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By Scott Bennett
COBLESKILL — Many people who drive or walk through Cobleskill, even on a daily basis might not realize the unique businesses that grace their Main Street. Vijaya Luxmi might be a native of India, but she’s built a home and business in lovely little Cobleskill. And like the garden in the back of her Store, her roots go deep.
Vijaya, which in Sanskrit roughly means victory or triumph, has lived in Cobleskill for over forty years. Her life’s journey though, would take her across several continents before she finally settled in upstate New York in the still wild and mostly untamed Schoharie County.
Born in Narayana, India in 1945 at the close of WWII, Vijaya has a long and interesting story to tell. Honestly, speaking with her and listening to her story you’d be hard pressed to guess that she is nearing eighty years young. She tells her tale with jokes and laughter and a twinkle in her eye that would be the envy of those many years younger.
It was in the 1960’s that Vijaya first came to the United States via the great island state of Hawaii. It was there that she worked two days at the Tango Club in the kitchens. She tells the story of an unruly drunken customer who was actually removed from the premises, with the luring enchantment of a master storyteller.
Eventually she would meet her husband Dr. Lalit Kumar who was an engineer of agricultural machines such as tractors and other heavy equipment. Dr. Kumar earned his master’s degree in Hawaii and later his doctorate from the University of Illinois. One of her three sons would eventually be born there.
Each of her sons was actually born on a different continent. One was born in Illinois, one in India, and one in Tanzania. But they all went to high school in Cobleskill. It was by 1979 that Vijaya and her family finally settled here just above Pizza Shack and with some seed money from her husband, she was able to start selling the kinds of wares she sells today.
But that’s just it. There’s no real description to quantify her shop. It’s filled with all manner of cloth, clothing, and esoteric artifacts. Relics almost. Objects and things bearing a cultural likeness of her native India. Her business was originally home based in a little house on Main street down by the college. It was then known as Vijaya’s Cellar.
It was there she began selling many of the same kinds of things you will find in her current location of 577 West Main Street. Over time she developed a business that was able to expand enough so that she could eventually acquire the building outright. And in 2007 it became exclusively hers.
Vijaya and her sister Indira personally design many of the fabric patterns you will find in her shop. Her sister Indira, who remains in India also has a clothing brand of her own called Natural Choice.
Much like her father Darshan Lal, Vijaya has stood tall in a domain of her own. Vijaya reminisces of her father who she says was an industrialist responsible for the manufacturing of pots and pans, his prominence in the field earning him the title of Steel Giant of India.
Vijaya continues to be open on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 12-6 PM. Her business has weathered the storms of many years and still remains a local treasure in the delightfully rural village of Cobleskill. If you’re fortunate enough to find yourself there, you never know what priceless gifts or tokens you might find. The enduring strength of her business is much like the meaning of her name in Sanskrit, victory indeed.
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