He Started a Company at 67 with His Son. Most People His Age Were Retiring - Vrindaam Organics

q01How did Vrindaam start?

Ashok: Before venturing into Vrindaam I was involved in our family business. We belong to a Marwari business family with a history of at least 500 years in business. I was involved in machinery, plastics, trading, so many other things. After moving out of the family business, I became advisor to international companies based in Taiwan, China, Thailand and Japan. I was briefly advisor to the Imami Group on international business. I was also CEO of a business group where I was responsible for creating new FMCG divisions and horticultural industries.

Ultimately I thought it was done. I had a lot of business behind me. So I moved to an ashram in Uttarakhand in 2015 and got involved in teaching yoga, spiritual things, all that. The craving for business was always there, though. Even in the ashram. I had moved to a subtle life, but the craving was always there.

I happened to meet some people who shared the importance of essential oils. I started probing into it and I could see that in India essential oils have been used for at least 5,000 years. But it had gone down in the Indian market. Overseas, it had really grown up. That ignited a sort of fire within me to start Vrindaam.

q02Ankur, what was your role in starting this with your dad?

Ankur: The passion and inspiration came from my father. It was his idea. He's been a serial entrepreneur all his life. My job was to support him, to provide back-end support in terms of online presence, the website, all of that.

This is truly his baby, his tribe. I'm there to help him wherever he needs support.

q03When you moved to the ashram, what did you think life was going to look like?

Ashok: It's a confused stage. Being in business for such a long time, you cannot just shut off. In the ashram I was helping upgrade facilities, creating new things like yoga classes, spa, meditation. But the craving was always there. I really wanted to do something apart from whatever I was doing in the ashram.

That's how Vrindaam came up.

q04How did you actually go from teaching yoga in an ashram to building a brand?

Ashok: In the ashram, people walk in from all parts of the world. So you interact with them. I was instrumental in setting up a center in the ashram called HERC, the Human Energy Research Center. We had facilities to scan the energy of the body through sound related diagnosis. You could find how energy is flowing, whether the energy is getting obstructed. The treatment was meditation based.

A lot of people came in. Some doctors from Singapore actually said there's a lot of potential and India was the country it used to be. That's how I got interested. I went deeper to find out what exactly it is. I got in touch with certain blenders who had been in this profession for many years. They had blended for the Begum's Champa, for Mr. Chaglani. I'd give them a brief and they'd create the fragrance.

For example, there's a blend based on Subah-e-Banaras. The mornings of Banaras are very nice. The brief was to create a fragrance that elicits the feeling of morning. Similarly Awadh, the evenings are known as Shaam-e-Awadh. Catching that particular thing, they create something for the evening. That's how the Banaras blend came in. Then we have the mind, body and soul series, like Dhyanam for meditation, Sunturna for sleep. We think we're the only brand in India offering these functional blends.

q05How did the first sale and the first big distribution win actually happen?

Ashok: First we created a series of blends, developed the packaging, and there was no market for us at that moment. Then Ankur helped me set up business on Amazon. I still remember the first order. He called me at 12 PM in the night that there was an order on Amazon. That first order was very exciting.

After that, business was not much. So I approached Muniji, the head of Parmarth Niketan in Rishikesh. They have an international yoga festival every year in March, with 100+ countries participating. Our family was connected to the ashram. Muniji agreed to give us a stall. They had an exhibition area. Our stall was visited by all these international participants, by sadhus, even by Bollywood actors and musicians like Shiv Mani. They gave us so much energy when they appreciated the products. We also got a distributor for the UK from that event.

Later we tied up with Rare Planet, which has the largest number of gift stores at airports. Today Vrindaam is present in 30 airports in India. We have a tie-up with Taj Group of hotels. And we're exporting to the US, Canada and Germany.

Initially, the journey was very tough because Dehradun is a laid back town. Sourcing, packaging, material was very tough. We tried and we failed. We had to move sourcing to Delhi. Even in design we get our designs developed in Delhi to be at par with international standards.

q06As father and son, how do you handle disagreements?

Ankur: Difference of opinion is natural because we're two different individuals from different generations. But we complement quite well. He comes from knowledge and experience, I come from a fresh perspective on what matters in the current time.

In any relations there's bound to be disagreement. Sometimes it's agree to disagree. Sometimes it's OK to leave it at that. We have a pretty good rapport. We've never had big arguments. Looking at the bigger picture, the vision for the business, the outcome, sometimes the bigger picture helps you resolve a conflict or debate.

Ashok: As far as Ankur is concerned, even my team in Dehradun, we interact a lot and respect what advice is given by all participants. Ankur complements my work technically. The team on the operational side advises on government compliance and process. The understanding is pretty deep.

q07What does retirement actually mean to you?

Ashok: I hate the word retire. Why should one retire? You have taken so much from society. You need to give it back in one way or the other.

I always debate with my friends that you should not retire. They say "no wonder, you have worked hard, what should... " I don't agree. Apart from business I'm involved in other things. I write stories. I have a blog where I write about people or history that has been forgotten, that has not been taught to us.

In Vrindaam itself there's a CSR activity. We just set up a website to show the importance of bees. We're going to have more activities on bee conservation at the school level. So keep being active. The country also needs you.

q08Have you ever felt that age became a challenge while building Vrindaam?

Ashok: Brijmohan Lall Munjal, the ex-chairman of Hero Group, used to go to the office at the age of 95. I think he kept doing it till he died. So I don't think age is a factor. It's just basically in your mind.

I have a lot of debates with my friends who had been pretty great in their school days, ambassadors, army generals, secretaries. Some have reconciled to retirement. They lie around and do nothing. I keep pushing them. Do something. It's not important to do business. There are so many other things you can do in society. Pay it back. Age, I don't think that interests me.

q09What about success and failure? What has life taught you about failure?

Ashok: What is failure? I think it's not being passionate enough. If you have a project you do get success sooner or later. If you are not passionate, you get tired off very fast. Then you're about to fail.

Apart from passion there has to be purpose. Just purpose will not work. You have to believe in what you are doing and trust the almighty. Then only things happen. It's a combination, a blend of so many things. Sometimes it takes much more time than you think. In Vrindaam, when we started, it was doing pretty well. I was exporting to Eastern countries. Then COVID set in. For a couple of years it was bad. We started reworking, new range of products, new packaging, new markets. That's because of passion.

q10What's one habit that has helped you the most in life?

Ashok: Positivity.

q11One thing young people are doing right today?

Ashok: More and more people are becoming entrepreneurs. Two decades back it was different. People were looking for jobs. Now more people want to become entrepreneurs. They're taking risks, entering new areas. That's the change happening very fast.

q12One sentence you live by?

Ashok: Be positive and trust the almighty.

Final Thoughts: Why "Retired" Is Not in This Family's Vocabulary

The bottom line: Vrindaam Organics is what happens when a 67 year old refuses to call it a day. Ashok had every reason to stop. He'd already had three careers. He was teaching yoga in an ashram. His family business goes back five centuries. By every conventional measure, he was done. Instead he started a brand from an ashram, built a product line based on time-of-day fragrance rituals, partnered with Rare Planet for 30 airports, landed Taj Group, and started exporting to three continents. All of this with his son providing the digital backbone.

What's instructive is the structure of the partnership. Ashok runs the vision and product. Ankur runs the technical and digital. The operations team is 100% women-empowered. Each role is clean. There's no ego war about who's the real founder. There's no "do you remember who you're talking to" energy. Just a father and son building the next chapter together.

For anyone watching their parents wind down, or wondering if it's "too late" to start something themselves, Vrindaam is the counterexample. Brijmohan Lall Munjal worked at 95. Warren Buffett still runs Berkshire at 95. Ashok's argument is consistent. Age is in the mind. Passion is the only real fuel. And retirement is a word society invented to make people feel OK about stopping.

If you're 25 and reading this and wondering if you have time to build, Ashok's answer is simple. You have all the time you need. The question is whether you have the passion to keep going.

q13How can people connect with you and learn more about Vrindaam Organics?

Ashok: You can find Vrindaam Organics in 30 airports across India through Rare Planet, in Taj Group of hotels, and online. We export to the US, Canada and Germany. We also have CSR initiatives, including a new website on bee conservation we're rolling out at the school level. If you're a hotel chain, an airport partner, or a wellness retailer interested in functional essential oil blends, do reach out to our team.