About Me
The Covid-19 pandemic was a sudden, unexpected and harsh blow that revealed the existing inequalities in our communities. The migrant exodus, as it was termed, flashed across our news channels every day and was soon followed by mass unemployment reports taking its place. I was suddenly reminded of this while watching KBC with my family one evening. The contestant had a heart-breaking ordeal he had suffered due to the severe financial strain of the pandemic. Listening to his story, I began to process that a drop in GDP manifested itself through such ordeals of individuals. This allowed me to understand how financial challenges such as inflation were more than just economic markers for a country and their dire impact on individuals. I realised the suffering families underwent due to widespread unemployment, and I wanted to help.
When the lockdowns lifted, devastated families grew exponentially because of lost income. In addition, some workers who had been stranded during the lockdown or had begun walking back on foot to across states were hesitant about returning to the city without promising work. These circumstances motivated me to identify solutions I might deploy to support them. First, I thought about how my grandmother would find a way to use things she found around the house to meet a seemingly extensive demand I would make as a child. For example, demanding pizza was a frequent affair. Still, instead of ordering fast food, she would use some roti and sabji leftovers from the previous day to present what looked strikingly like a pizza and tasted spectacular! Similarly, I began thinking about how I could use things that are leftovers and offer a satisfactory solution that meets the expectations of job security, income and promising work prospects
And like my grandmother, I found my solution at home. The surplus sandalwood at my father's factory could be repurposed to employ people, packaged and sold. It was just getting collected at the warehouse until its quantity was large enough to process to ensure a better return on investment. Starting with just some trial and error, the optimism picked up as we saw that this could create an employment network that cities needed. And hence my campaign Sunheri Sugandh: India's Tree of Gold, came to life.