TN executives turn vegetable vendors

Organic Veggies On Chennai Beach Bazaar

Kamini Mathai | TNN

Chennai: Rice from the boot of a Toyota Corolla. Mangoes from a Ford Endeavour. Vegetables from a Santro. They call it the car bazaar and you’re most likely to see them on Sunday mornings at Besant Nagar beach in Chennai. The veggies are sold by corporate execs and businessmen who have turned to organic farming with a passion. Some of them have taken to it as a stress-busting diversion from work or even as a hobby, others have woken up to the idea of using inherited land to supplement their income.

For Sankaran Raghunathan, a professor of management, the initiative began in November 2005 when his dissatisfaction with the quality of spinach in the market prompted him to take matters into his own hands. “I decided to grow my own spinach organically on my farmland. But I ended up growing much more than I needed and so I decided to bundle the extra spinach into my Ford and bring it to Elliots Beach on a Sunday,” says Sankaran.

Initially, family and friends were a bit sceptical about the idea, but the response he got from shoppers made up for it. “I landed on the beach in my Endeavour on a Sunday at 6am. Some morning walkers thought since I was selling it from the boot of an SUV, the vegetables would be expensive. I sold only half my produce that day. Next week, people in the nearby slums began buying from me; then everyone started lining up. The spinach sold out and I started driving to Besant Nagar every Sunday from then,” says Sankaran, 51.

Another incongrous figure on the beach selling veggies from a swanky car is Shyam Sekhar. He has an infrastructure business, and owes his part-time stint as an agriculturist to his father who was passionate about farming. The family had land near Kancheepuram and Shyam decided it would be a good idea to grow something on it. For the last two years, he has been driving to Besant Nagar beach every Sunday morning and selling rice, gingelly oil, turmeric and pulses—all organic—from the boot and roof of his Corolla. This motley bunch has taken inspiration from one another: selling stuff on the street, dealing with long lines of customers, these are issues on which it helps to share notes. “Now that the demand has increased, we have started bringing a truck full of vegetables with us,” says IT professional Venkata Subramaniam, who started out in a Santro some years ago. He and his wife Srivalli run an online company, but the idea of selling fresh farm products has found so many takers that they have expanded the scope of their business and are now selling even at stores during the week.

Their clientele is regular and vouches for the quality of produce. Homemaker Sujatha Ravi says her husband saw Sankaran selling spinach one morning during his walk and brought a bunch home. “It was the best spinach I had ever made,” says Sujatha.

Sankaran averages Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,800 with his 150 bundles of spinach and 40 kg of vegetables. And now, with the mangoes, he makes an additional Rs 60 per kilo. Shyam makes Rs 3,000 each Sunday. “I’ve got many regulars now that I have started door deliveries,” says Shyam, although the infrastructure firm still remains his mainstay.

The fascination for agri activity may have something to do with the pressures of urban life. PB Murali who organises a weekend market at his house on Luz Church Road, pursued a career in marketing and stock-broking before he took to farming on the outskirts of Chennai.

CAR MARKET: Like Srivalli and Venkata Subramaniam (top) and Shyam Shekar (above), executives and businessmen have taken to organic farming in their farmlands. On Sundays, they park their Fords or Corollas at Chennai beaches and sell the farm produce from the roof or boot of their cars. While it’s a stress-busting diversion from work for some, for others it’s a means to supplement income