I don’t want to make money, I just want to be wonderful.” — Marilyn Monroe. That’s exactly what Angana Prasad and Indrajit Sinha think when it comes to making big bucks by trading their creativity. Putting the moolah aside, these youngsters have dared to think differently.Twenty-one-year-old Angana Prasad, a Delhi University graduate, who, is presently studying in the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD) started her brand ‘Fireflies’ along with co-founder Samriddhi Kukreja in October, 2010, while Indrajit Sinha (24), a Assam Agricultural University graduate (a student of RGNIYD). launched his brand ‘Impressions’ three years ago. Initially, he made personalised graphic cards. However, it was only four months ago that he had switched to T-shirt painting.It’s surprising how both the students kick-started their business with a similar aim – to help the helpless and the needy. We have all grown up listening to stories of donations by celebrities or politicians, but how often do we come across genuine people like these kids. “Once, we had a session with Dr Abdul Kalam at RGNIYD. I had gifted him a portrait of himself that day. It was his suggestion of making my art a means of social change that inspired me to go for this ‘paint for a cause’ initiative. T-shirt painting happened to be the most convenient way for me to reach out to people,” says Indrajit. Well, Angana’s side of the story is a bit different. While in high school, she made and sold handmade items, the proceeds of which were used for buying food for people living in a nearby shelter home. Apart from being thoughtful, these youngsters are fearless too. They weren’t afraid of the business taking a nose dive and their investment going down the drain. While Indrajit states, “ The investment amount wasn’t huge, so we had nothing to lose,” Angana adds, “Fireflies wasn’t started off as a business venture. After staying in Delhi for three years, adjusting in Chennai was a bit difficult. A lot of negativity followed and so, I began channelising my negative energies towards something constructive. I started making cards.” Shortly after delivering her first order successfully, she identified a shelter home in the neighbourhood and started off by using her profits for creating smiles. As the orders picked up, people started customising their requests, and the young entrepreneur admits that the question of being successful or not never really crossed her mind. Asked about collaborating with NGOs, Angana states, “We have had some tempting offers but we did not want to lose focus on our studies, and commercialising would mean making bigger money, and somewhere down the line, there lies a threat of deviating from the actual reason that got us started.” Indrajit wishes to conduct T-shirt painting workshops for under-privileged youth while Angana is keen on holding paper jewellery making sessions for young girls. Coming up next, from Fireflies is their first ever collection of recycled paper jewellery on September 1, while Impressions will soon be launching its painted canvas shoes. (For details, call Indrajit Sinha at 8940763757 and Angana Prasad at 7639546160.)
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