7 minute read
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
Avira “ Caro, a BSc Graduate with interest in art, creativity and culinary tastes since she was a little girl, unbeknownst to her, would make these interests her profession. Today
Avira runs a successful cake-making business and is known to be a creative and daring entrepreneur, who would not say no and is ready to accept any challenge thrown her way. Here is the story of Avira's journey, struggle and success. ”
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By Rajesh Ghadge
A HOMEMADE PASSION THAT HAS GROWN INTO A BUDDING PROFESSION
“Although I had taken up science, that did not limit my creativity,” said Avira adding that she would take any opportunity that comes in her way where she could put some creativity into work. “Things such as drawing diagrams, those little things gave me immense pleasure. As I said earlier, I had a passion for creativity and culinary activity. I loved to bake hence I c o n t i n u e d m y p a s s i o n alongside my studies.” Things changed as soon after finishing her graduation and she got married. “I was married at a very young age, s o o n a f t e r f i n i s h i n g m y graduation but that did not stop me from pursuing my passion. My baking journey continued as I used to make cakes for my extended family every now and then and everyone enjoyed eating them,” she said, further telling us that she was blessed with a son and her journey stopped in the middle for some time. “After my son became 4 years old I once again decided to pursue my passion for baking and that was the time I decided to create value from it.” “When I was around 14 years old, I watched my mother, who used to make cakes from Jackfruit and other soft fruits, and this way I started learning and baking myself. ”. Later on, we started making cakes with buttercream, ice cream and sugar frosting. I never went to learn from any school or course: with trial and error, I learned how to bake myself. ” As with many women, Avira had to care for her family's needs after she married. “I entered into a new family with new people around me but everyone loved me a lot and a l w a y s s u p p o r t e d m y endeavours. I also enjoyed cooking for everyone but I did not give up on my passion for baking. I started learning new creations via YouTube and Google. Things started coming my way when I used to bake the cake and give it to some of my close relatives or to my extended family and they used to appreciate and ask me why I don't take orders a n d m a k e t h i s a s y o u r business, but I always ignored them as I had no plans to make this an occupation. Now, when I look back, I realised that it is a real roller coaster ride and here sometimes you have to make a choice between you and your family.”
The First Order
“It was my sister-in-law who got me my e first cake order. , She is a doctor at GMC and she told me that her colleague wants a cake, but when I made the cake, she told me that I will have to charge for it, which was a surprise to me and to which I said no initially but gradually she convinced me and that's why I consider this as my first order.” “In fact, it was a challenge for me since it was a two-tier cake which I made for the first time. It was also the first time I used a conventional oven to bake the cake, as earlier I used to bake in a cooker. When I finally made the cake and delivered it, it was a big hit and from there on I never looked back. The orders started pouring in and I got busy in my new role, ” she added.
The Struggle
According to Avira to date, she has served more than 2000 satisfied customers. “I have made more than 2000 c a k e s a n d a r o u n d 5 0 0 0 c u p c a k e s t o d a t e a n d supplied them to various parts of Goa. This hasn't been easy. From the morning, I had the responsibility of cooking food at home and I used to do my baking after finishing my household responsibilities and staying awake till late night. It used to take a lot of time for the custom-made cakes and p e o p l e d e m a n d u t m o s t perfection once they pay for it. My schedule was very hectic: I used to go to bed around 4 am and wake up at 6am to get the tiffin ready for my son, and drop him to school and I used to finish the pending orders after reaching back home then delivering t h e m t o t h e r e s p e c t i v e
destinations.” Many a time Avira had had the challenge of finishing the cakes and then having to d e l i v e r t h e m w i t h i n a stipulated time and that was the most difficult task of all. “Earlier, people used to come and collect the cakes from home but now things have changed, now they want home delivery, luckily I know driving and manage to deliver them in time,” she said.
Supportive Husband
Avira has a very supportive husband who always inspired her pursue her passion. “He also helped me in the initial investment for ovens and another setup for professional baking, ” says Avira adding that now her husband has m a d e a r r a n g e m e n t s o f production space with a commercial refrigeration system for big orders. “For fresh cream cakes, the air c o n d i t i o n i n g i s a m o s t essential part and now I have my own fully air-conditioned production unit and I feel that I have my own space for work that give me more confidence and energy and this is all due to the support of my husband.” Making money has never been Avira's motivation. The love of baking is her pride. “Now my passion has turned into my profession but despite that, I
don 't do this for money: customer satisfaction gives m e a l l m y r e w a r d s . ' H o m e m a d e p a s s i o n h a s t u r n e d i n t o a b u d d i n g profession' is the tagline given by my husband when I went to become a professional cake baker,” she added. A v i r a h a s d o n e l o t s o f experiments and innovations in cake making and according to her she is the first to make cakes in the following designs: maggi noodles, , pathani saree, cooking gas cylinder, and a remote-controlled moving car. “I get these types of challenging orders every time since now people know that I am innovative in nature and ready to accept any kind of challenge so they always come to me with some strange demands in cake making, but the compliments coming from customers relieves all my tension and I feel like a real winner,” says Avira. “ C r e a t i n g p e o p l e ' s imagination in cake-form is the most difficult task but I have always come out as the winner in these challenges. My future plans are to provide q u a l i t y p r o d u c t s t o m y customers and create new designs that I have not done before. In fact, to tell you the truth I have never planned anything in the past and whatever came to is always a surprise now also that I have already achieved a landmark I want to go with the flow and continue to to plans. Before I end this conversation, I would like to tell anyone who wants to enter into this business, do it only if you have a passion for it.”
