I woke up early that day and it was raining outside, my father who is a police officer had to go out of the town to attend his duty call. I also had to stay indoors as the ground was all wet, so I went to the kitchen and watched my mom prepare food for my father, suddenly she grabbed a shiny silver foil and started packing his lunch in it. I grabbed one of the parathas wrapped in that shiny foil and was about to chew it. Wait!! Shouted my mom, you can’t eat this, it is made of aluminium and it is used to keep the food warm as it acts as an insulator for heat. OOOOhhh!! I felt like the kid scientist from Dexter’s lab and that was the day I got initiated to Freshwrapp. I was about 7 years old at that time and since then mobile phones have metamorph from us pressing the keys to touch screens, covering distances on wheels to flying high in planes from Dada to Dhoni, the times really have been changing but Freshwrapp was there with us keeping our food warm, whether prepared by mom or purchased from a vendor. Cut to the future I am travelling on a train looking forward to start my MBA journey with IIFT, little tensed, little excited, little nervous. Now the tables have turned, life has come 360 degrees now my mom has cooked my favourite mix veg paranthas for the journey, It has started raining again as I try to gauge at the scenes outside the window and there is a girl who has occupied the seat next to me. I decide to kill the butterflies in my stomach by gorging on those delicious paranthas, I asked the girl if she wants to grab a bite, she asked me “Are they still hot?” I said, “Of course, they are packed in Freshwrapp.”
Overcoming the challenge
After completing my engineering I got an amazing opportunity to work with TATA Trusts in a joint venture with Ministry of drinking water and sanitation on the renowned Swachh Bharat Mission. I was working in Anuppur, Madhya Pradesh with Zila Panchayat under the aegis of District Collector. The primary challenge I faced in the district was to improve the ODF (open defecation free) numbers in the tribal area of Pushprajgarh which is plagued by the moonshine epidemic and is also a home for many local nomadic tribes. When I landed here, the district had only managed to build just one ‘Pradhanmantri Awaas’ despite releasing the funds on time which showcased the struggle officials face while working in this area. So the challenge for me and my colleagues was to build 1,25,836 IHHL’s (Individual household latrines) in this area before 2019. The 2019 election was the deadline for Swachh Bharat Mission and we needed to further progress towards ODF plus which included waste treatment, facilities for proper waste disposal and sewage systems in the villages. Solving people’s problem is my biggest drive and I took on this challenge to change their mindset and perception by devising community-led total sanitation plan which required the participation of the entire village. Swachh Bharat Mission became a festival in Anuppur and the target was achieved swiftly.