A rich legacy of ayurveda

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Common interests and a passion for ayurveda runs through each member of Sharma family, or the Baidyanath family, as they are popularly known as. That is why the third generation of Sharmas is ardently involved in the family business started by their grandfather decades ago.

“My grandfather, late Pandit Ram Dayal Joshi and his brother late Shri Ram Narayan Vaidya, started the Baidyanath in 1917. Then my father and his brothers took over. Now it is Harsh’s and my turn to take our legacy forward,” says Vikrum, the elder amongst the two brothers and a known face of Baidyanath Group.
A business empire of ayurvedic products has managed to survive the competition only because each and every member of this family takes their responsibilities seriously. “We all are involved in the business. My father, Ramakant Sharma, is the managing director of the group. Mom looks after research and development, I take care of the sales and marketing department, while Harsh is getting trained to look after purchasing. We have our factories in Patna, Kolkata, Jhansi, Nagpur and Allahabad, besides six ancillary units in other states. Everybody is travelling across the factories in different towns. That is how we manage to run the business,” says Vikrum.

Family Business
Taking care of their ancestral business was a natural course for all the members. Vikrum, who studied at the London School of Economics and University of Leeds, returned to join the business in 2005.
“I was working in the marketing department of a recruitment company, but it was always at the back of my mind that I have to come and join my family business. It was a natural progression for me. I grew up seeing my mom and dad work in the factory, so it came easily to me,” he shares.
The rigorous test Vikrum had to go through was never a deterrent. “When he returned from England, we sent him to my brother in Nagpur for training. That brother did not drink or smoke, and I wanted Vikrum to learn his discipline. Later, I packed him off to my elder brother in Allahabad. He was very strict in terms of time and routine. Vikrum learnt punctuality from him. Now he works with me and I am teaching him the best I can. The sense of business runs in the whole family,” shares Ramakant Sharma.
“It was never a problem for me to absorb myself in the family business. My cousins were encouraging, uncles and dad were there to guide me and there was and is so much to do. In addition to Baidyanath, we have lot of property and other projects. So much is going on all the time that we all hardly get much time to relax,” chips in Vikrum.

Passion for charity
Besides running the largest ayurvedic products empire in India, the family has adopted one of the villages where they come from and look after its development. They run free schools in the village and donate to several NGOs they are associated with.
“We take care of our ancestral properties. Then we are also into farming and growing herbs. We run free girls schools in our village in Rajasthan and host an annual mela there. All of us happily partake in these activities,” says Vikrum.
And the passion for charity runs high in each member of the house. “We believe in giving back to the society. We do a lot of charity work, are associated with many NGOs like Shoshit Seva Sangh and Khushii. Last year, we raised about `70 lakh for Shoshit Seva Sangh through an art exhibition,” says Vikrum’s mother Madhu.

Family Values
“Not only the business sense, our parents taught us not to take anything for granted, to be humble, show gratitude and work hard. Plus, we all are very communicative and this helps at home as well as at work. Though mom and dad have very high expectations from us and compliments don’t come easily, it keeps us on our toes,” shares Vikrum.
They do not get to spend much time together, as Vikrum is based in Delhi, his parents stay in Patna and Harsh keeps shuttling between Patna and Delhi, but the family never loses the sense of connect.
“On occasions like Diwali, my parents like to spend the day at our ancestral house in Patna. And if I fail to join them for any reason, we talk over the phone and mom keeps giving me guidelines: ‘Sab jagah diya jala dena’. I don’t ever feel they are not near,” says Vikrum.

Love for adopted daughter
Last but not the least, love for Neha, the adopted daughter in the Sharma family, binds them all. “It was my mother’s decision to adopt Neha and my father supported her completely. Now we all share a strong bond with her and she is a part of the family,” ends Vikrum.