RAMYA RAGUNATH – A Cancer Survivor who started her own Restaurant

By BWA Envoy
March 08, 2022
2 Minutes Read

I am a cancer survivor and so far, I have had 13 surgeries. Following my initial diagnosis, I noticed my husband getting mentally weak and that is when I told myself ‘I will never become weak or lose hope, come what may’. Even my doctor was surprised to see me walking on the fourth day of my surgery - when he had predicted that I would not live beyond five years.

If you have tremendous willpower, a never give up attitude and encouragement from your loved ones, nothing is impossible to achieve. My husband stood by me and took care of me like a baby while I was undergoing my cancer treatment and to keep myself busy, he encouraged me to get my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. And the result? Now I am an entrepreneur, where I am a partner at ‘Mudrika Organics LLP’ and I run ‘Satkriti Saatvik’ (@SatkritiSaatvik) (an organic restaurant at Jayanagar 7th Block, Bengaluru).

Food is a major source of cancer and switching to an organic diet had a major role to play in making me cancer free. So, as a social service, I wanted to take it forward and introduce it to the world and that is how Satkriti Saatvik was born. Remaining true to our principles, in our restaurant, we do not use plastic or melamine cutlery, MSG, artificial vinegar or sweeteners or food colouring agents, we source organic vegetables, rice/millets, jaggery and cold pressed oils for cooking and we are the first restaurant in Karnataka to have SHYCOCAN to neutralize the virus in the dining area. We have proved ourselves in the last three years with thousands of reviews (about 82%) giving us 4-5 stars.

Covid-19 has impacted many businesses in the last two years and to remain relevant and thriving, we started a new vertical in our business, where we started using our expertise to prepare our spice mix (masala powders) using cryogenic freezing of the ingredients. These are now being regularly shipped all over India and a few cities in the US.

Message: It is not a crime to not follow the herd and never be afraid of trying unique things. And most importantly, never ever give up come what may!