After returning from America, he started making petals. Inspiration Story For World
Returning to their hometowns, Madhavi and Venugopal also employed 7 village girls in their business.
Makes 7,000 plates a day, only 3 lakh business in first year, hopes of 20 lakh turnover this year
Madhavi, a Masters in Pharmacy and Genetics, and Venugopal, a Mechanical Engineer, are originally from Hyderabad. Prior to 2003, the couple lived in Bangkok, Malaysia, Singapore and then the United States due to their jobs. As the children got older, they felt that if the children were brought up abroad, they could integrate into Indian culture. They decided to return to their homeland. She moved to Hyderabad in 2003.
One day after returning to Hyderabad, Madhavi saw a pile of plastic plate-fences outside her society, where some cows were looking for food. A few days later it was realized that a cow had died due to eating plastic along with the meal. The incident saddened them both, after which they came up with the idea of an eco-friendly alternative to plastic plate-fences.
Thus in 2019 they started Vistraku, where Madhavi and Venu are contributing to the protection of the environment by making 7 types of eco-friendly plates and fences from the leaves including khakra. In Telugu, Visatraku means thin.
Returned from America and took 25 acres of land, where he planted 12 thousand kinds of fruit trees
"After returning from the US, we took 25 acres of land in Siddipet, Telangana with our savings," says Madhavi. Here we planted more than 12 thousand trees of more than 30 types of fruits. We frequented the farm. We also have a lot of khakra trees in our farm and one day in a conversation my mother said that khakra leaves were used to make leaves. After which Venu and I collected some leaves of Palash and tried to make a plate out of them. We had success but the plates were too small. '
"I came to know from a Facebook group that people from the tribal community in Orissa still make leafy leaves in this way and they call it khalipatra," says Venugopal, an environmentalist. It was then realized that eco-friendly petals, vadka are still made today. But its use has dwindled and has been replaced by single-use plastic crockery.
After which I talked to many naturopaths about this and they said that eating on khakra leaves has a good effect not only on the environment but also on our health. When food is served in the pan, a natural flavor is added to the food and it also keeps the worms away.
Knowing this, Venugopal approached a supplier from Orissa who was working for the upliftment of tribal communities. Now they order khakra leaves from Orissa as well as Telangana. At present, they have set up a unit in their farm to make leaf plates made from this leaf, where they make plates and fences.
Venu and Madhavi started marketing these eco-friendly, sustainable and natural plates from their own society. All the friends and relatives who used these plates in one of their programs wrote about this on social media and thus their initiative started getting recognition. Venugopal says that now his products go to India as well as the US and Germany. He says people abroad are more aware of environmental protection than India
Madhavi contracted breast cancer in 2010, beating cancer by increasing her proximity to the environment
"I found out in 2010 that I had breast cancer. I was worried about how I could get cancer," says Madhavi. At the time I was doing yoga camps at three places. After which I suddenly felt like I was going to be away from my family. My kids were in 10th grade at the time and I didn't want to put the burden of my illness on them, but I wanted to spend more and more time with them all. '
It was in my mind that the cancer was caused to me by pollution. After which I decided that we would cultivate and we planted many vegetable and fruit plants on our farm. We started eating only grains, fruits and vegetables grown here. I beat cancer with a smile but this trip taught me a lot and this is why I came closer to the environment. '
Madhavi and Venugopal say they never thought about a startup, but decided to move on when they felt they could contribute to environmental protection through Visakraku. Initially they had many difficulties in setting up the unit but they did not give up.
Only 3 lakh business was done in the first year, expecting a turnover of 20 lakh this year
Says Venugopal, 'It's only been two years since Vistraku started. In the first year, a business worth Rs 3 lakh was done with great difficulty. But in this financial year, we will have done business worth Rs 20 lakh. So far, the business has gone up to Rs 15 lakh. Just last month we got a big order from the US and we sent a container of goods to the US. '
7 girls from the village are working in Madhavi and Venu units. The unit produces about 7,000 leaf plates and fences every day. Regarding the process, Venugopal says that first the leaves are sewn with food grade thread and then placed under the machine with food grade cardboard.
The temperature of the machine is between 60-90 degrees centigrade and it is pressurized for 15 seconds which gives these leaves the shape of a plate. Madhavi's aim is to bring back the culture of eating on the plateau and play an important role in making people aware of environmental protection.
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