Coconut oil has been part of my life since childhood — on my hair, my hands, in my mouth and on my plate. These are my own stories of how I use it, and why I love it.
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life,” as the saying goes.
I chose work I love: building a business, and selling a product I admire and use every day. Making coconut oil is our family business, started by my father. But I did not join it as his successor. In fact, having been through many hardships himself, he did not want me to take it up. I insisted, and building Cocoguru has been my dream ever since.
In this post, I share my own love for coconut oil, and the ways I use it.
Growing up next to the mill
My father started a coconut oil mill in Puttur in 1988, when I was in first standard. It stood right next to our house, so I grew up close to it — but my mind was elsewhere. My younger brother helped at the mill; I showed no interest. When my parents made me go, I played with the tools and repaired my cycle instead.
I loved physics and mechanics, and I would watch how the motors turned and how their power reached the oil presses. I was the studious one and my brother the businessman, so everyone assumed he would run the mill and I would take an office job.
On my hair
Until I was 25, I never used hair oil. One day my hair felt dry, and I picked up a bottle of Parachute. It smelled wonderful — so special, and so different from the oil our mill made, that I wondered how they achieved it.
From then on, I began oiling my scalp — to moisturise my hair and scalp, and to enjoy the fragrance. That is how my love of coconut oil began, and I still do it every day.
On my hands
In my hostel days, I was known for washing my clothes almost daily, as I wore each set only once. The detergent left my hands hot and dry, so I rubbed coconut oil on my hands and legs to cool and soften them.
Industry uses it the same way. Cement plants order our oil in bulk so workers can protect their hands after handling cement.
In my mouth
My mother, who always looked after her health, practised oil pulling — swishing oil around the mouth — and recommended it. I already loved coconut oil and wanted new ways to use it, so I took it up. In my experience, my teeth and gums improved: no more sensitivity or swollen gums.
It is also my daily quality check on our oil. You are meant to spit the oil out, but I would not mind swallowing a little.
When I am hungry on the road
I like my meals on time — an early breakfast, lunch and dinner — but when travelling that is not always possible, and I dislike snacking on junk food. So when hunger strikes and my energy dips, I take about 5 ml of coconut oil. It settles my hunger, and leaves a pleasant taste in the mouth.
In my sales pitch
Sometimes I go out with our sales van, to meet new shops or hear what customers think. A new shopkeeper is usually wary at first, so I put a few drops of oil on their hand to smell. Ours is roasted coconut oil, with a stronger aroma than usual, and that catches their interest. Talk turns to prices and terms, and often a new business relationship begins.
Now and then, a shopkeeper suspects the oil is perfumed. Then I pour a few drops into my mouth and swallow them in front of him. That convinces him — and pleases me too.
The aroma
When we are pressing oil, the aroma from our factory reaches the road more than 150 metres away. Sitting in the factory, breathing it in all day, is bliss. My clothes carry the smell, and people ask me about it when I step out. I love that — it only happens with coconut oil.
Other oils, especially sunflower oil, have given me the opposite experience. At my hostel in Mysuru, the kitchen was on the ground floor, right below the dining hall, and the smell of sunflower oil filled the room. As a slow eater, I had to sit in it longer, and it clung to my clothes after I left. In the end, I changed into separate clothes just to go to the mess. In a lodge in Erode, the restaurant was below my room, and the smell lingered all night. Many hotels have poor kitchen ventilation, so the oil fumes drift over the tables. I avoid such places.
On my plate
Eating out, I mostly avoid oily food, because restaurants often use cheaper oils such as sunflower oil, palmolein or vanaspati. A good oil brings out the flavour and texture of food. I especially enjoy the rich dishes of the Goud Saraswat Brahmin community. At home we use little oil, and the food can feel bland.
Once, at a relative’s function, every dish was cooked in Cocoguru coconut oil, and I enjoyed poori and jilebi for the first time in years. At our factory canteen, we cook one deep-fried dish every week to test the oil. At Diwali, we make boondi laddus with our oil for our employees and customers. Local favourites — charmuri, omelette, pathrode, fish fry and banana chips — all taste best in coconut oil.
Three senses
Coconut oil delights three of my senses: smell, taste and touch. Only a poet could describe the pleasure; the rest of us have to experience it.