#breakthatglass

By: Ruchi

There is no doubt in the fact that women are very good managers in all the ways. The patriarchy challenges her to be in the confined boundaries that makes her abilities and intellect to be placed in decorating the homes and don’t let her to go beyond. This concept is very adaptable and accustomed to the Indian household or more largely it is in the South East Asian countries. But we need to consider once again – Sure we have to!!!

A successful story of a Chennai based Patricia Narayan stood against all the odds. With having a troubled marriage and a multiple addict husband, with two kids she sold eateries on the Marina Beach on the mobile cart to earn the bread and butter. Her story will sound like the quintessential from the rags to the riches but she made the dent on her part. She heads the multiple chains of Restaurants known well as “Sandeepha chain of Restaurants”.

She was the entrepreneur by the accident, now confidently and assertively stood the “FICCI Entrepreneur Award”, and is one of those strong ladies who belong to the ilk of those that bloom in adversity. Describing about her, she hails from an orthodox Christian family in Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu. She married to the man who belongs to the Brahmin Community and that caused uproar in the family.   This marriage was a fail and better said that it was not a good start in the marriage when she found her husband to be the drug addict. At very young at 18, she was left all alone to feed her two small children.

Gathering her Reminisces she recollects -“I reached the crossroads where I had to choose between living and dying. I chose to live.” Keeping her two children in mind .Her passion for cooking was the only option that is left to survive her along with the two others. She started by selling pickles, jams and squashes on the small pavilion on the Marina Beach. She sold the coffee at 50 paisa per cup and there was no looking back, she has no time to sympathies herself.

Amidst of all the hindrances and the problems that she has to face, her long dream of being the entrepreneur and the restaurateur was not the overnight miracle. Because of the good cooking abilities, the soul thing that she possess, she got the catering contracts in the various cafeteria in the Slum Clearance Board, Bank of Madura and the National Institute of port management, which in joint collaboration opened the chain of restaurants.

But indeed this was not the just she was getting it better, her success halted when she lost her newly married daughter Sandeepha in the accident. The tragedy left her pained and paralyzed due to her daughter’s death. She didn’t resume to her business for two years and all was managed by his son Praveen. The resilient and the benevolent after two years stood and opened her first restaurant named after her late daughter Sandeepha.