A homemaker-turned-entrepreneur in Ponda, Kshama Tirvir, sells earthen pottery and runs a matchmaking platform, 'Lagnagaathi,' to support potters and help families find suitable partners for their children
A homemaker-turned-entrepreneur she sells earthen pottery from the comforts of her home in Ponda and earns a fairly decent income. Wanting to help the potters scattered all over Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra, Kshama Tirvir stocks various types of clay ware at her home and customers get a wide variety to choose their products from. “Living in remote villages these potters are extremely creative and each one has a unique style of moulding mud into beautiful earthenware. I wanted to cash in on their skills, and provide them a bigger customer base, so I started my first venture,” states Kshama, 42.
“I thought of starting something to utilise the space I have in my house. Storing is not an issue for me, so I order my stock in bulk from around a dozen potters from three States. I sell in bulk as well as retail. For bulk orders I agree to deliver the products to the customer’s doorstep, but my retail customers visit the place to choose their designer pots or artistic vases. Social media helps me to get customers as I post the pictures online. My pottery business is getting good response,” admits Kshama who has earthenware of all sizes and shapes.
Why did she choose to sell earthenware? Kshama reasons, “Goa is full of nature and people love to plant and grow. Plants, if grown creatively, artistically make the space look beautiful. My motive was to enhance the beauty of people’s homes and balconies, with creative earthenware, and also to help the potters with a platform. As everybody does not reach these potters and buy goods from them, my platform would serve as a place where customers can see, choose and buy or order something specific that they were looking for.”
As the footfall grew and Kshama came in contact with many in Goa, her interactions with them led her to think of yet another community service – of matchmaking. Taking a step forward she recently engaged herself in this new responsibility that she thought Goa was lacking until now – and created a match-making platform aiming at helping parents to find a suitable bride or groom for their young sons and daughters. This innovative venture ‘Lagnagathi’ is a matchmaking platform for single persons who wish to be double, find a better-half and get married to a suitable life-partner.
Married in Goa and living here for the past 20 years, Kshama Tirvir wanted to start something of her own from her home and she zeroed on two things, one after the other. While the first venture is three-year-old and quite successful, the second has been initiated just six months ago. “I liked being close to nature, to soil, and that is why I started ‘Earthen Pottery’ three years ago,” shares Kshama.
Kshamas’ second venture ‘Lagnagaathi’ is not a profit making one. It is born out of her concern for the society, and community – to make things easy for prospective brides and grooms to find their suitable partners. “The registrations are free and any Hindu girl or boy who wishes to enter into marriage can be a member without paying any fee. I exchange the details with both the parties and if the matchmaking materialises, the marriages happen. Presently, I am working on collecting data from families and I have a list of around 100 boys and girls who are searching for a suitable partner. Around 75 of them are boys and 25 girls,” she quips.
Elaborating on the reason why she started ‘Lagnagaathi’, Kshama briefs, “When I was in search of suitable brides and grooms in my family, I was not able to find any such ‘mandal’ or platform in Goa where match-making could occur. This led me to think, why not start one myself? And I began working on it. My members are from Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra. I am in touch with all and offer voluntary services like calling them, making arrangements for the families to meet etc.”
One noticeable thing Kshama found in matchmaking is, today, the age of marriage is going up. Boys do not wish to get married until they settle, start earning which takes a few years after they complete their education. They turn 30. The girls too are career oriented and willing to compromise over marriage age, and do not want to leave their jobs, to settle in some other State. All this has given rise to the need of ‘Vadhu Var Suchak Mandals’ and that’s the reason Kshama shouldered the responsibility of match making in Goa. She handles two things at the same time, one is looking after sales at her pottery outlet and the other, her social commitment of introducing families who are in search of brides and grooms for their sons and daughters.
