: ‘Visited Auroville, Never Left’: How A Trip Turned into Booming Biz of Natural Soaps #IndiaNEWS #Small Businesses of India As the sun rises over Auroville, in Tamil Nadu, Harish Chandra, a native

‘Visited Auroville, Never Left’: How A Trip Turned into Booming Biz of Natural Soaps #IndiaNEWS #Small Businesses of India
As the sun rises over Auroville, in Tamil Nadu, Harish Chandra, a native of Uttarakhand gets started with his day.

The routine has been consistent for the past 30 years for Harish who came to the town when he was just 18, to study textiles and handloom as part of an exchange program by the Sir Aurobindo Ashram.

Speaking to The Better India, Harish says while he entered the town in 1993 thinking he would stay for a maximum of six months, he never went back and Auroville became his home.

The textile program that he was engaged in had such an impact on him that he decided to build the rest of his life and career here. Today, the result of that decision is his venture Natura which sells a range of homegrown natural self-care products.

The start of an organic brand

It is an interesting story that made him shift his focus from textiles to the self-care industry.

Recounting it, Harish says in 1998 two foreigners visited Auroville with a bar of soap and a promise.

Harish Chandra, Picture credits: Harish Chandra

At the time, homemade soaps seemed a luxury of sorts as the Indian market was filled with chemical variations. The homemade soaps that the foreigners brought with them had the town intrigued, at how natural soaps could smell so floral and nice.

So enthused and intrigued was Harish that he decided to experiment in his own home with plants and oils from the nearby gardens and create an ayurvedic version of soap.

Reminiscing the journey, Harish says, “The transition from handloom and exporting garments to now making soaps were very natural, and in time I built a venture Natura out of my experiments. ???

Natura was founded in 2000 with a team of around five people from the nearby areas in Auroville and a manufacturing space of 4,000 sq ft.

The small business had a simple aim: to make natural soaps.

All ingredients are ‘edible’

Explaining the list of ingredients, Harish says the major one is coconut. “Coconut is prevalent in south India and Tamil Nadu. Along with this, I also used castor oil, sesame oil, neem powder, rosemary, apricot, almonds, and organic cocoa butter,??? he says.

He adds that he uses moringa for the soaps while tulsi and basil are essential oils that go in.

“I do not use refined oils, and thus I sometimes tell my customers that the ingredients that go into my soaps are even better quality than what is found in the kitchen,??? he quips. The soaps have a shelf life of 2 years.

The process of creating a single bar of soap is tedious owing to the organic way of production.