The foundation of struggle

The foundation of struggle

Arun had come to the city from the dusty streets of the village, his dreams were bigger than his bag. This boy, who used to run his father's small grocery store, now wanted to start an organic spices company named "Prakritik Swaad". The first six months were golden—a hit in the local market, praise from customers. But as soon as he dared to open a shop in a shopping mall, the sky fell on his head. Big companies, already established in the market, started selling goods at half the price of Arun's products. Their advertisements started airing in newspapers and TV channels. Arun was unable to survive the competition.


Hey friend, why are these 'Swad Mahal' people targeting us? Arun asked his friend and colleague Raju. Raju opened an e-commerce website on his mobile—big companies were copying Arun's products and selling them at half the price. Arun's business ended. There were no customers for his goods now. That very evening, a huge hoarding of "Swad Mahal" came up in front of Arun's only shop. The customers kept looking on as if cheated. Arun could do nothing but helplessly keep looking at the Swaad Mahal shop in front of his shop where the crowd of customers kept on pouring in.

"Son, why don't you leave all this and come back to the village?" The call from his mother rubbed salt on Arun's wounds. He spent that night staring at the empty walls of his office. Then his eyes fell on an old photo- Arun sitting with his father at the store in his childhood. His eyes welled up with tears, the peaceful life of the village, the villagers used to shop at the small shop. No other businessman used to compete with each other in this way. There was a lot of confusion in his mind but he did not have the option of losing.


One Sunday morning, 70-year-old Mrs. Gupta came to his shop, son, your turmeric has reduced my arthritis pain by half! She handed Arun a diary- in which the traditional masala recipes of the village women were written. After reading the diary, Arun suddenly got an idea and the next week, Arun launched the "Rural Garden" project—women from villages would now make special spices for him that would be of good quality and purity and he could also keep their price low. Because now he would have to spend less on labor.

Raju made viral videos on social media—stories of farmers, journey to the roots of spices. In one video, Arun showed "Swad Mahal" spices and his product mixed in water—his masala was leaving a layer of chemicals, while Arun's was a pure solution. The video got 2 lakh views.

Arun's market had started shining again. When the sales of big companies started decreasing,

big companies started cheating—they copied Arun's packets and put fake products in the market. One day the police surrounded his warehouse—a complaint has been received that your products contain pesticides! Everything came out fine in the investigation, but the news had become the headline of newspapers. Arun's hands were shaking when he held a press conference—I swear in front of my customers...my spices are completely pure and are prepared by rural women. All these are tricks of big companies. I am ready for any kind of investigation, if I am found wrong anywhere, then whatever punishment the public wants to give me, I am ready. Nothing wrong has been found anywhere in the investigation of the spices.


The next day something amazing happened—more than 50 customers posted their photos on social media with the tag #Main_Arun_Ke_Saath_Hoon. A young woman wrote—"His spices have brought back my child's appetite." Gradually this campaign became a storm. Local restaurants included his products in the menu.

"Swad Mahal" made an offer to buy Arun—5 crore rupees. That night Arun gathered the villagers. There was a question in everyone's eyes. This business is no longer just mine. Arun said, this is a monument of all of your hard work. The next day he turned down the offer. Today "Natural Swaad" employs 300 women from 50 villages. Big companies now ask them for partnership. The words hanging on the wall of Arun's office tell the story of his struggle - "We sell real fragrance, not fake glitter." This story is not just a business struggle, but a symbol of the victory of community solidarity and morality. Arun's journey shows that even a small effort done with honesty can challenge the demons of the market.