Malarvizhi

The first time I read that name and pronounced it the way a north Indian would....she laughed at it....and I learnt that it’s pronounced as “Malarvili”....meaning whose eyes are like a flower...

Alagiri and Malar used to live in a remote place in the middle of nowhere in Bhadrachalam in Andhra when we first got to know them. Alagiri was working in ITC and they used to live in the township. We started our Emerald qualification and Ramesh sponsored Alagiri in the business - they were old buddies from engineering days. Like everybody Alagiri’s life was the factory and work. But with the business, there was new hope in Malar’s life. When we were desperately fighting for PV, Malar stepped up and Taru travelled to Bhadrachalam - first time all by herself and that too to a totally unknown place - but what she saw on reaching there was impressive. Malar had put up a whiteboard in the drawing room with the names of all the potential customers in that small township and what they could be sold...so much for somebody who just got started. 

We have such fond memories of our trips to Bhadrachalam and towns around.... On one trip they prepared Mirchi Bhajji. Everybody was eating it like we eat Pakodas; we did too. But as soon as the first one went inside, smoke and water started belching out from all openings of the body....we were a sight to watch and understood for the first time what Guntur Chilli meant...

Malar was a dreamer. She is the one who wanted to build the business and pulled Alagiri along. The thing we remember most is her smile...the perpetual smile on her face...and to most questions her answer would just be a chuckle... Though she was so quiet from outside, she was a warrior on the inside. Every month end she would go all the way to Hyderabad, order and collect the products and carry them all the way back to Bhadrachalam...all alone... 

When we went to do a team meeting last month to Hyderabad, she was running high fever and still came to the meeting, just to see us. It’s so difficult to believe that we will not be able to talk to her again and see her again...thank you Malar for the fragrance you spread in our lives...