A Scent That Meant He Was Home
I am Sahad, born and raised in a middle-class family in Kerala. My father worked abroad throughout my childhood, coming home only once every four or five years. But whenever he returned, he stayed for months — and his arrival always filled our home with a scent I can never forget.
As a child in 2nd standard, I knew he was home even before opening the door. The fragrance he used — One Man Show — filled every corner of our house. That scent became a symbol of joy, comfort, and childhood excitement. Even today, when I smell it, I am transported back to those precious moments.
Years passed, and every time he returned, he brought a new perfume — Jacques Bogart Silver Scent, Royal Mirage, Shalis. Each one created new excitement in me. At that time, perfumes were not something you bought locally. They were treasures brought from abroad.
From Attars to A Dream
During my college years, my cousin Faijas walked in one day smelling amazing. The scent was new to me — Kashmiri Oud. He applied it on me, and I fell in love instantly. Days later he gifted me the same attar. Soon, friends were gifting me fragrances because they knew my craze.
With my first part-time earnings, I visited Markaz Complex in Calicut — a perfume hub — and bought four attars. I carried them everywhere, applying them on friends and teaching them the differences. My passion was growing quietly, but relentlessly.
From Dubai to Malaysia to China to the US — every country I lived in, every place I worked, I found myself drawn to fragrances. Smelling them in malls when I couldn't afford them. Collecting them when I could. My wife still says the Burberry perfume I bought at the airport during our Nikkah reminds her of our early days together.
A Joke That Changed Everything
During Covid, I returned home from the US and found myself jobless for months. On a trip to Bangalore, I bought attars from a shop called Aroma. Back home, I applied each one on friends and explained the notes the way I always did.
My friend Safad laughed and said: "If you have this much craze for fragrance, why don't you start a business with it?"
That joke changed everything.
I started studying perfumery seriously. I borrowed ₹20,000 from a friend — used ₹13,000 for a home loan payment and the remaining ₹7,000 to buy oils and attar bottles.
I made a logo, simple packaging, and created an Instagram page. On day one, I gained 100 followers.
That ₹7,000 investment is where Miros Fragrance was born.
Attars in a Scooter.
Delivered Personally.
I kept attars inside my scooter and traveled everywhere to sell them. I visited shops, delivered even the smallest orders personally, and slowly built trust — one customer at a time.
I experimented with creating my own perfumes. In the beginning, every attempt failed — the scents didn't last. But I kept experimenting every day. Finally, after continuous trial and error, I created my first long-lasting perfume.
My niece joined me and we worked from home — mixing, packing, and delivering. I could only pay him ₹1,300 a month. Yet those were some of our happiest days.
Our online customers kept asking for a place to try fragrances physically. One day, while passing Peppergrey, I met a friend who told me they were setting up a perfume counter. The next day, I went with my box of attars — and they said yes. Peppergrey gave Miros its identity.
Five Years Later.
One Exclusive Showroom.
As orders grew, we shifted production to a small office near the beach. Customers kept requesting a dedicated store. I waited for the right moment.
After five long years of hustle, struggle, learning, and growth — the first exclusive Miros showroom opened in Kozhikode.
Miros Fragrance stands today not just as a brand, but as a story of childhood memories, passion for scents, hard work, sacrifice, consistency, and customers who trusted us even when they couldn't smell the product online.
