Switching back to tradition with ‘Vistaraku’
Hyderabad: The American dream has always been a big part of Telanganaites with many equating it with success and prosperity. However, one couple from the State decided to ditch this dream to come back to their roots and contribute in efforts to save the environment.
Husband-wife duo Venugopal and Madhavi Vippulancha made the against-the-norm decision to come back to Hyderabad in 2003. This decision took them on an unorthodox journey of starting an NGO to educate workers on the segregation of dry and wet waste and also starting a social enterprise called ‘Vistaraku’ that makes plates and bowls from leaves. The couple along with 10 women employees in Komuravelli village of Siddipet district had set up a unit that makes plates and bowls using the Siali leaf sourced from Odisha or Palash leaves that are wildly grown in Telangana.
“We stayed in the US for almost five to six years and before that, we have lived in different countries. While in the US, we realised that we did not want our children to lose their affinity to the Indian culture and we decided to move back to our roots,” says Venugopal, who was born and brought up in Karimnagar and completed his BTech and Masters in Hyderabad.
While staying in Gandipet, they came across a garbage dump yard in the backyard of their gated community that was turning out to be a breeding ground for plastic and causing harm to animals. Having witnessed the death of almost 100 cows from the nearby Gaushala after consuming food wrapped in plastic bags, the husband-wife duo decided to run campaigns and teach the local waste collectors on the advantages of waste segregation. They also set up six processing units in and around the Gandipet area that helps in segregating waste.
“While this was going smoothly, we wanted to do something more for mother earth. That is when we visited the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) wherein we saw this technology that uses leaves to make plates. We lapped up the idea and kick-started our project in February 2019. We already had 25 acres in Siddipet and these Palash leaves were growing wildly which our farmers used to throw away. We thought of using them,” informs Venugopal whose wife and business partner is a pharmaceutical graduate and a certified Yoga trainer.
These biodegradable plates and bowls are made in different sizes ranging from 16 inch, 13 inch, 12 inch, and 11-inch dinner plates, 10 inch, 9 inch, 8 inch and 6-inch breakfast plates, and 6 inch, 4 inch and 3-inch dessert/soup bowls. These plates and bowls are first made in a machine and then hand moulded by the women employed by the company. “We have about 12 of these machines and are currently supplying in supermarkets and also to individual retail customers who give us bulk orders,” Venugopal adds.
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