As kids, we all loved creating crafts made of waste, making pen stands with discarded bangles, or piggy banks using balloons and newspaper mixed with some glue, also do you remember creating showpieces made of paper mache art? Maybe yes! Just like us Aneeza Mushtaq also loved making crafts as a young girl, she loved using paper mache art for making artefacts the most. But unlike us her love for art did not perish with time, In fact, it amplified. She found a soul in her craft and enjoyed this artwork so much that she created a career out of it.
Innovative Business Ideas – of -Paper Mache Art
Mushtaq (35), a native of Bhaderwah town in Jammu & Kashmir’s Doda district, is quickly establishing herself as a successful female entrepreneur. Since registering her Paper mache art startup in March, she has played a crucial role in generating income for 200 village women, most of whom are homemakers and students from humble families.
As a school kid, she was always fascinated by the Kashmiri paper mache artwork and adored the graceful colourful artifacts produced with them but no one could have predicted that this young girl would one day turn her love of art into a business that would not only support women’s empowerment but also build a sustainable future for the next generation.
She had Innovative Business ideas for her paper mache art and She went on to pursue her dream in 2007 by giving an identity to it with her company named” Jammu paper mache”. By avoiding the use of plastic or synthetic colours, she wants to make it entirely eco-friendly. Mushtaq makes paper mache paste out of egg shells, walnut shells, and empty glass bottles.
Self-motivation Is The Key
Like most endeavours, Mushtaq faced numerous obstacles along the way. She claims that people were reticent to accept any changes or capitalistic tampering with their traditional art forms while they didn’t realize that she was doing it all to advance this art form. People around her demoralized her by saying that her efforts are in vain and no one outside the kin really understand this kind of art. but she stood in from of her art like a wall of protection. she denied giving up.
Even the Jammu Kashmir crafts department officials at first refused to register her creations. However, she remained steadfast until the director of startup companies at SKUAST (Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology) J&k saw her goods in an exhibition at their campus in Chatha and adored it for the afresh touch to the native artform. They encouraged her and it was after this that she got her startup registered, but with a change in her initial idea because she was made to call her startup the “Jammu Paper-Mache” at the suggestion of this advisory body.
She initially found no buyers for her handmade creations, and it was difficult to make a business base from her lowly connected village in j&K to the rest of the city but it is said where there is a while there is a way. She Kept her spirits up to pursue her lifelong goal of earning a living from paper mache art by using her eco-friendly innovative business ideas, today she is not only making a profit but also providing a living to many women in her locality.
She Is The Power Behind Many
Mushtaq, a mom of a seven-year-old boy, received a lot of attention over the past seven months and took part in over 25 exhibitions across the nation, including Mumbai, Goa Chandigarh, Suraj-Kund, Delhi, and the Army’s Sangam festival.
She is significantly assisting women in her locality in becoming financially independent in addition to making a good living for herself by giving them training. Homemakers and students who are being trained are beaming with pride at their newly found success and thank their role models for teaching them and inspiring them to start believing in themselves.
Results Of Hard Work
Started in 2021, The “Kar-khan-dar” Scheme, by the government to encourage handicrafts in Jammu & Kashmir to acknowledge the Jammu Paper-Mache art company. It has received government approval after proving its worth, and all trainees would be eligible for a monthly stipend of Rs 2,000.
Tho the government was not supportive in the initial phase of this startup but now not just the government but each and everyone understands what marvel, Mushtaq has achieved with her passion and love for paper mache art. All the luck to her Innovative Business ideas and her company.
If you loved reading this story, you could also read Entrepreneur Earns Rs 2 Lakh/Month By Making Eco-Friendly Products; Empowers Local Artisans
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