As i am fairly new to the business and environment in Bihar - just been 6 months - i am trying to get in practice all the gyan and studies i had done in my MBA.
One of the most important was CSR - your contribution as an individual/business towards the society.
Being in the family business - i have been studying on what my father and grandfather had done in the past for a social cause. Nothing has been recorded or written on the net - as i guess - internet did not exist in the 60/70 's - but when i hear stories from villagers and customers at Maner Sweet shop - i really get to understand the CSR.
Grandfather (Sukhdev Sao)
I am very lucky to hear the stories from my grandmother on how Maner Sweets was built. When i actually sit down and calculate - as to how did 1 single person in all these years - built a powerful brand and "Maner Ka Laddoo" being so much popular in India.
From my granny stories - my grandfather and grandmother were the pioneers to make the "Maner Ka Laddoo" popular. During the British Raj - my grandfather used to work as a vendor for a small sweet shop. One the generals on usual routine stopped at the road side dhaba for snacks. He eventually was delighted to have the sweet called - Maner ka Laddoo. The British general was so impressed by the sweet that he called this as "Nukti ka Laddoo" meaning - every grain of the laddoo is as sweet as it is. He hired one of the servants to work with his unit and make this precious delicacy. My grandfather got hooked to this idea and that's how the seed was born for - Maner Ka Laddoo.
My grandfather started from scratch when he was 23 years old. He used to take a tin box of laddoos' and traveled almost 45 kms. to sell sweets. He used to work at night with grand mother to work on the preparation for the sweets and sell during the day. It took him almost 5/6 years to establish himself and finally rented a shop on the main road. He hired more staff to generate more production of laddoo's and sell to local villages. The shop on the main road soon started to generate enough income as he venture out in other areas of business - wines, cement, wood and agriculture.
His dream and vision was - Maner Sweets should be build as a brand to sell "Maner ka Laddoo".
As an ambitious businessman - he built a huge building in Maner - what he termed it as - it should be high enough that people look and stare and say - this belongs to "Sukhdev Sao" ,,,if you have actually visited Maner - you will get to know how big is this building. In fact - it is one of the highest in the town (5 stories)
Manjil laha
A fairly new term for many who would read this - if someone dies in a village, in support & respect for the person who passed away - all the local people, villagers and relatives will go for the manzil. (the last rights to the ghats)
Maner - is very close to the ghats - the river Sone (a tributary of the Ganges). Many people prefer to visit the ghats at Hardi Chapra for the last rituals of a person. For many - it was difficult to travel as roads did not exist, buying wood from the main road was much more difficult. It was actually a chaos during those times if someone had to perform a ritual.
My grandfather was kind enough to set a stop shop where one could buy the havan samagri, wood, cloth and set for the ghats. But another problem occurred - in any Manjilaha - there were more than 100-150 people who would go for the last rituals - fasting for the entire day - they had to be fed on the way back home. Maner - did not have such a big place to feed the Manzils.
He created a hall cum dining area in the Maner Sweets facility - where manzils would be accommodated an provided food with lodging. This could be one of the best CSR's that any one could think. Feeding a manzil for dinner at 2pm in the night during the 70/80's was a big task.
The tradition continues in Maner Sweets - and as 3rd generation entrepreneurs - we help the poor and the Manzils for food. Even if we get a manzil at 10 in the night - we serve & help them.
