KARMATH

It started with a series of routine health checks that weren't routine at all. Four people in our immediate circle — all under 40, all cooking at home, none of them sedentary — came back with elevated thyroid markers, high cholesterol, or pre-diabetic readings within the same year.

After a decade in management consulting, the instinct was to investigate the root cause, not the symptom. The kitchen was the obvious starting point. Everything looked right — they were eating home-cooked meals, using whole grains, avoiding processed food. But the flour told a different story.

Commercial atta — even the brands that positioned themselves as healthy — was roller-milled at high heat, bleached for appearance, and dosed with flow agents and shelf-life extenders. The grain was there. The nutrition wasn't.

That led to Madhya Pradesh. To Chhindwara, Sehore, and Hoshangabad — the black cotton soil belt that has grown jowar, bajra, and ragi for generations. Six farmers, soil tests, grain testing, and months of milling trials later, the answer became clear. Organically grown grain, cold-pressed, stone-ground, packed within the week — consistently tested higher on protein, fibre, and micronutrients than anything available commercially.

Navsatva was the first product. Nine grains, nine reasons to choose it. The brand is called Karmath — Sanskrit for devoted to one's work — because that is exactly what this required.