Sister'hud' of pickling portions

Looking to do your bit for the state, women empowerment and rural employment all in one? Three young Bengalureans are doing their bit and helping you do so as well — all you have to do is buy new pickles! Confused? The Hudli Project started by Amit Vadavi, Adarsh Muthana and Pronoy Roy, is an exciting initiative which employs women in the Hudli village of Karnataka, to make pickles which are then delivered to subscribers all over India. We talk to the trio, for more on this interesting initiative...

Working to solve business problems at Mu-Sigma, brought the trio together. “Our jobs entailed us to solve business problems for retailers in the states.

But we were interested in doing some soul searching and wanted to find some meaning in our lives. We heard giving back really helps,” says Amit, simply. Then how did The Hudli Project come about, we ask. “My grandparents are based in Belgaum and Hudli is only an hour away from there. They have a khadi gram there, where they manufacture khadi products, soaps and aggarbattis, apart from pickles,” continues Amit.

Then why pickles? “Women are the only ones who are employed in manufacturing pickles in a place which lacks infrastructure. So through this, we are creating a platform for women empowerment as well as rural employment,” reveals Adarsh.

The trio who quit their jobs to start this venture, reveal that their families took it quite positively. “They’re not against it, but are passively supportive. As long as we can make ends meet, they’re good,” laughs Amit. The question on everybody's minds though, is that won’t two jars of pickle for 12 months be just too much?

“The idea behind this is that, if ketchup can be eaten with parathas, why can’t pickle be had with noodles? We consume ketchup with almost every meal — but it’s a foreign good. Why not consume more of Indian goods instead? And technically speaking, the pickle isn’t too much! We did the math and it actually falls short!” exclaims 24-year-old Adarsh. And while they are currently focusing on producing pickles, they do plan to explore more options to encourage rural employment. So get those khakadas and parathas ready – all for guaranteeing the wages of women of course!