: Woman Carries On Familys 160-YO Legacy Of Making Perfumes, From India to France #IndiaNEWS #Small Businesses of India In the 1850s, Shri Chunnamal Vijayvergiya, a perfume enthusiast, moved from Rajasthan

Woman Carries On Familys 160-YO Legacy Of Making Perfumes, From India to France #IndiaNEWS #Small Businesses of India
In the 1850s, Shri Chunnamal Vijayvergiya, a perfume enthusiast, moved from Rajasthan to Lucknow in search of better opportunities. At the time, the land of the royals was the place to be for perfumery. With a penchant for creating exquisite and aromatic scents, it didn’t take long for Shri Chunnamal to entice the Nawabs and Rasookdars (ministers) of Awadh with his collection of natural attars.
Shri Chunnamal’s perfumes soon became a hit among the royals. With his son, Ramdayal Vijayvergiya, he began sourcing essential oils, spices, and other such ingredients from across India to produce bottled fragrances. Around the 1930s, Shri Chunnamal’s grandson, Gaurishankar, began exporting these oils and fragrances to foreign markets, and from here, the business grew. By the 1950s, this century-old perfume business was finally incorporated as CMRD (Chunnamal Ramdayal) Agencies by Vasudev Vijayvergiya, the 4th generation owner of the family business.
Vidushi carries on the 160-year-old legacy of her ancestor, who used to make perfumes for the royals of Awadh (Source: Vidushi Vijayvergiya)
Today, in the 21st century, 39-year-old Vidushi Vijayvergiya, granddaughter of Vasudev, is manning the operations of her family’s 160-year-old legacy — the first woman in her lineage to do so. In 2017, she re-launched her family’s brand under the name Isak Fragrances, which sells a variety of handcrafted, vegan, and artisanal perfumes.
Popularising an ancient art
Vidushi was born and raised around perfumery and spent much of her time in her father’s brick and mortar store in Lucknow. She says she was always a bit of an introvert, so after school, she’d head straight to the store, where her father would encourage her to interact with the customers coming in, or with the people around the shop.
After completing a course in luxury and lifestyle business management from IIM-A, Vidushi did a course on aromatherapy from Switzerland. However, she says joining her family’s business was never her original plan. Instead, she began her own venture to promote chikankari.
“I always kept myself up to date with the happenings in the perfume industry, solely out of interest. But as things progressed, I realised that my family needed my help in running the business,??? Vidyshi tells The Better India.
Vidushi is the first woman in the six generations carrying on this legacy (Source: Vidushi Vijayvergiya)
While Shri Chunnamal’s perfumes had been a hit with the royals at the time, the popularity of Indian perfumes deteriorated as French and other foreign perfumes entered the market. Aware of the perception that these imported brands are superior to Indian ones, Vidushi says she wanted to popularise homegrown fragrances.

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