Within the sterile confines of an ICU, the place time appears to lose that means amidst the rhythmic beeps of machines, a mom discovered herself separated from her new child son for 21 agonising days.
Incubators and tubes surrounded the delicate physique. It was a battle for the infant, born amid issues, along with his life flickering beneath the vigilant watch of medical employees, whereas his mom, P Lakshmi Priya, may solely watch from a painful distance, her coronary heart torn between despair and an indomitable will to see her youngster wholesome.
“I may solely see him for 2 minutes by a glass window. It was very painful,” remembers the 45-year-old.
Born prematurely, Lakshmi Priya’s son confronted immense well being challenges early on. Inside hours, he misplaced important weight, his immunity weakened, and his physique struggled to retain blood. Docs had been initially grim about his survival probabilities.
“Sooner or later, the physician allowed me to carry him shut. The warmth from my physique helped him not directly. He began gaining his pulse price. I felt like a miracle simply occurred,” smiles Lakshmi Priya, who was later allowed to take her son house.
Her son, grappling with weakened immunity and extreme dietary deficiencies, required greater than like to resuscitate his failing physique. Conventional cures intertwined with medical recommendation, collectively pointed in direction of a basic fact: vitamin could be his salvation.
Her resolve led her to experiment with dietary options, particularly spinach, which her son resisted. Her pursuit would result in a leafy lifeline that may rewrite the narrative of well being and wellness not only for her son, however for numerous others.
In 2009, Lakshmi Priya started experimenting with spinach rice mixes to enhance the well being of her son.
Together with her startup ‘Thinasari Keerai’, she has crafted 15 recipes utilizing a minimum of 40 kinds of keerai (spinach), together with manathakkali, kasini, mudakathan, and agathi karisalanganni.
From kitchen to worldwide orders
Keerai, a seemingly bizarre a part of South Indian delicacies, grew to become Lakshmi Priya’s weapon towards destiny. Impressed by conventional knowledge and pushed by necessity, she meticulously crafted spinach-infused recipes and concoctions to silently surmount the barricades introduced by her son’s fragile well being.
She dried and powdered spinach to include it into his on a regular basis meals like dosas, soups, and rice mixes — ingenious creations that defied the style barrier younger youngsters typically have towards greens.
Her son thrived, not a prisoner to hospital visits, and shortly celebrated as a regional sports activities champion. As he grew, so did Lakshmi’s resolve to share her spinach miracle with the world.
Through the parent-teacher conferences of her youngsters, Lakshmi Priya got here throughout an analogous ordeal of different dad and mom. Moreover, dad and mom are likely to keep away from spinach because it requires plenty of effort to organize. “Firstly, we’ve got to scrub every leaf by hand and make sure that no bugs are sticking to it. Secondly, it must be totally washed to take away the impact of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. It will probably trigger indigestion if it’s not boiled accurately,” she explains.
Lakshmi Priya works round conventional recipes to make spinach extra appetising for kids. She sources organically grown spinach from a minimum of 15 farmers in her area. “I present natural manures and native seeds to farmers myself in order that the mixes I put together from spinach will not be dangerous to youngsters. I needed to make sure my merchandise maintained the dietary integrity pivotal to their therapeutic legacy,” she highlights.
After procuring freshly harvested produce, she dries and powders the leaves. Then, she provides them to substances corresponding to pulses to create powdered podis to be blended with steamed rice.
The spinach, as soon as a humble inexperienced, now encapsulates options to a contemporary dietary paradox: nutritious comfort.
Padmaja Guthikonda, who works as a nutritionist and administrative skilled at a backbone centre within the Palnadu district, Andhra Pradesh, reiterates the advantages of consuming spinach-rich diets. “Spinach is an efficient supply of carotenoids, nutritional vitamins C and Ok, folic acid, and calcium,” she explains. “It improves eye well being, intestine well being, and immunity. It may be included every day in youngsters’s diets or a minimum of 4-5 occasions per week.”
She additionally highlights the flexibility of spinach: “It may be utilized in a number of methods — as a vegetable, within the type of a dosa combine, and even in snacks, since children prefer to have snacks.”
In the meantime, the journey for Lakshmi was not with out its tribulations. The care and delicate dealing with required to protect spinach’s vitamins meant Lakshmi needed to innovate perpetually. From perfecting photo voltaic drying methods to adopting ISO-certified practices, her model promised entry to vitamin with out compromising high quality.
Lakshmi’s ardour grew to become contagious. By means of workshops and partnerships with native colleges and faculties, she educated communities in regards to the hidden treasures of conventional greens, rekindling a cultural appreciation for these nutritious wonders misplaced within the rush of contemporary residing.
With their annual gross sales amounting to Rs 9 lakh, her private endeavour in her kitchen steadily blossomed right into a thriving enterprise. Whereas reworking the way in which individuals perceived spinach, she catered to as much as 5,000 prospects within the final two years.
Preethi, who resides in Bengaluru, has been a daily buyer of Thinasari Keerai for over a 12 months. Reflecting on her expertise, she mentions, “Buying from them is an actual time-saver for me. Some kinds of spinach normally take longer to prepare dinner, however these varieties are extremely handy. My youngster loves the varied spinach choices and even requests them for lunch.”
“I’ve additionally tried a number of of their rice combine powders, such because the vallarai rice combine and manathakali rice powder, which helped alleviate my acidity and abdomen ulcer from not consuming meals on time. Moreover, the Thuthuvalai soup has been useful for colds and throat aches. They provide an exquisite choice of spinach varieties,” she provides.
The startup now extends its attain past India, impacting lives globally in locations as far-flung as California and Singapore.
What started with a mom’s determined love has change into a beacon of well being entrepreneurship. “I used to be a homemaker initially, and now, I take delight in figuring out as an entrepreneur. Being a mom, I understand how vital it’s for us to feed wholesome meals gadgets to our kids,” she shares.
“My son is 25 years outdated now and is doing nicely each personally and professionally. He typically participates in state-level sports activities competitions. Like in my house, I want to restore very important greens to the dinner tables of others and assist these grappling with related struggles,” she provides.
Edited by Arunava Banerjee; All pictures courtesy P Lakshmi Priya
