's about it. 466 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:17,600 That used to be the sample. 467 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:22,720 We could only purchase in that very limited set of variety which they had to offer. 468 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:26,200 So now what we do is we started traveling extensively. 469 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:31,480 I have created a kind of a team, a purchase team, which will go around places. 470 00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:35,120 Pan India, which my actually my husband used to do that. 471 00:26:35,120 --> 00:26:39,120 He used to travel Pan India single handedly and do all the purchases. 472 00:26:39,120 --> 00:26:44,440 But since I'm not able to do that, like too much be too much on travel all time. 473 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:50,880 So I had to bring in a team who could do that from all the readymade purchases are mostly 474 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:51,880 from North. 475 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:56,840 So it was the only way we could ensure that whatever comes to the market first, it's here 476 00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:57,840 immediately. 477 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:03,320 It takes six months for a trend to pick up over here in this place. 478 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:08,720 But now since media has come, people are watching a lot of serials, Tamil serials and all those 479 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:09,720 serials. 480 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:14,400 They like to see what those people are tying in there, what they're wearing in that serials 481 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:16,600 or whatever is shown in the media. 482 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:20,880 And they come immediately and they come and ask, I need that kind of particular names 483 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:21,880 of serials. 484 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:26,960 And they want only that what she's tying that actress is saying, no, we want only that. 485 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:33,120 That thing we have to keep up with that online business is boomed so much. 486 00:27:33,120 --> 00:27:36,960 Even after covid online business like really flourished. 487 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:42,280 Anything which is being sold in Ahmedabad, people over here are able to look at and buy. 488 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:45,440 They come and show us like we need this very close people. 489 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:48,080 They even ask us to purchase. 490 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:50,440 I don't know how you will get this, but I need it. 491 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:55,200 So we try to find out from our suppliers and try to meet the demand. 492 00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:57,560 Now we are having a lot of agents. 493 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:01,120 Usually agents, what they do is like they give us a lot of variety. 494 00:28:01,120 --> 00:28:05,840 They take us to a lot more of suppliers than we traditionally used to. 495 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:10,080 Probably first it used to be hardly say 100, 100 suppliers used to be there. 496 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:13,000 They used to keep giving us the same old stuff. 497 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:14,640 But now we have a variety. 498 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:23,200 We can go and see 100 stores, different suppliers, select what best is there they have to offer. 499 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:29,680 And we try to keep that in trend with the times, changing times, like what was being 500 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:31,200 shown in media. 501 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:36,040 But then it also increases the complexity of your inventory, right? 502 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:37,600 Yes, absolutely. 503 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:42,720 Textiles, you don't need too much of inventory, but readymades, you have to have a lot of 504 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:48,080 stock to show variety, plus because it is like divided into a lot of sizes. 505 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:51,280 But what we buy, we have to buy in all sizes. 506 00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:58,240 We need to have a large amount of stock to at least cater to the basic demands of people. 507 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:01,000 So we need to travel more. 508 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:08,080 Even purchasing should be like almost, I wouldn't say you cannot do it accurately, but still 509 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:14,760 you have to be very cautious when purchasing because dead stock is going to be the biggest 510 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:15,760 profit eater. 511 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:16,760 That's money stuck. 512 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:18,760 There's literally money stuck in the. 513 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:21,880 So it literally eats away your profit. 514 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:25,320 So our main goal is to get that dead stock down. 515 00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:27,800 We mean we should not have that stock. 516 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:32,240 How did you set up this group of people who had to go and purchase stuff? 517 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:38,640 OK, so this store is being managed by my husband's very close friend, childhood friend, actually, 518 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:39,640 for the past 15 years. 519 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:40,640 He's been with us. 520 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:46,640 He used to only manage the readymade parts of it and the staff, mainly staff, customers, 521 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:48,200 only those things. 522 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:53,840 Once my husband passed away, I had immediately I couldn't start going out to purchase. 523 00:29:53,840 --> 00:30:00,080 Luckily, he had quite a good experience buying men's clothing. 524 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:03,320 So I had to give him additional responsibility, actually. 525 00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:06,320 I had like even the women's and children's clothing. 526 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:09,160 He had to go in and he had to learn from scratch. 527 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:10,160 He had to learn. 528 00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:15,280 Like I said, a lot of people come over here to get, you know, they bring their samples 529 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:19,920 and then we used to purchase in store itself, order for our goods in store. 530 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:22,640 They used to bring us stuff and show us stuff. 531 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:30,000 So from that, we slowly, we slowly, we are changing to totally going outdoors for purchasing. 532 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:32,640 Whatever it was, purchase was done in store. 533 00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:34,200 Initially, I used to do it. 534 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:38,400 And then this thing started to be, they started going out for purchases. 535 00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:47,240 So I started taking up whatever places I could visit easily, Surat or Bangalore, Salem, Dharmavaram, 536 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:51,280 all the saree related stuff, Chennai also. 537 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:57,340 So all those things, you know, I could, I could go easily, single handedly go and purchase. 538 00:30:57,340 --> 00:30:59,440 So all those things, I started taking up. 539 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:05,840 The rest of it, which was harder to travel or I could not do it single handedly, probably 540 00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:09,320 needed a team of two, three people at least to go. 541 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:11,480 I have delegated to him. 542 00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:16,960 So he's got, I have got a store manager, I have got a purchase manager and I've got a 543 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:17,960 counter head. 544 00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:25,120 Like say, for example, I have a section in charge, that person, he's a person who is 545 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:27,680 going to actually know what is selling. 546 00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:29,920 Not me or not the store manager. 547 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:32,200 We just look at it from the next level. 548 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:34,080 We just see, okay, what is the sales today? 549 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:35,080 That's about it. 550 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:38,720 We are not going to see whether pink color is selling more or yellow color is selling 551 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:39,720 more. 552 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:41,240 What size is selling more? 553 00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:43,560 What is that which doesn't sell? 554 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:48,800 All those things, those little nuances, only the counter in charge will know. 555 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:53,880 So we have to take that person along too, because they have better idea of what is, 556 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:55,720 what will move. 557 00:31:55,720 --> 00:32:00,360 When you decided that you were going to get the purchase done, you had to overcome that 558 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:03,520 thing of earlier it was your husband managing purchases. 559 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:04,640 Now you went. 560 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:07,280 So what was it like in the initial bit? 561 00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:09,680 Actually, that was not very hard. 562 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:11,040 Actually, that was not hard. 563 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:16,920 Probably the travel part was hard because we are not properly connected by road or by 564 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:18,920 rail or by flight. 565 00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:27,120 My nearest big town is 60 kilometers away and nearest large town is 150 kilometers away. 566 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:31,000 The travel portion was the most trickiest portion of it. 567 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:37,000 We end up losing a lot of time and travel because from here to just catch a flight, 568 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:39,560 I need to travel 100 kilometers. 569 00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:42,960 And from there, there is no direct, it's a small airport. 570 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:44,900 Madurai is a small airport. 571 00:32:44,900 --> 00:32:51,080 So from there, I don't have connectivity to all major cities elsewhere in the north. 572 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:54,080 I have to go to Chennai and only from there, there is connectivity. 573 00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:57,160 So half the time goes in travel itself. 574 00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:01,520 My mother-in-law was not very initially not very happy about me going alone. 575 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:05,000 So my dad used to accompany me most of these travels. 576 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:08,840 He used to come along for the fun sake of it. 577 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:09,840 He loves traveling. 578 00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:13,040 So he was very supportive in that way. 579 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:18,960 We both used to go to Surat also and we used to go and finish our purchases and come back. 580 00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:22,480 Once I got used to that, then it was easier for me also. 581 00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:27,800 Till date, I have not gone to few places at all thinking it will be hard. 582 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:30,280 It is not a place where women go alone. 583 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:35,600 There are few places they say, I don't know, probably I should go. 584 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:39,360 That would be my next level probably in the next year I should do that. 585 00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:43,320 Dug into your reserves of Hindi, have you dusted it? 586 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:45,320 It has really helped. 587 00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:51,360 So that's when I, you know, thinking back, everything happens for a reason. 588 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:57,920 Life gives you so much of opportunities and lessons, which at that point of time may feel 589 00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:00,320 like what is the point of this? 590 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:01,880 Why am I going through this? 591 00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:05,360 But then somewhere else, it comes of use. 592 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:08,800 I have observed that so much. 593 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:11,960 I feel like, okay, so everything happens for a reason. 594 00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:17,840 Same thing, like if I hadn't come to the shop every now and then, even every now and then, 595 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:20,000 I wouldn't have taken over the CC. 596 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:23,160 So now, how is it for this whole thing going forward? 597 00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:24,880 You brought a woman's touch. 598 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:26,800 How do you see this evolving? 599 00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:28,660 See, this is your first job. 600 00:34:28,660 --> 00:34:30,760 This is literally your first job. 601 00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:31,760 Absolutely. 602 00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:32,760 Okay. 603 00:34:32,760 --> 00:34:39,200 So you've built on it, you've created your own space, you've created your own environment. 604 00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:41,600 You have understood what it means. 605 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:47,240 And the amazing part is that you told me that you have a hundred people working in the store. 606 00:34:47,240 --> 00:34:49,960 So obviously, it's a very large response. 607 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:53,700 And to be running a store with a hundred people in Tenkasi is not a small thing. 608 00:34:53,700 --> 00:34:57,600 Only when people run a business do they understand how much is actually involved. 609 00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:02,320 You know, from the outside, it looks as if stuff just magically comes and goes. 610 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:13,120 So in a sense, you have chronicled the kind of garment preferences of Tenkasi in a temple 611 00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:14,120 city. 612 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:20,080 It is not the, your biggest customers are still people from the town itself. 613 00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:21,360 And the villages nearby. 614 00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:22,360 Okay. 615 00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:28,200 So for them, you are one of the big stores because they come to Tenkasi to buy that there. 616 00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:31,200 So how do you see this evolving, Gayathri? 617 00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:38,240 Do you see this as a continuum saying that, yes, I have now made some changes, which I 618 00:35:38,240 --> 00:35:44,200 think will be adopted as part of the practices of the shop or, you know, this is what I've 619 00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:46,360 brought into the entire thing. 620 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:51,720 But what are the things that you wish to sort of put into it going forward? 621 00:35:51,720 --> 00:35:56,840 Every day is a learning experience in my design because these five years, every day I've learned 622 00:35:56,840 --> 00:36:00,840 something new and every day, probably not every day, at least every other day, I have 623 00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:07,320 tried to put something new into my working little, little practices we have changed. 624 00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:11,280 So this is never going to be like, is going to be for the next probably 10 years, things 625 00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:12,280 are going to be like this. 626 00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:18,000 No, I absolutely cannot say that because since this place has become a district headquarters, 627 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:20,600 we are having a lot of competition also. 628 00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:25,960 Even big companies have started coming like Reliance Trends by ECPIE and such kind of 629 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:30,200 corporate, you know, major players are coming in, stepping in now. 630 00:36:30,200 --> 00:36:32,160 There will be another family store. 631 00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:37,600 This is in general a family store where you can almost shop for everybody, not just ready 632 00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:38,600 maids. 633 00:36:38,600 --> 00:36:43,320 There are also textiles, even shirting, suiting, even dhoti, towels, everything. 634 00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:45,440 We deal with everything, furnishing, everything. 635 00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:47,880 Such kind of family stores are also coming up. 636 00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:53,120 So if we keep thinking, OK, we'll be like this, whoever comes for us will come. 637 00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:57,760 If that mindset we have, we are not going to improve at all. 638 00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:04,400 So every day we need to keep innovating to do what, how not to lose our trusted or loyal 639 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:05,400 customers. 640 00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:06,600 That is the major thing. 641 00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:11,400 Is there a little more acceptance of you as a businesswoman now in the town? 642 00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:13,320 Yeah, yeah, of course. 643 00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:19,680 People who I interact with, they do appreciate me and they have a whole lot of respect for 644 00:37:19,680 --> 00:37:26,280 me of how I'm actually able to manage this place without just like taking the easier 645 00:37:26,280 --> 00:37:27,280 way out. 646 00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:31,960 I would really say this is the easier way out for me because this is no territory rather 647 00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:37,200 than going and starting something new or going to a job where all of us are totally new. 648 00:37:37,200 --> 00:37:39,840 I have never been or worked under anybody. 649 00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:41,440 So this is easier. 650 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:42,440 That's what I would say. 651 00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:47,160 But they feel like, no, you're trying to make this sound very simple. 652 00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:50,320 So, but get a lot of compliments on that. 653 00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:52,200 Like I have done a good job. 654 00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:54,520 So that is nice. 655 00:37:54,520 --> 00:38:00,040 So the confidence in your decisions, Gayathri, you made it tentatively, but now you're more 656 00:38:00,040 --> 00:38:01,040 sure. 657 00:38:01,040 --> 00:38:02,040 Trial and error. 658 00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:03,040 No, no, no. 659 00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:04,040 Absolutely trial and error. 660 00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:05,040 But then experience also does matter. 661 00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:11,400 So most of the time, if you are going in for something really something which we have never 662 00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:13,720 tried, so that is going to be a trial and error. 663 00:38:13,720 --> 00:38:19,080 Like recently I had to change my total flooring and I had absolutely no idea where to start 664 00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:21,360 and how to end it, whom to get. 665 00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:27,080 I had, because since there are a lot of choices, I didn't know whom to choose to do this job. 666 00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:31,200 And we had time constraint also because we cannot just close the shop and say it is closed 667 00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:32,200 for work. 668 00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:33,200 I can't lose that. 669 00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:37,920 I just had two working days taking that kind of decisions, you know, which is totally new 670 00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:38,920 to me. 671 00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:43,840 I was not actively involved at that time where the flooring was last changed, probably some 672 00:38:43,840 --> 00:38:44,840 10, 15 years back. 673 00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:48,040 So I had no idea what actually goes into it. 674 00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:50,320 So all those things I had to really learn. 675 00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:52,440 I had to learn, ask people. 676 00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:57,200 It is very easy to say, no, see, she's done something for the flooring. 677 00:38:57,200 --> 00:38:58,200 This doesn't even look good. 678 00:38:58,200 --> 00:38:59,200 It doesn't go with the decor. 679 00:38:59,200 --> 00:39:03,880 In mine, the additions were mostly taken like that. 680 00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:04,880 But thankfully, you managed. 681 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:05,880 You got it done in two days. 682 00:39:05,880 --> 00:39:08,880 Got it done and yes, yes, we did it. 683 00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:10,480 Did you focus on color? 684 00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:13,460 Did you focus on the ease of placing it? 685 00:39:13,460 --> 00:39:16,640 Did you say this is what I want to change? 686 00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:23,040 So not made such kind of total 180 degree changes, nothing of that sort. 687 00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:26,320 But I'm planning to totally change our front elevation. 688 00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:30,520 All those things are going to be another big experience for me. 689 00:39:30,520 --> 00:39:31,720 Big decisions. 690 00:39:31,720 --> 00:39:33,120 Big decisions. 691 00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:34,560 I am more of a finance person. 692 00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:39,360 Till now I could, I personally feel that has been one of my strengths. 693 00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:43,400 Manage this whole thing easily because I knew how finance was coming in and how it was going 694 00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:47,160 out, what taxes I have to pay, what, who else I have to pay. 695 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:50,320 All those things was like easier for me. 696 00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:55,040 This is going to be like I have to start budgeting for that. 697 00:39:55,040 --> 00:40:01,920 How I'll be able to manage that big expense without getting a crunch of any sort or without 698 00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:06,360 like because I am very particular about my payments to my suppliers. 699 00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:12,320 We majorly have a goodwill only because of that with our suppliers all these years because 700 00:40:12,320 --> 00:40:18,420 we have been very prompt with our payments and so Bombay stores, if you just tell that, 701 00:40:18,420 --> 00:40:23,160 people have a different kind of respect for the name itself because we have been so good 702 00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:24,160 at it. 703 00:40:24,160 --> 00:40:29,520 So I want to maintain that because if your finance is strong, you can try to at least 704 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:37,200 overcome things because overheads keep, they are like, they keep increasing day by day. 705 00:40:37,200 --> 00:40:40,560 But our, the rest of the things remain the same. 706 00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:45,080 Salary is not getting increased in that pace as expenses. 707 00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:50,000 People salary, I mean, or their earnings are very pretty meager in this town. 708 00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:52,720 Not nothing compared to big towns. 709 00:40:52,720 --> 00:40:56,080 So they still, they run a family with a mere 10,000 rupees. 710 00:40:56,080 --> 00:40:59,600 They run a family of four or six people. 711 00:40:59,600 --> 00:41:03,560 I really don't understand how they are able to do it, but they are content. 712 00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:04,940 Everybody's content with that. 713 00:41:04,940 --> 00:41:11,160 This town doesn't have much of big avenues for expenditure. 714 00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:15,840 You don't have any place where you can just go and splurge or something. 715 00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:17,440 Absolutely nothing. 716 00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:22,160 Just recently for four months back, we got a good restaurant in this town where we could 717 00:41:22,160 --> 00:41:23,160 sit and eat. 718 00:41:23,160 --> 00:41:24,160 You finally got it. 719 00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:25,160 Yes, finally got it. 720 00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:30,920 Because till now, it has only been a very, very small mess kind of places where four 721 00:41:30,920 --> 00:41:37,080 people, maximum eight people sit and they eat or mostly it is parcel taken home. 722 00:41:37,080 --> 00:41:39,240 Only such kind of places used to be there. 723 00:41:39,240 --> 00:41:43,960 So now we have got a proper resident where we could sit and eat and people are like, 724 00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:48,120 now they are finding out, oh my God, one dosa costs 100 rupees. 725 00:41:48,120 --> 00:41:53,120 Now they're able to tell that because till now it has only been 40. 726 00:41:53,120 --> 00:41:54,120 It's very, very reasonable. 727 00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:55,120 Very reasonable. 728 00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:59,680 You still get one vada, one tea for 10, 15 bucks. 729 00:41:59,680 --> 00:42:02,320 How is it with the next generation now? 730 00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:04,960 Where this business will go from a… 731 00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:07,640 My son's coming and taking over that. 732 00:42:07,640 --> 00:42:08,640 How do you see this? 733 00:42:08,640 --> 00:42:09,640 No, no, no. 734 00:42:09,640 --> 00:42:14,560 I have no idea because my husband also was very, very clear about that. 735 00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:19,600 Since he too didn't want to come and get settled over here, he was like, he was literally 736 00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:20,600 forced. 737 00:42:20,600 --> 00:42:24,040 He used to say like, I was literally forced into this business because there was no other 738 00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:25,040 alternative. 739 00:42:25,040 --> 00:42:26,120 I had to take care of this business. 740 00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:28,680 So I won't do that to my boys. 741 00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:32,040 They have full freedom to choose whatever they want to do. 742 00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:35,080 If they come and they choose to do this business, I'll be very happy. 743 00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:40,760 But I will not subject them to any kind of emotional blackmailing like my parents did 744 00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:44,040 like, no, you only have to, you have no other goal. 745 00:42:44,040 --> 00:42:45,720 I am not going to do any such stuff. 746 00:42:45,720 --> 00:42:48,080 He used to say that and I feel the same. 747 00:42:48,080 --> 00:42:50,000 It's totally up to them. 748 00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:55,720 But I do try to actively tell them what is happening in the store, how I manage it, what 749 00:42:55,720 --> 00:43:00,760 all we do so that they get, they also get an idea, you know, what I'm going through 750 00:43:00,760 --> 00:43:08,440 so that they also like in the extreme eventuality or something goes wrong somewhere, they also 751 00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:13,400 should be equipped with some knowledge to take this forward. 752 00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:14,400 Yeah. 753 00:43:14,400 --> 00:43:19,600 Or even if they are really interested, that also creates a kind of interest. 754 00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:26,240 Shopping, going to new places, buying stuff, meeting new people, all those things, even 755 00:43:26,240 --> 00:43:30,840 they have to, if it is of interest to them, I'll be very happy. 756 00:43:30,840 --> 00:43:37,960 I think from everything that I'm seeing in the people who have commented, the kind of 757 00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:41,940 respect that you've earned, it's been an amazing story. 758 00:43:41,940 --> 00:43:48,960 I think the sheer practicality with which you've approached so many things and said 759 00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:54,600 that, yes, this is the circumstances that I am in at the moment and this is what I need 760 00:43:54,600 --> 00:43:55,880 to do. 761 00:43:55,880 --> 00:43:59,720 Keeping the interests of a hundred people in mind, a hundred people and their families 762 00:43:59,720 --> 00:44:09,260 in mind, your own family and how you felt managing an entire generational shift in gender. 763 00:44:09,260 --> 00:44:15,240 Because like you said, in 90 years of the company, this has been one phase where two 764 00:44:15,240 --> 00:44:19,280 women have literally been at the helm of affairs. 765 00:44:19,280 --> 00:44:23,240 And the fact that you've brought in a woman's touch, you've brought in things which are 766 00:44:23,240 --> 00:44:28,000 so important to your audience and everything else. 767 00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:30,080 It's a truly inspiring story, Gayathri. 768 00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:32,480 And I think thank you for taking the time. 769 00:44:32,480 --> 00:44:35,800 I was very skeptical, very, very skeptical of doing this. 770 00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:38,440 I had my own. 771 00:44:38,440 --> 00:44:40,440 Thank you to Deepa for ensuring that. 772 00:44:40,440 --> 00:44:42,920 Yes, all thanks to her. 773 00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:45,760 She was constantly telling me, no, you can do this. 774 00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:46,760 You have to do this. 775 00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:48,920 So I did it for her. 776 00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:51,560 So it totally is for her. 777 00:44:51,560 --> 00:45:00,080 And I think I learned so much about how the attitudes in a town and like you said, from 778 00:45:00,080 --> 00:45:08,420 the time that you weren't allowed to ride a two-wheeler through town to actually shepherding 779 00:45:08,420 --> 00:45:14,320 the entire store and all its people and bringing about fresh practices. 780 00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:15,800 More strength to you, Gayathri. 781 00:45:15,800 --> 00:45:17,040 Thank you for spending the time. 782 00:45:17,040 --> 00:45:19,600 And it's been a real pleasure having you on the show. 783 00:45:19,600 --> 00:45:22,800 Thank you so much for this opportunity. 784 00:45:22,800 --> 00:45:24,800 Good to see that you agree to do this. 785 00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:27,520 It's an opportunity for me to also step out of my comfort zone. 786 00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:28,520 And I'm so glad. 787 00:45:28,520 --> 00:45:29,520 Yeah, right. 788 00:45:29,520 --> 00:45:30,520 So this is one of a kind. 789 00:45:30,520 --> 00:45:31,520 I've never done this kind of thing before. 790 00:45:31,520 --> 00:45:32,520 I had my own fears. 791 00:45:32,520 --> 00:45:33,520 I am so nervous. 792 00:45:33,520 --> 00:45:43,920 I can assure you there was not a single moment when you seemed nervous. 793 00:45:43,920 --> 00:45:48,800 I am sweating a lot. 794 00:45:48,800 --> 00:45:49,800 Thank you, Gayathri. 795 00:45:49,800 --> 00:45:50,800 Thank you. 796 00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:51,800 Thank you, sir. 797 00:45:51,800 --> 00:45:58,120 My first job, the podcast is a production from Ideascape Communications. 798 00:45:58,120 --> 00:46:05,000 Text relations, promotions and creative is managed by Deepa Ravi with occasional support 799 00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:07,040 by Venugopal Nair. 800 00:46:07,040 --> 00:46:35,600 Archiving and technical help is provided by LPS Jayachandran.