Sanjeevanam — The holistic healthcare centre

Dr AV AnoopWhen 42-year old Dr AV Anoop, the multifaceted director of Cholayil Pharmaceuticals Private Limited, was not able to get up from his hotel bed in London, it took some time for his family members to realise that Anoop was suffering from excruciating back pain.

He was bedridden for two days. When allopathy proved of little help, a family friend in London took Anoop for Ayurvedic cure. Within half an hour of the massage treatment he was able to get up.

"After that it was diet restructuring and yoga," he recalls sitting in his Chennai office where he looks after the manufacturing and administration of the Rs200-crore turnover Cholayil, which manufactures the well-known Medimix toilet soap.

The London episode set Anoop thinking and it resulted in the first Kadalivanam at Thiruvananthapuram in partnership with a friend, D Surendran. Kadalivanam is a unique restaurant serving healthy food based on naturopathy.

The restaurant does not use any root vegetables including onion, garlic, tamarind and refined products like sugar, maida, rava, sooji, etc. All food served is freshly cooked — the restaurant does not even keep a refrigerator — in bronze, copper or earthenware. The restaurant was an instant hit at Thiruvananthapuram.

Not satisfied with this, he decided to expand the concept further combining the principles of ayurveda, naturopathy and yoga. The outcome is the Rs2.5 crore Sanjeevanam in Chennai, a holistic healthcare centre.