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Mother-Daughter Duo Opens Business Together At 90 And 72

These inspiring homemakers turned entrepreneurs are not only financially independent now but are also generating livelihood opportunities for the locals during their homestay.

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Avishka Tandon
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Mother-Daughter Duo Opens Business
When you have talent and skills, there is nothing that can stop you from achieving your dreams. This is what drives these two grandmothers from Chennai who defied the stereotypes of society and limitations of age to become entrepreneurs in the later stages of their lives.
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When it comes to pursuing your dreams and passion, age is and should be just a number and not a limiting factor to your flight. Neither hard work nor skills should be wasted in order to confine to the rules and norms of society. This fact was proved by these two ladies from Chennai who became entrepreneurs after becoming grandmothers and decided to not sit and cook for their family in old age like the world tells women to. Here's more about their story.


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Mother-Daughter Duo Opens Business

90-year-old Lakshmi from Chennai established a farm stay named Vaksana in Tindivanam's Rettanai Village in Chennai at the age of 89 along with her daughter Kasthuri Sivaraman who was around 71 at that time. However, starting her own business was not an easy task. Lakshmi always wanted to have a business of her own but couldn't do so as she grew up in a conservative family. When she got a chance to do so, she started out by making podi and masalas like most Indian women start their at-home businesses. However, the door-to-door selling took a toll on her body and she realised she cannot continue it in the long run because of her growing age.

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But Lakshmi did not let go of her dreams and decided to start a not-so-mobile business and that's when she got the idea of a farm stay. She was joined by her daughter Kashturi and the two established the hospitality centre. Since they were new to this, they were helped by Kashturi Sivaraman's children and grandchildren who taught them about marketing and social media. The age old recipes are a speciality of the farm stay which their guests love.

Since the mother-daughter duo was 90 and 72 respectively, at times it became physically hard to cook three times a day and operate the kitchen. However, Kashturi took most work responsibility from her mother and engaged in more manual work while she supervised. Talking about working with her daughter, Lakshmi said, "I am glad to have her by my side. I had three children, and two of them passed away. Kasthuri is the only one. So now that I get to spend time with her, it makes me very happy."

These inspiring homemakers turned entrepreneurs are not only financially independent now but are also generating livelihood opportunities for the locals during their homestay. Their guests find the hard work and determination of these ladies inspiring and have a homely experience as they discuss the life of their own grandparents with them.

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