Why did you decide to start your business?
The therapeutic benefits of essential oils fascinate me. I started learning more about them with the idea I could blend an all natural perfume. Very quickly, I realised that this style of perfumery was quite limited in the kind of sensory experience it could offer. So I started learning about synthetic materials, then blending them together with high quality natural Indian essential oils and materials.
Developing my own style of fragrances, creating a fusion of the very best of Eastern and Western perfumery soon became such a fascinating journey that I registered Shloksha so I could share these scents with more people.
Owning a creative business like Shloksha gives me plenty of opportunities for building it further in future as I - eventually - plan my retirement. My young daughters are fascinated by perfume materials too, and I’d be honoured to leave them Shloksha as a legacy.
Moving from India to the UK in my twenties, I do miss the immersive sensory joys found in everyday Indian culture. Sourcing and working with traditional Indian materials connects me to my childhood—scented trips down memory lane!

How do you generate new ideas?
Walking and showering generate most of my ideas. You know, when your mind is in a different place without a focus, then ideas walk in by themselves. Often I’ll combine different perfumery materials in my head while I’m strolling, then come back to my workshop and try them out.
I’m very drawn to novelty, like reading about new perfumery materials. Sometimes that’ll be the springboard for a new perfume idea—showcasing a key central material.

Who is your biggest/most important/influential role model? Or do you have more than one?
I’d probably split this into two sections; individuals in my family who’ve inspired me, then how my culture inspires me.
Both my father and my grandfather were very influential figures in my life. My grandfather was a powerful role model for me, leading by example so I learned the values of modesty, frugality, consistency and resourcefulness. For 30 years he showed me how to live my life with meaning.
My father was a very hard-working person, taking his duties as the provider for our family seriously. He showed me the importance of remaining connected to our culture even if he was incredibly busy with work. He’d always make time to contribute to our community, being involved with festivals and so on. Looking back, I realise how exhausted he must have been, balancing all these responsibilities.

Culturally, living in India was a source of constant inspiration to me. Going to temple often, I’d see and smell different flowers used to honour the deities. Some deities have preferences for specific flowers, so I’d see many, many different kinds, made into garlands, depending on the season of the year and exactly where I was in India. The whole experience of being in the temple with this abundance of fresh flowers and when water rituals are performed - using rose or jasmine scented hydrosol - is a sensory delight.

What's your favourite part of owning Shloksha?
I truly believe that we can share and exchange cultural ideas through scent. Poetry, art and music are beautiful, but it’s easier to connect to someone more fully through sharing a fragrance—a dialogue through a sensory experience if you like.
If you offer someone a perfume that is, in part, familiar to them, with some intriguingly different facets, that is a perfect cultural exchange. My perfumes are all composed with that in mind—thoughtful gifts for perfume enthusiasts. I take the best natural Indian materials and combine them with classically French perfume elements to create something tantalisingly familiar yet transportingly different.

What's the hardest part about owning Shloksha?
Modern e-commerce is challenging if you’re a very small niche perfume business. The fragrance scene is dominated by enormous commercial houses with huge budgets for sending free bottles of perfume to influencers—we can’t compete with that.
It’s definitely a challenge, getting our perfumes under the noses of enthusiasts looking for something completely new and fresh to revive their jaded senses. But we’re steadily carving out a path for ourselves, being featured on The Perfume Society’s website (link) and even in their 10th anniversary edition of the Scented Letter—what an honour!

How would you describe yourself in just 3 phrases?
Balance in all things, frugal, a modern day yogi aspirant, sometimes a procrastinator, and evolving ideal-ness in myself.

How do you define success?
To me, success is about a good proportion of health, wealth and mindfulness. I’m intrigued by the notion of self-decay with grace, which might sound very philosophical, but it’s important to me.
Having enough money to keep the wheels of Shloksha turning would be great. Being a creative and curious perfumer can get expensive.

What are you most excited about at work right now?
I’m excited that we’ve come so far already at Shloksha; from being the tiniest seed of an idea, we’ve turned into a small plant—it’s beautiful to look back on the early stages of our journey.
Problem-solving creatively will always stimulate me, as does meeting new people who are yet to try our unique perfumes. Discovering new perfumery materials also fires my enthusiasm as I get such a thrill from wondering how I can build perfumes around them.

What are your most important habits?
I’m not a great believer in rigid habits. Adaptability has always been important to me. Sometimes a habit can serve you well for a time and then become meaningless—that’s when it’s time to let it go.
Preserving my heritage is vital to me, which is why I incorporate traditional Indian perfume materials in my fragrances.
Balancing relationships in all parts of my life matters a great deal to me.
Dedication to my work is crucial; it’s very important to do things as well as I possibly can.
Experimentation is an essential part of my creative process. Wondering how I can combine traditional Indian perfumery materials with an elegantly classic French twist. Balancing the powerful with the subtle and nuanced.

What are some of your favourite perfume materials to work with and why?
High quality naturals will always hold huge significance for me. My mother bathing me in sandalwood will always be a powerful association. Essential oils, ambers and resins all play important parts in my perfumes.
Sandalwood can be found in Bouquet Monument MVP and ambergris in Bouquet Monument RTP. Kadam flower and rose are two of my favourite florals to work with, which you can find in Madurai and Mathura. Rhu Khus is a super distinctive copper distilled vetiver that you can find in Mother Green.
It’s now possible to get biosynthesised and biodegradable perfume materials, so if I can source small quantities of those, they can be exciting to experiment with.

If you had unlimited resources, what would you do to improve your business?
I’d love to invest in educating people about the therapeutic benefits of natural perfume materials. The high concentrations of top quality oils like sandalwood in my perfumes offer an extra dimension to the sensory pleasure of wearing fragrance.
Obviously, marketing is important, especially in the crowded world of perfume, so that would be a consideration for me.
More aesthetically appealing packaging would be something I’d like to improve in time. I’m happy with what we have at the moment and it is very environmentally friendly, but I do have my eye on more beautiful bottles for a better customer experience.