: How a Single Mom 7 Daughters Made Jodhpur Mans Spice Legacy World Famous #IndiaNEWS #Rajasthan If you go to Jodhpur, Rajasthan and happen to visit MV Spices as part of your tour, you will find the

How a Single Mom 7 Daughters Made Jodhpur Mans Spice Legacy World Famous #IndiaNEWS #Rajasthan
If you go to Jodhpur, Rajasthan and happen to visit MV Spices as part of your tour, you will find the store, located in the Clock Tower area, brimming with curious foreigners and tourists. Step inside and you will find a few young girls selling a variety of spices, which especially cater to the tastes of visitors from outside India.
But it’s not the spices alone that make the store stand out. There’s a special story behind what makes MV Spices truly unique.
As Bhagwanti, wife of late Mohanlal Verhomal, co-founder of the business, tells The Better India, “My daughters and I are the only women in the spice business in Jodhpur. ???
Bhagwanti and Mohanlal started the spice business in the late 1970s, with Mohanlal’s ambition being to sell products to foreigners and tourists.
“I married Mohanlal at the age of 22. He owned a grocery shop back then, but it suffered heavy losses as many relatives and acquaintances sourced groceries from the shop on credit and never paid for it,??? she recalls.
Entrance of MV Spices with products.
Soon after marriage, Bhagwanti gave birth to three daughters in a row. The couple soon began to feel a financial burden as their family grew. “I convinced my husband that such losses cannot continue as we had daughters to raise, and that our living expenses would only increase over the years,??? she says.
After months of convincing, Mohanlal agreed to shut shop and look for an alternative business.
Labour of love

“I suggested we make traditional spices at home and sell them to tourists in Jodhpur. Around the time my fourth daughter was born, I began making 50 gram packets of spices at home and handed them to my husband to sell in the market,??? Bhagwanti says.
Th 63-year-old adds that the business started with no significant capital in hand. “Mohanlal started selling the spices at the entrance of the famous Mehrangarh Fort. He would spread a bed sheet along the street and display the spices on it,??? she says.
Bhagwanti says, “One day, a guard at the fort asked Mohanlal to meet Maharaja Gaj Singh. The king decided to dedicate a space within the fort where Mohanlal could set up shop in return for a monthly rent. ???
Thanks to this, the shop saw increased visibility and business picked up. In 1980, the couple had enough finances to buy a shop near the Clock Tower at the vegetable market and named it MV Spices.
“Tourists and foreigners appreciated the spices for their quality and taste. Our products were handmade and had no adulteration, and the raw materials were of high quality. The practice of selecting quality spices continues to date,??? she says.