Vocal for Local : Madurai Student Turns Entrepreneur, Turns Waste into Handicraft

No doubt the coronavirus lockdown unleashed a lot of negativity, loss and uncertainties. But what acted as a silver lining was the free time that we could use for self-development, to open up the boxes of memories, dreams and pick up old talents. A college student of Madurai in Tamil Nadu utilised the lockdown to revive her childhood interest in making handicrafts. She has been creating decorative stuff by recycling waste materials. Not only this but through her work, she also became a young budding entrepreneur as she started selling her handicraft items.

Jennifer, who is a college student in her second year, began making decorative stuff in March by creatively redesigning the waste materials like bottles, pistachio shells, chicken feathers, broken glasses, bells, keys and lentils.

Since I was getting bored during the lockdown in March, so I got this idea of creating craftwork out of waste. I started collecting bottles & decorated them with waste material like tissue papers, pistachio shells etc. I want to remember 2020 for my creativity: Jeniffer, Student https://t.co/f5ItLJETCf pic.twitter.com/Zg24anzTLL

— ANI (@ANI) October 10, 2020

Since childhood she was interested in handicraft but owing to studies, growing up and other circumstances, she couldn’t keep up the practice. But coronavirus induced lockdown gave her the free time to rework and revive her lost childhood interest.

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In an interview with ANI, she said, "Since I was getting bored during the lockdown in March, I got this idea of creating craftwork out of waste. I started collecting bottles and decorated them with waste material like tissue papers, pistachio shells, etc.”

“I want to remember 2020 for my creativity,” she added. In the photos shared by ANI, she can be seen converting bottles and vases into antique articles for decorative purpose. Have a look:

Tamil Nadu: A college student from Madurai used #COVID19 induced lockdown to pursue her childhood interest of making handicrafts.
Jennifer has been creating decorative items using waste & recycled material. She is gaining popularity on social media as a young budding entrepreneur pic.twitter.com/V1Ly41lktX

— ANI (@ANI) October 10, 2020

Moreover, when Jennifer posted the pictures of some of her handicraft items on the social media platform, it was flooded with so many responses from the users who loved her art and creativity. Some of her followers even requested her to make some stuff for them and hence began the journey of the young and budding woman entrepreneur. Since then she has been making different handicrafts as per the orders and demands and selling them off to the customers.

Other Women Who Revisited Their Hidden Talents In Lockdown

A girl of Class 8 in Kavalam village in Kerala also turned the gloomy lockdown on its head by using it to learn and ace handicraft skills. Daughter of Kavalam native Venugopal and Priya, Anamika used her creativity to recycle the dried areca nut palms or coconut trees to make beautiful decorative stuff. During the coronavirus lockdown, her school was shut. So she used the free time in the vacation to take YouTube lessons about recycling waste material.

Moreover, a 47-year-old cook, Saroj Didi, also found a way to use the lockdown in a positively. Already a proficient cook working as a domestic help at a residence in Bengaluru, Didi used the lockdown to start her own home-cooked food business, her much-awaited dream. She received much love on social media for her dedication and the delicacies that she cooked. Read the full report here.

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