An Interesting Entrepreneur – Ajai Prasannah

Rajesh Govindarajulu

The Founder of Love Loop

“The Verandah Club has made life interesting for me. I tend to look out for something interesting most of the time. In fact, looking out for new things has been my second nature. Innovations, creativity, and disruptions cause positive change. They have been always creating history. The Covid period has restricted the outings for each one of us and long walks have become the only way out. These walks have been helping me to stay healthier. Of course, I tend to have a small sip of sugar-free coffee or a big glass of sugar-free green tea with the friends in my neighborhood. Balkrishna Mehta, Ajay Sharma and Saurin Shah have been my ready collaborators during these trying times, when we have been following the rules - mask, vaccination, social distancing etc.

It was a fine evening and I decided to take a walk. A passing scooter stopped by, and I was pleasantly surprised to see my friend, Balkrishna Mehta. He offered to take me to his non-airconditioned office, Mehta Enterprises and get me a fine filter coffee. This offer lured me and joined him instantly. Mehta deals with cotton and is lover of nice food. We reached his office on his two-wheeler. His office is in West Ramalingam Road, R. S. Puram - Coimbatore (The locality was created as an answer to plague over 90 years ago by the then Municipal Chairman Diwan Bahadur C. S. Rathinasabapathy Mudaliar).

We reached the building which houses his office. I noticed an attractive name board and a fancy looking outlet next door to Balkrishna Mehta's office. He told me that it was something different and I decided to explore the place before having my favorite filter coffee in his company. The outlet carries the name 'LOVE LOOP'. There were two purple hearts which were connected to each other as part of the brand logo. I was amused and decided to check it out. The shop staff, R. Milton Rich Rabart and M. Selicia gave me a warm reception. They gave me a guided tour inside. First, the store had a men's side and women's side. Selicia told me that it was important to provide privacy for the shoppers since the products were of intimate nature. Meanwhile, Milton offered to take me through the compact men's section.

The men's section had many interesting items. They included exclusive innerwear, energy boosting chocolates, anti-hangover drinks (for both, before and after a cocktail party) and condoms. The products and the way I were taken around gave a pleasant feeling. Now it was turn of Selicia to take me through the compact women's section. The young sales cum marketing executive astounded me with her approach. She was lucid while also displaying a lot of maturity. I got to see and learn much about several products - biodegradable sanitary wear, intimate wash, pro-immunity shots, first period kits, stand and pee items (to avoid UTI), bikini line hair removal cream, underarm, and bikini line whitening serum, sugar-free chocolates to be used during the time of periods, teas for resolving PCOS, periods, and thyroid related issues. Of course, there were other products too - toilet seat sanitizers, Ayur Vedic tablets and melatonin strips which induce good sleep. I found the whole experience invigorating and therefore, wanted to know more about this venture. The ebullient staff told me that the promoter was one Ajai Prasannah Senthilkumar of Erode and they shared his number.

Meanwhile, my mind began to toy with the idea of presenting it to the followers of Verandah Club. Immediately, I spoke with one of our Founders, Jagannathan. He heard me out and felt that it was suitable for the Verandah Club audience. However, we had to find out more about the venture before expounding about this activity. Therefore, I made a call to Ajai, and he readily agreed to meet me one day later. I reached the meeting place at the anointed time and Ajai accorded me a pleasant reception. He offered me a seat and even before we could begin our conversation, he cleared a few nagging doubts which were being entertained by my mind. Ajai stated that the venture was ethical and was not a sex shop. He was not interested in selling sex toys ever. I came to learn that there were two others involved in the venture - Praveenkumar Rajamanickkam and Sathishkumar Logiah. They had been ideologically inclined to be partners in this venture which was the first one of its kind in India.

Ajai began by offering a nice sugar-free, additive-free, preservative-free and calorie-free drink which contained medicinal herbs such as, Shunyago. The innovative entrepreneur told me about himself. He happens to be the second son of textile businessperson Senthilkumar and Santhi. The mother makes healthy masalas at home and supplies them to educational institutions run by her near and dear. His wife, Karpagam happens to be an IT professional in their two-year old tot is named as Jo Svar Goki, where 'Jo' means peaceful, 'Svar' is from the ‘Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam’ and 'Goki' happens to be the family name.

Innovative Ajai is the Founder of Parthena Innovations Private Limited. This company owns the trademark - LOVE LOOP. "’Parthena’ is Greek, and it means Virgin. I was inspired by Richard Branson of Virgin. He has been my inspiration. I like his exploration and have read his autobiography and have his autobiography in my mini library at home. Love reading ‘Life's Amazing Secrets’ by Gaur Gopal Das and ‘Ikigai’ by Hector Garcia and Fransesc Miralles. I like the book, ‘Eat that Frog’ by Brian Tracy. It is about discovering great ways which will help one to stop procrastinating. I listen to the books actually. These books and the people behind them have motivated me to start my ventures. All my work relates to sustainability and development which is equitable. For example, our store does not give printed bills, they are just whatsapped to our clients.”

“None of our customers are under any compulsion to buy our stuff. They are welcome to see the products and decide whether to buy or not. We have a bouquet of about 150 products and will keep expanding the list. Many are exclusive items. A researcher can source them through the net and buy online. However, that will take time. We have curated and are offering a personal experience. The website http://www.loveloop.in is under construction now. Our customers can study and purchase our products online too. However, personal experience will be more exciting. We hope to create and establish a greater number of outlets eventually," smiled Ajai while talking about himself, his family background and his new venture.

Ajai's paternal grandmother, Sarojinidevi had given her bangles to her husband, Gopalakrishna Mudaliar in order to kick start his textile venture. He had been a textile pioneer and had been the Founder & President of the Textile Assocation. The family deity is Nallapulli Amman of Thiruchengode. Gopalakrishna Mudaliar was a pioneering textile exporter and even today, the textile market carries his name. He was a creative person, and it was passed on to his son, Senthilkumar and grandson, Ajai Prasannah. Senthilkumar married Santhi from the Jansons family of Thiruchengode.

Jansons function under the Chairmanship of T. S. Natarajan Mudaliar, a hugely successful textile industrialist. The family runs several educational institutions which include, Jansons School of Management & Jansons College of Technology. His father, Sadasivam Mudaliar had moved to Sri Lanka in search of livelihood and his family had lived with him in the island country. They returned at a time when it was the order of the day to offer the first son to the army. This was because of the war. The four sons founded a string of textile ventures, and it was known as 'Nalvar Textiles'. Today, Jansons have a granite factory at Sankugiri. The name, Janson was coined by their son-in-law, Senthilkumar. He took 'Jan' from Natarajan and added it with 'Sons’, Jan & Sons became JANSONS. This company was the first to make polyester lungies.

Well, now let us come back to Ajai: The Innovative Entrepreneur. He had done his schooling in Rex (Nilgiris) and Asan (Chennai). This was followed by a UG degree from SNR (Sri Ramakrishna College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore) and an M. B. A. from IIPM, Chennai. His work and interests propelled him to do an M. A. in Psychology (Distance Learning) from Periyar University, Salem. Ajai is interested in designing and he is a graphic designer too. He does charge-free designing for it is his hobby. He studies new things and nurtures innovative ideas all the time. The innovator has been designing since 2003 and he designed the logo for LOVE LOOP.

Ajai spoke more about ‘Parthena’ in order to put the full picture about his ventures, "I began with education. ‘Parthena’ was to generate latest ideas for the society. We have a couple of products under process. ‘KOTERIE’ (meaning a small group of people with the same interest) is one such product. The idea behind this product was to eliminate the discrimination between a good and bad student. I had worked briefly as the Executive Officer at Vriksha Global School (Thiruchengode). This gave me the opportunity to mingle with the kids and I observe the nature of discrimination which prevailed. I had consciously kept the kids under my wing. Every instance of hurting would harm the growth of the child. It could affect their intelligence and ability to innovate. This experience pushed me to do psychology. I understood that the interest of the child; based on its liking would help it to nurture habits which will aid it to climb the ladder. Unfortunately, evaluation is done based on exams while it should be done based on skill and knowledge. This puts pressure on the child for it is forced to sustain itself based on these parameters. How does one grow from the bottom of the pyramid then? It is through innovative methods that it is possible. If we do so the pyramid turns sideways and becomes the arrow which will help the child reach the target," smiled Ajai.

On questioning as to how it is possible to do so, Ajai spoke further on the subject. "Make the kid take a topic of its liking. Help it to form a group of kids with similar ideas. Let them interact with each other. Spoon feeding should be avoided. Let the kids do research, refine their idea and then decide on interpretation and presentation. Post-assimilation the kids will have to present their learning curve. They can do it through a PPT (Power Point Presentation), puppet show, songs, essays etc., or any other form. What gives them the room is the idea that learning is to communicate. This concept will help the kids to move ahead in life. We hope to further once resources are put in that direction. I am ever conscious about the idea, and it has been a part of me since childhood. I want to care for the society and nature. This has encouraged me to work with a number of organizations."

Ajai has worked with numerous organizations. He has served as the State Coordinator for Indian Youth Climate Network. Ajai has worked directly with UN Projects. "I had worked from Chennai to bring NGO representatives for global events. Have volunteered for Green Peace, WWF, and the American Consulate over time. I have also been with Green Cross, Erode. It helps snake bite victims," stated Ajai while talking more about his pet venture, LOVE LOOP.

"The colors in my logo represent the male and the female. While the color pink represents the female, the color blue tinged with pink represents the male. The uniform T-shirt carries the colors black and pink. The logo tells a story. This infinite loop (double hear loop) tells us about the infinite love between men and women. I want it to be a health store and not a sex store. The outlet has already attracted several foreigners already. Ethics and morals must be upheld in intimate relationships. It is especially important and luckily our culture is known for these good attributes. We at LOVE LOOP recognize this and therefore are offering something which is new and right from the land of Kamasutra where indulgence, joy and contentment are based on Dharma," smiled Ajai Prasannah the entrepreneur. He hopes to drive on the road to success from Coimbatore, the city known for its entrepreneurship.”