Kochi: One score students under the students' council of Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology (RSET), Kakkanad, here are on a high being able to show a new path for living for the flood-hit Manjali villagers near Aluva.
They have designed a lollipop out of the famed Manjaliy halwa and are marketing them to let the 50 odd families engaged in making the halwa find a new source of earning.
The initiative comes close on the heels of making of Chekkutty dolls by different outfits including students and techies from Chendamangalam handloom clothes soiled in the floods and marketing them to financially support the weaving families and others in the trade.
The idea hit the Rajagiri students after 350 of them plunged into the initiative 'Let's Clean Ernakulam' to clean the houses in the flood-hit areas. They planned it after completing their mission of rescue and relief in the floods.
“We realised the magnitude of destruction to the plantain farms and the loss to the halwa and biriyani business in families, the two specialties there, when we visited Manjali for the mission,” said Alwin Chris Antony, student co-ordinator. “Then we hit on the idea of making lollipops out of the halwas so that they can be supported. We made 600 of them in three days. We took a stall at Inflore business fest conducted by Rajagiri College of Business Studies (RCBS) last Friday and Saturday and sold the 600 lollipos which together weighed 30 kg of halwa. We had purchased 50 kg of halwa from them and it came as a great financial support to them.”
The students designed single flavor, double flavor and tricolor lollipops; the Manjali special with green chilli flavor was an instant hit. “The banana and rice flavor also attracted buyers,” said students' council chairman Peter M. John. “We could notch above breakeven and now we plan a bigger stall during our arts fest in November. We are also looking for engaging the villagers for large scale production since we are getting more enquiries. We also plan halwa toffees.”
