Art, artisans, profit...mantra of this social start-up
The seeds of the company were sown during the trio's impromptu trip to Mysuru in March this year.
Striving to create a fair market for artisans, a trio of youngsters from the city has developed a social entrepreneurial platform – Surita – to reach out to artisans across the country. The company, based in the city and run by undergraduate students, has bases in Channapatna, Jaipur and New Delhi. Working exclusively with artisans who are not yet highly established in the field, the company is trying to ensure safe work conditions, better opportunities and empowerment of artisans and communities.
The seeds of the company were sown during the trio’s impromptu trip to Mysuru in March this year. They had a brief interaction with the artisans at Channapatna and that gave birth to Surita, which can now possibly reach out to thousands of such artisans across the country. “The trip, our social outreach backgrounds and similar ideologies made us discuss the prospect and immediately we started researching on the subject,” said Rahul Prasad, a final-year social work student at St. Joseph’s College, Langford Road.
All the three, including his partners Ujjwal Singh Rajput, a science student, and Shaktipal Singh Deora, a final year commerce student, want to change the lives of artisans and their own through the start-up.
The trio explains that they are driven to make most of the opportunity and want to bridge the gap between the artisans, public and the unorganised market. “Creative minds from rural areas and villages need the right exposure for their unique and dedicated work. While their products are sold for a high price in cities, they get a pittance, which is unfair. A platform to encourage fair trade is needed and a good network of NGOs and orphanages will meet that end, and we will be the fair middlemen with social empathy,” they said.
For instance, a pen stand that is sold directly by the makers next to Mysuru-Bengaluru highway costs Rs 75, but when it reaches Bengaluru, it gets a price tag of Rs 300. Surita’s market research revealed that the price gap is huge and unfair, with the middlemen or the supply chain gaining way more than the creators. “Creative work deserves more respect and acknowledgment. Each piece of work, be it a clay pot, a pen stand or hand-made jewellery, represents the culture and community of the maker,” said Rahul, who chose social work over engineering studies and career.
On what led to their choice of Channapatna, Jaipur and Delhi as their primary cities to operate from, they said, “Channapatna is known as ‘City of Toys,’ and we want to help the city gain more resources and brand name for their products. Jaipur is the actual home of all street jewellery that is sold across the country. Delhi is the market hub which has the best mix of populations from different parts of the country.”
The company is also looking at popularising the main skill of a particular town or a hamlet as its own identity. This will help empower the artisans and bring them better recognition, leading to their economic and social development.
The two-month-old social start-up now hopes to reach out to 15 more cities by 2025. The team is also focusing on rural and women empowerment. “Each artisan goes through a lot of pain to ensure that he creates the best product, even when optimal acknowledgment is far from reality. This too adds to our responsibility,” Rahul said.
The company’s name is derived after melding Sunita (name of Ujjwal’s mother) and Rita (name of Rahul’s mother).