Ravi Spices

Ravi Spices is tucked away at 2369 on Periya Thanam Suburaya Mudali Street in Vellapadi. It’s a long name for a street, and it’s a long day for us most of the time. When you work with spices, the smell follows you home. Your clothes, your hair, everything smells like the shop. We don't mind it much anymore, it’s just part of the job. Our place isn't big. It’s actually quite cramped with all the sacks and jars. We spend a lot of time weighing things out and bagging them up. It’s a very manual process. There aren't any big machines doing the work for us. We do it by hand because that’s how we’ve always done it here in Vellapadi. People from the neighborhood come in for their daily needs. We know their names and what they usually buy. It’s a friendly place, but we aren't trying to be anything we’re not. There’s no fancy branding or expensive packaging. We just use what works. Sometimes the dust from the peppers makes us sneeze, and the floor is always a bit stained from the turmeric. That’s just the reality of it. We don't have a website or a social media manager. We just have a door that opens onto the street and a counter where we talk to our neighbors. It’s a simple business, and we like it that way.