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After her kids went to school, Poonam Singh felt an amazing sense of loneliness. Married at 18, the Gurgaon resident confronted the proverbial ‘Empty Nest Syndrome’. She had many desires, however most remained unfulfilled as she remained tied within the intricacies of on a regular basis life.
Alone, depressed and looking for her id, her mom suggested her to go to a temple. Searching for solace, she headed to a close-by temple and provided some flowers to the deity. What occurred subsequent shocked her. The flowers have been thrown right into a rubbish bin with out even being saved on the deity’s ft.
As she sat on the temple for some time, she observed that each one flowers confronted the identical destiny. Disturbed by this, the then 37-year-old returned dwelling and researched about what occurs to flower waste at temples. An Worldwide Journal for Analysis in Utilized Science & Engineering Know-how report states that yearly, roughly eight million tonnes of waste flowers are dumped in Indian rivers. Poonam provides that floral waste reportedly accounts for 16 p.c of the river pollution.
Poonam had discovered her calling and got down to discover methods to profit from floral waste. In June 2019, she arrange Aaruhi Enterprises along with her pal Pinki Yadav, and began making incense sticks, dhoop sticks, diyas, idols and extra, utilizing floral waste.
Each month, her enterprise recycles 1,000 kg of floral waste and earns greater than Rs 2 lakh. The entrepreneur, now 41, has additionally offered coaching to over 3,000 girls on making these merchandise utilizing floral waste, enabling them to profit from waste.
How the enterprise began
Poonam harboured desires of turning into a physician, however life had different plans. Earlier than she might full her schooling, she was married. Quickly, she had two kids and life revolved round them. As the kids began college, Poonam slowly restarted her schooling and pursued a BEd (Bachelor of Training) diploma and entered a trainer coaching programme.
Nevertheless, she couldn’t pursue a profession as a trainer. Busy with family chores and caring for her household, she didn’t discover the time to socialize or construct a powerful pal’s circle. So when her kids left for hostel in 2018, she determined to reclaim her life and construct a greater future for the approaching generations.
She virtually went by way of an existential disaster, she shares.
“I simply didn’t know what to do. What was the aim of my life? I used to be depressed, alone, and not using a clear trajectory of life. My mom requested me to go to a temple as she felt it might make me joyful. On the similar time, Pinky, too, was going by way of a troublesome time and requested me if we might do one thing collectively,” shares Poonam with The Higher India.
As highlighted above, she discovered her reply on the temple that modified her life.
“I discovered that tonnes of flowers have been being dumped into the river day by day. I discovered an organization that was recycling flowers and requested for his or her assist. They requested for my profile and stated that they’d let me know in the event that they deemed it match,” she provides.
Their reply fuelled Poonam’s need additional and cemented her need to search for options of her personal. She was now not going to let different folks’s opinions outline her self-worth.
As she appeared for what she might make with recycled floral waste, she got here throughout a small enterprise close to her home who used cow dung powder to make incense sticks. May she do the identical with flowers?
In a small area offered by her brother, Poonam arrange her unit. From June 2019, she’s going to stand up at 5 am and go to temples close to her residence. There, she would request the workers to offer her the waste flowers. Some obliged, however they have been additionally combined with different waste.
By 9 am, she introduced all of the waste in her automobile, segregated it and dried it below the solar. In hopes of with the ability to experiment with these dried flowers, she confronted her first hurdle.
“After drying the flowers for nearly two months, I used to be going to powder them. I even purchased a pulverizer machine, however I didn’t issue within the climate, and the flowers received drenched within the rainfall. All my flowers have been spoiled and I needed to begin once more,” shares Poonam.
Not one to surrender, she visited many temples once more, and repeated the entire course of. This time, she was capable of efficiently dry and powder the flowers. Utilizing these powdered flowers, ghee, ‘havan’ merchandise, and different substances, she tried her hand at making dhoop sticks. By way of some permutations and mixtures, and hours of working, she discovered the profitable mixture of 16 herbs someday in September 2019.
“It was Janmashtami 2019. I took these dhoop sticks and gave them to the temple priest who supported me. He was so joyful and promised to offer me segregated floral waste,” smiles the entrepreneur.
Having initially invested her financial savings into the enterprise, Poonam additionally took a Mudra mortgage to help her enterprise.
She claims that her merchandise are natural and made with virtually 80 p.c floral waste. In contrast to different incense and dhoop sticks, Aaruhi merchandise don’t have charcoal in them.
Creating 3,000 ‘Flower Recyclers’
Now that step one was sorted, the subsequent step was promoting it. However the place would she promote it? She determined to arrange a stall at Dilli Haat and at different exhibitions.
“The response was actually good on the first stall I arrange at Dilli Haat. Some academics visited one of many exhibitions and wished to see my manufacturing unit. Put up that, they invited me to talk to their college students,” provides Poonam.
Simply as issues began trying up, she was hit by one other roadblock – the COVID-19 pandemic. With the whole nation shut, there have been no exhibitions too. Poonam determined to show this into a chance. She began promoting her merchandise on-line by way of her web site, Whatsapp and Fb.
“When one door shuts, one other one opens. Together with creating an internet presence, I additionally labored on constructing an area by way of which I ship talks and conduct skill-based programmes to generate a livelihood for underprivileged girls. It’s referred to as the Save Prithvi Basis,” she provides.
Poonam is now a grasp coach at Khadi India, Nationwide Cooperative Union of India, and has carried out coaching programmes with many authorities organisations like Krishi Vigyan Kendras in Jammu, the agricultural growth programme and extra. She has skilled over 3,000 girls and confirmed them a approach to turn into self-reliant, whereas serving to the surroundings.
She collects floral waste from over 15 temples in Delhi-NCR at this time and will get virtually 100 kg of waste each three days. Apart from dhoop, which is her bestseller, she makes idols and air fresheners. Her merchandise vary from Rs 50-350, incomes her a month-to-month revenue of Rs 2 lakh. Her dhoop stand and packaging too, is comprised of waste. She employs 5 girls at her unit, who she calls the ‘flower recyclers’.
For Poonam, this enterprise helped her construct her id and make a distinction within the surroundings and lives of numerous girls. Her dream is to make India a rustic the place not even one spiritual place throws flowers within the rubbish.
To all girls like her, seeking to fulfil their dream, she says, “All of us get one alternative in life to carve a path for ourselves. Don’t miss it. Stay for your self and do what makes you content. Step one is all the time troublesome, however when you’ve taken it, there isn’t any trying again,” she says.
Aaruhi Enterprise merchandise will quickly be accessible on Amazon and Flipkart. You may as well buy them by way of the web site.
(Edited by Padmashree Pande; All images courtesy Poonam Singh)
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