Dairy proves a greener pasture than accounting for this bank staffer

 It was an unusual scene to see a man loading a huge stock of hay into the back of a black swift car, on the fringes of Tambaram.  Dressed in jeans and a branded shirt, the man loads the bundles, all the time speaking warmly to the seller. Now a kind of curiosity takes over, wanting to know more about him. This leads one to his house in CTO colony, Lakshmipuram in West Tambaram.

It was lunch time, and the smell of cow dung welcomes you at the porch of his (G Rajesh) house. Smilingly, Rajesh takes you in, while attending to his duties at the cattle shed. Milky white calves brush their head against his shoulders as he calls out to a family of hen and her chicks. It was almost like a fantasy land, while listening to Rajesh talk passionately about his journey from a white collared job to dairy and beyond.  

After spending 12 years in Kotak Mahindra Bank as a senior manager (9 – 5 job)with a CTC of over 12 lakh per annum, this MBA graduate (Logistics & Marketing) has given up his career last February (a full time job). Rajesh speaks: “I have had 4 promotions in a span of 7 years. I was incharge of sales of Chennai and Puducherry regions. I did travel too. All this gave me varied exposure to technology, various possibilities of making money and gadgets of all kinds. With my shirt tucked in, bright shoes on and sweating profusely, I used to travel in all kinds of vehicles every day to the city, Puducherry and other places. These ventures made me ask questions such as What have I given back to the society? What difference did it make to my wife and parents when I earned Rs. 8000 in my career and Rs. 85, 000 after a decade? Yes, gadgets, lifestyle and technology changed but it did not change my mindset. Then began my quest to get into touch with my roots,”.

He began a chain of stores called ‘Thamizhan Veetu Kuzhambu’. “These days, when both man and wife work, nobody has the time to prepare sambhars and soups. I set shop for home-made currys and side dishes which do not have ajinomotto, colouring agents and palm oil,” he says. The speciality of the shops is that they are situated in a small area beneath a staircase. He runs six of them in and around Tambaram. The dishes are prepared and packed at his house. Boys deliver the orders placed over phone. 

But this kept him occupied only from 3 30 pm to 9 pm. To keep him occupied in the morning, he decided to take a plunge in milk business. He knew little about upkeep of cows, their behaviour, health, moods, how they deliver etc. Still, he decided to rear cows in a hygienic manner and sell the milk. The cattle keep him occupied right from 4 am till 5 pm. His cows belong to a breed called Kankrej, very popular in Gujarat. Singaree… Thangam… aloud he calls out at their grazing ground. Recognising his voice, they break into a run to greet him. “It was an amazing experience to see one of them deliver,” says Rajesh, as Billa (male calf) and Malar (female calf) just trail behind him. “Though the milk I sell is Rs. 20 more than the market per litre, it is preferred by my customers. There is so much demand that I plan to buy another pair of cattle, he says.

Lapsing into fluent English, Rajesh talks of how little people care about their environment. Forming a 30-member group called ‘Tambaram Makkal Kuzhu’ Rajesh, is trying to breathe life into the 25-acre Pudhuthangal Lake in Lakshmipuram. “This was the lifeline of a few villages in and around it. But today the lake has shrunk in size and the waters are slushy and mixed with sewage. Our group has desilted the waterbody, planted palm trees around it and are trying to create awareness about the role of water in our lives, amongst the people here. 

He also organises camps involving college and school students to remove plastic waste around water bodies. He aims to make people understand the concept of virtual water. “It is the amount of water needed to make each of every product (from eggs to bottle water to handbags et al) amongst every age-group. Do not throw away things you can use just because they have become old. To manufacture each piece we waste an important and slowly becoming scarce commodity called water,” he says with a pain in his eyes.

It was very difficult to get my family on board about my decision to exit the corporate world, and immerse myself into conceptualising and giving shape to many projects involving the society by leveraging my expertise around project improvement and business acumen I had accumulated over the years of professional life.

I am hopeful that the switch from the confines of air-conditioned work spaces to several projects  exposed to the elements of nature, 24 X 7 will ultimately turn out to be a revealing and invigorating experience.