The famous dancer-entrepreneur Jayanthi Ramachandra was shocked to see a cow chewing away a cinema poster atop the bund of a water body, on her way to office. Two things began to worry her – the health of the cow, and those of the human beings who drink its milk.

The only solution was to distribute good milk, and someone had to take the initiative. She did! Jayanthi Ramachandra began giving milk, free from impurities, to the students of her dance school. The milk came from a five-generation-old farm that was once managed by her mother, Mani Rajagopal. Earlier, the farm used to yield hundreds of litres of milk and it was made available to the people of Pappanaickenpalayam and Race Course.

The milk from this farm is special for all the right reasons. The cows in the farm are not tethered at all, and are fed with fodder with no hormones or chemicals. Natural well water is used to feed the animals who are sent to a Goshala when they age. The diet for the cows is based on its age and breed. The farm hands milk the cows directly, for the management does not believe in machine milking the cows because they harm the udder and traumatize the poor animals.

Thanks to the poster eating cow, the dance school students got to have nice, tasty milk. In addition to good health and energy, the milk also gave them a very positive outlook.

After a while, Jayanthi Ramachandra tried serving flavoured milk to her students, instead of the routine plain one. Impressed by the reception it received, Jayanthi decided to make available farm fresh milk and flavoured milk for the people of Coimbatore. The Marghazhi of that year witnessed the birth of ‘Ksheera’ (milk, in Sanskrit), which was farm fresh milk made available in reusable bottles. The milk was delivered within three hours from the time of milking at the doorstep of the consumers. The emptied bottles are collected, cleaned and reused again due to the concern for the city’s environment.

Balancing the environmental concerns, while also addressing the issue of milk contamination through a series of steps, is the unique feature of this effort which can be emulated by others.

“Later on, it was decided to add sweetened flavoured milk to the product range, and we starting bottling the same in chocolate, rose, strawberry, and mango flavours. The company does not use preservatives, chemicals, and colouring agents. All the flavours and colours are naturally derived,” Subaasri R., of Ksheera, said.

One is but reminded of an era when the milkman brought the cow to the doorsteps of the houses of his regular buyers, and milked it in front of them to ensure that the milk was pure.

Thanks to the affirmative action of entrepreneurs like Jayanthi Ramachandra, the gold ol’ days are back again!