Maria's humanitarian dream

- Nowadays-Preeti Shah

- The idea of ​​making products from coconut husk became so entrenched in her mind that she left her job in Mumbai and came to Thrissur and started working under the brand name 'Thenga'.

Maria Kuriakos, who was born in Thrissur, Kerala, studied in Mumbai and graduated with a degree in Economics. Then in 2013 he did a master's degree in business administration. After completing his studies, he got a good job in a multinational company with a high salary, but during this time many thoughts and ideas were taking shape in his mind. This was because he had dreamed of starting his own business from an early age. She got a job in the corporate sector, but also worked with an organization that makes sanitary pads for women living in the slums of Mumbai.

In such a state of mind, she went to her hometown Thrissur and visited the Coconut Oil Mill there. He found that the largest crop in his region was coconut. Every part of the coconut, its water, the husk, the sock and the husk - all could be used, but he saw that the coconut husks were thrown away. In Kerala, it was used to make spoons and other cutlery items from coconut husks, but due to lack of variety, its demand in the market started declining.

The artisans who made such items from coconut husks also turned to the construction and jewelery industries for their livelihood. Maria Kuriakos saw that this traditionally run art would be forgotten going forward. If it is to be kept alive, it must be made with new methods and new types of products.

The idea of ​​making products from coconut husk became so ingrained in her mind that she left her job in Mumbai and came to Thrissur and started working under the brand name 'Thenga'. 'Thenga' in Malayalam means coconut. He went to Kottayam, Kodangalur and Wayanad and met the artisans.

He saw that if anything was to be made from a coconut sock, a certain type of machinery was needed to smooth the sock from the inside out. He was accompanied by his father of 6 years, a mechanical engineer, Varu Kuriakos. They first understood the machinery and then bought the spare parts and built the machine at a lower cost in a few days. Mother Jolly Kuriakos helped him find coconuts of different sizes.

Initially, he made a smooth bowl, which could hold 150 to 200 milliliters of liquid. He laser-printed the 'Thenga' logo on the wood on this bowl and then the bowl made of coconut husk is polished with chemical varnish. Instead Maria polished with Coprale oil only. This is how he started selling eco-friendly bowls. Its products received a very good and positive welcome. If a customer complains that it is cracked during delivery, Maria replaces it immediately without taking any money.

As Maria received orders, it became a daunting task for her to get a sock of the same size. She used to go to Coprale oil mill and get socks. He had the full cooperation of his parents in home-made products, but he had less time for new products and marketing, so he approached the artisans and got them a job.

Today twelve artisans work on five units of such production in the state. Thenga makes four sized bowls. Bowls that can hold 150 ml to 200 ml of liquid are sold at a price of Rs 20 to Rs 50. It is difficult to get the right size sock for this.

In addition to bowls, he makes tea-coffee cups, hanging planters, candle holders and other cutlery items. It makes more than eight thousand products from Kachli and continues to receive orders from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. He also wants to sell his products in Germany soon. Maria, who does not use plastic and insists on a healthy nutritious diet, hopes that no one will eat fast food in her bowl.

Never forget your past!

... I got a check of four and a half lakh rupees, it was xeroxed before depositing the check. Which he still has today. He took all the money from the bank and went home and made the bed ...

Nitin Godse was born in a middle class family in Washer village in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. 15 km from Mumbai. In this remote village, Nitin's father, Co. He worked as a salesman in an operative store and had a salary of four hundred rupees a month. The financial situation of the house was so normal that when Nitin was studying in 6th standard, he started working on the farm for his pocket money.

He studied in a Marathi medium school and Savitri Phule obtained a bachelor's degree in 12th general science from Pune University. 6-year-old Nitin Godse says he never wore shoes until he graduated.

After completing his studies, he started his own business by taking a loan from a bank, but did not succeed. He then worked as a supervisor at Orke Silk Mill in Navi Mumbai for five months. After working in the Technova Imaging System for six months, he felt it was necessary to study for an MBA.

So he got admission in the Institute of Business Management and Administration at Loni near Pune. 12 in MBA. Finished and came to Mumbai. Here he got a job in a company selling packed vegetables with a salary of three thousand rupees, but the company closed down. Nitin Godse continued to struggle until he found success in the ups and downs of life, but success was still a long way off.

In 19, a man asked him to run a business and he started working with a salary of four thousand rupees, saying that he would make him a partner in the future. For that he went to the Agricultural Produce Market in Vashi at 4.30 in the morning. Coming to Andheri Mahakali outlet with vegetables at eight o'clock. Here it was packed with the date of sending and its price sticker. Spending the whole day on a carrot and a samosa and two loaves of bread for breakfast in a bag and drinking plenty of water to fill his stomach.

At six o'clock in the evening the vegetables that had grown were given to the small hotels at half price and reached home late at night. The same routine continued again in the morning. After such hard work the man refused to make a partner. So Nitin Godse was beset by depression and did not do any work for two months. Sleeping at home all day. One of his friends hired Nitin. Which became a landmark in his life.

Span Gas worked for two years for ten thousand rupees a month. The Vashi-based company was distributing LPG appliances, gas valves, cylinder regulators. During its time its annual turnover increased from two lakhs to twenty lakhs. Not agreeing with the management, he resigned, but by then he had decided to start his own company.

In 18 he founded Excel Engineering. He received an order for a flow meter to be used in a gas pipe. He took ten thousand rupees from his father, got a telephone, got a VAT certificate and printed a letter-head. The first order made a profit of twelve hundred rupees.

Is. In 2000, an order of Rs 25,000 was received from the Department of Atomic Energy. Naval Materials Research Laboratory placed a large order for the construction of a gas pipeline. A check for Rs 4.5 lakh was received, which was xeroxed before it was deposited. Which he still has today.

Is. In the first year of 2000, his company had a turnover of five lakhs. Sixty employees were working in 2007 with a turnover of Rs 4.5 crore. Forty crore in 2015 and today the turnover is fifty crore. Excel Gas & Equipment Pvt. Ltd. has an office space of 2,000 square feet in Navi Mumbai. There are plans to build a chemical plant in the future, with a turnover of Rs 6,000 crore over the next 15 years.

Nitin Godse has not forgotten his past. He says with a smile that if given a chance I can still do vegetable business today.