Chhatarpur: Bringing their innovative side to the fore, a group of women is repurposing flowers offered in temples to make incense sticks and 'Gulal in the Chhatarpur district.
With used flowers offered in temples, which often end up as waste, as primary ingredient, these women have been preparing different types of incense sticks, gulal and sambrani cups (also known as dhoop cups) since the days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Their repurposed products are being sold across the country as well as overseas through the online mode.
Bhavna Aggarwal, the director of the group, said, "I drew inspiration for this work from the sermons of my Gurudev, especially the part where he spoke at length about the management of flowers. We took up this work during the pandemic days when many had been rendered unemployed. Women wanted to make a living for themselves and support their households during the pandemic. They were looking for work. That's what gave me the idea to repurpose used flowers in temples and turn them into incense sticks and gulaal."
"I also run a private school. Many women work with us here, while there are others who take care of the schoolchildren. I had a dream to make these women self-reliant and am happy that the initiative has come so far. We collect flowers from temples, which, more often than not, are dumped in rivers, segregate them and turn them into incense sticks, dhoop batti and sambrani cups," she said.
"We have a few direct customers and also supply products to many places across the country through online platforms. Our gulaal is also much sought-after and is made from flowers, Bel Patra (leaf), and vegetables. We have found a market for our products overseas as well. We recently took our products to London, America and Germany through the online platform," Bhavna added.
Buoyed by the response, she now plans to put the district on the map with her initiatives. Currently, the team has 15 women taking the initiative to the far corners of the country and beyond, she added. Rukmani Ahirwar, a co-worker, told ANI that she has been in this work for the last four years, since the pandemic days.
"Since I started working here, running my household has got easier. I have been learning something new every day," she added. (ANI)
