Global IndianstoryKheyti to Phool: 5 Indian green startups to look out for in 2023

Kheyti to Phool: 5 Indian green startups to look out for in 2023

Compiled by: Charu Thakur

(January 5, 2023) PM Modi’s LiFE Movement (Lifestyle for Environment) was the theme of the Indian pavilion at the COP27 in Egypt last year, and it speaks volumes about India’s efforts toward sustainable living. Taking this vision forward is a lineup of green startups that are working on ways to make the earth greener.

Global Indian turns the spotlight on some green startups which have sustainability at the core of their value systems, and are ready to shift the paradigm in 2023.

Kheyti

Winning Prince William’s Earthshot Prize in December 2022 was nothing short of a watershed moment for Khyeti as the spotlight was suddenly turned on the Indian startup, that designed the “greenhouse-in-a-box” for small hold farmers. With India home to 100 million small-hold farmers and one of the most climate-affected nations in the world, the startup helps reduce costs, increase yields and protect livelihoods in a region on the frontlines of climate change. Kheyti also trains and supports farmers to ensure their greenhouse is as effective as possible.

Kheyti’s Kaushik Kappagantulu with the Earthshot Prize 2022

“We are honoured to be recognised by The Earthshot Prize this year. The world depends on its small-hold farmers and yet their lives are amongst the hardest on earth. Our Greenhouse-in-a-Box is empowering farmers in India today. The steps we have already taken at Kheyti are now building to change farmers’ lives at scale,” said Kaushik Kappagantulu, co-founder, Kheyti.

Founded in 2015 in Hyderabad, it is currently working with 1000 farmers in six Indian states and aims to reach 50,000 farmers by 2027.

Phool

Ever wondered what happens to the flowers offered to the Gods in temples and mosques across the country? Well, the floral waste mostly makes its way to either dumping yards or rivers in the vicinity, adding to the pollution. It was at one such ghat in Kanpur that Ankit Agarwal, a native and an engineering student, had an epiphany. That watershed moment changed it all and gave birth to India’s first biomaterial startup Phool in 2017, which five years later, became one of the finalists at the Earthshot Prize 2022.

Ankit Agarwal and Prateek Kumar, the co-founders of Phool

The Kanpur-based startup accumulates floral waste from temples in Uttar Pradesh, including the biggest temple, Kashi Vishwanath, averting 13 tonnes of waste flowers and toxic chemicals from reaching the river every day. The waste is then handcrafted into charcoal-free incense sticks and essential oils through ‘flower cycling’ technology by women from Dalit communities that the startup has employed. Moreover, they convert the floral waste into a material “that behaves exactly like animal leather” – Fleather.

“Fleather solves multiple problems. First, there is the deep environmental footprint of animal leather. Second is the inhumane animal slaughtering. The third is the pollution caused by ceremonial flowers in rivers in India,” says Ankit Agarwal, the founder of Phool, which has now found a new home in Bodhgaya.

Green startup | Phool

With three-fold growth in just two years, it has garnered interest from marquee investors, having raised $8 million in a funding round from Sixth Sense Ventures in April 2022, which the company will use to scale up operations and ramp up R&D efforts to make animal leather obsolete.

Takachar

Each year, Delhi is covered in a thick layer of smog during the onset of winter, courtesy of the unabashed stubble burning in areas of Punjab and Haryana. Delhi-based Vidyut Mohan is on a mission to cut through the thick haze with Takachar, a startup that’s fighting climate change by transforming massive amounts of waste biomass into marketable products. Started in 2018 by Vidyut and Kevin Kung, Takachar turns agricultural waste biomass into usable fuel and fertiliser, while reducing air pollution.

Takachar won the 2021 Earthshot Prize.

Takachar, which impacts four UN Sustainable Development Goals – Responsible Consumption and Production (12), Climate Action (13), Decent Work and Economic Growth (4), and No Poverty (1), is on a mission to fight climate change and create a livelihood for the rural population. The initiative made Vidyut earn a spot in Forbes 30 Under 30, and won him the Young Champions of the Earth 2020 award and the Earthshot Prize 2021, also known as Eco Oscars, under the Clean Our Air category.

“I have always been environmentally conscious growing up, and being passionate about energy access, I wanted to do something that not only creates income opportunities for the poor communities but also protects the environment,” Vidyut told Global Indian.

Banyan Nation

While pursuing a degree at Columbia Business School in 2013, Mani Vajipeyajula was aware of India’s environmental crisis – much of which was triggered by non-recycled plastic. He knew he had to find a solution to the looming waste crisis plaguing Indian cities, and from that germinated the idea of Banyan Nation – a startup that helps global brands use more recycled plastic instead of virgin plastic in mainstream products, thus enabling reuse in the manufacturing process.

Mani Vajipeyajula and Rajkiran Madangopal, the founders of Banyan Nation

“Recycling activities in India are mostly driven by market forces that are informal, illegal, and largely invisible. Banyan is innovating and integrating the informal sector and providing consistent quality recycling. By taking a complete value chain approach, we have developed innovative technologies that clean plastics to eliminate all potential contaminants. It is our mission to help brands sustainably ‘Make In India’ by replacing the use of virgin plastic with recycled plastic that is comparable in quality and performance,” Mani had said in an earlier interview.

In 2021, Banyan Nation was recognised as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum for disrupting the recycling value chain via technology solutions that encourage source segregation.

Yulu

In 2017, Hemant Gupta, Amit Gupta, RK Misra, and Naveen Dachuri united for a mission – to create a bigger impact on society. And they did this with Yulu, a micro-mobility service provider that gives eco-friendly UMaaS (urban mobility as a service) which is a scalable solution for the first and last-mile commute options for citizens. It does not just focus on solving urban mobility problems but also addresses the rising air pollution and traffic congestion issues. Interestingly, it is the only company in the country, in the micro-mobility segment, operating with swappable solutions for EVs.

Hemant Gupta, Amit Gupta, RK Misra & Naveen Dachuri, the founders of Yulu

Working with InMobi in Bengaluru, Amit Gupta was irked by the constant traffic congestion during his commute between HSR Layout and Indiranagar. He remembered the success of bicycle-sharing companies like Ofo and Mobike, which he had seen on frequent trips to China. He decided to start a similar venture, customised to suit Indian needs.

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In September 2022, Yulu raised $82 million to expand its business model and grab a larger pie of the growing last-mile mobility segment.

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Published on 05, Jan 2023

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Greenhouse-in-a-box: How Kheyti brings smart tech to small farmers

(October 26, 2023) Of the world’s 570 million farms, over 80 percent cover less than two hectares, the size of three football pitches. Together, these small-holding farms produce a third of our food, but those who farm them are among the poorest people on the planet and the most affected by climate change. It was to address this inequality that the start-up, Kheyti, was founded in 2015 by Ayush Sharma, 37, Saumya Sahay, 33, and Kaushik Kappagantulu, 36. It's a “greenhouse-in-a-box” concept—an affordable, modular greenhouse that uses 90% less water than standard greenhouses, grows seven times more food, and gives farmers a steady, dependable income. The founders knew each other, as they had worked with each other in different capacities earlier, and all of them were keenly interested in helping fight issues facing smallholder farmers. The start-up won the coveted Earthshot Prize in 2022 and took home the eye-watering prize money of one million pounds. Founded by Prince William (of the British Royal family), the awards are dubbed Eco-Oscars, and Kheyti won the award in the ‘Protect and Restore Nature’ category because of its novel low-technology solution. Greenhouse in a box Kheyti’s innovation is that they have created a durable greenhouse

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Greenhouse in a box

Kheyti’s innovation is that they have created a durable greenhouse that cuts off heat, prevents bugs, and saves water. The combination of three is helping small farmers earn an extra profit of Rs 60000 to Rs 1 lakh per year.

The start-up’s vision is to see a world where every farmer is climate-resilient through easy access to climate-smart farm technologies. Kaushik explains, “Since our inception, the biggest challenge in democratizing technologies democratising small farmers for cost. Greenhouses are not new, they have been around for decades. However, conventional greenhouses are expensive and are normally only available in commercial sizes new; acre to 1 (½A small farmer who owns 1-2 acres of land can never afford to spend acre). lakh 30–40 acre to buy a greenhouse, even with government subsidy.”

Also, the existing greenhouses were also primarily made for export crops and not really for conventional fruits and vegetables that the smallest farmers in India grow. Kheyti overcame this challenge by putting the small farmer first and designing for them.

“We started with talking to 1000+ small and marginal farmers and tried to understand what a greenhouse designed for them and by them would look like,” Ayush tells Global Indian and adds, “We tried to understand what the protection requirements were for the horticulture crops that they grow, consume, and. This is what led us to design our first version of our greenhouse.”

[caption id="attachment_46251" align="aligncenter" width="702"] Team Kheyti[/caption]

Innovation for a change

The team continued to experiment over nine iterations for six years and included hundreds of farmers in the design process.

Kheyti not only managed product evolution but also succeeded in bringing down cost from Rs 3 lakhs to Rs 65,000. Apart from experimenting with material, a game changer was that while the standard size of a greenhouse available was an acre, they got it down to one tenth of an acre, thereby bringing the cost down. It is the first greenhouse that works for Indian small and marginal farmers.

While greenhouses were usually earmarked for exotic veggies like broccoli and lettuce, the start-up adapted them for wider use (almost all Indian vegetables, from cabbages to cauliflowers, leafy vegetables, and other common ones like tomatoes and potatoes, among others), created protocols for use, and started enabling them for wider use. This meant that the farmer’s produce too had a wider base, as the exotic vegetables were only consumed by niche households and had a limited clientele.

The entrepreneurs installed their first greenhouse in 2017 in Siddipet (Telangana) before expanding to seven states across India, including parts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Orrisa, among others. Along the way, they have also raised five million dollars in seed funding.

Customer-driven

The most important lesson the founders have realised along the way is to be 100% customer and problem obsessed, not solution obsessed. Saumya says. “Too often, and I am guilty of this too, we are solution obsessed—we start with an interesting idea and try to find a market, customer, or problem to apply that idea to. This is important because entrepreneurs have to be excited about the idea.”

However, the team at Kheyti has learned the importance of being customer- and problem-focused. A good way to do this is by “apprenticing with the problem,” as Kaushik has done. Before starting Kheyti, he spent five years working at another startup and living and working in rural India.

He recalls. “Just before starting Kheyti, my cofounders and I spent six months travelling across India talking to around 1,000 farmers. All of that apprenticing helped us clearly see the challenges that climate change posed to agriculture. Only after all of that did we start looking at solutions and then come up with the idea of the greenhouse-in-a-box.”

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Global fame

Winning the Earthshot prize has landed the start-up in the global limelight. Kaushik explains. “The problems we are trying to solve—rural poverty, climate change—are big problems that cannot be solved by Kheyti alone. When I started working in rural India 15 years ago after studying at IIT, nobody wanted to get into this sector. Today, a whole host of young people, investors, and experienced professionals want to work in AgriTech.”

Forums like the Earthshot Prize helped the business spread awareness and optimism. Through their exposure, they now partner with funders, government officials, and potential employees—all needed if they are to achieve their vision.

Kheyti’s most important value is farmer-centricity. Kaushik agrees: “Farmers are our reason for existing and are at the centre of what we do. If we hold that value, every crop becomes as important to us as it is to the farmer, and therefore the ‘difficulty’, in my opinion, becomes a moot point.”

Kheyti is currently at the beginning of an ambitious 5-year plan to scale their work to 100,000 farmers and create a foundation to reach a million farmers. They currently work with 3000 farmers, 90% of whom they added in the last 18 months. Focused currently on executing on the ground and building the organisation to scale, these young entrepreneurs are a catalyst for turning around the fortunes of small farmers.

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Over the Moon: Lakshmi Mohanbabu’s art will adorn ISS, then be relaunched to Earth’s satellite in 2025

(April 24, 2022) On February 19, 2022, the NG-17 Cygnus arrived at the International Space Station, with Indian-origin astronaut Raja Chari taking the lead on the mission. The Cygnus freighter spacecraft went bearing a very unusual load - The Moon Gallery. This is the Moon-Mars Mission 2022-25, an “international, collaborative art installation, housing the seeds of a future, shared interplanetary culture.” On February 18, the test payload carried 64 works of art by 100 artists from around the world. Each work is no bigger than one cubic centimetre. Among this elite group is Lakshmi Mohanbabu, the “first Singaporean artist in space." The Indian-origin artist and architect, who has been based in Singapore since 2001, is holding up what looks like a tiny, orange cube – a replica of the originals that are currently orbiting the Earth from the International Space Station. The intricate, labyrinth of patterns on each side, slowly become clear – these are based on the philosophy of yin and yang, she explains. Created in collaboration with scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, the process began two years ago, Lakshmi says, in an interview with Global Indian. The Moon Gallery will spend 10 months aboard the International Space Station before returning to

hnological University, Singapore, the process began two years ago, Lakshmi says, in an interview with Global Indian. The Moon Gallery will spend 10 months aboard the International Space Station before returning to Earth. By 2025, it will be re-launched to the moon, permanently.

“I had to create an artwork that could withstand conditions in space,” she explains, “There's not much atmosphere, the gravity is lower and there is a huge temperature difference.” When sunlight hits the moon's surface, the temperature rises as high as 127 degrees Celsius (this 'daytime' lasts 14 Earth days). When the sun goes down for a fortnight, the temperature plummets to a bone-chilling minus 173 degrees Celsius.

Preparing for a space odyssey

To start with, Lakshmi contacted the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster, who put her in touch with NTU. In collaboration with two scientists, she was presented with “a bunch of prototypes.” Settling on aluminium, the miniscule works were based on her 'Interactions' series, from her days as a student of design at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Delhi. Each painting has two sides, representing the duality of all things - the positive and negative, yin and yang- and their constant dialogue with each other.

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A post shared by Lakshmi Mohanbabu (@lakshmimohanbabu)

As a design student, she is fascinated by concepts that could encompass humanity, universal laws and countless symbols. The symbolism, she admits, “can be difficult to understand,” and she often provides detailed explanations alongside - somewhat resonant of the French modern master, Marcel Duchamp. Like him, she describes herself as a thinking artist whose works require explanation.

“The positive cannot exist without the negative,” Lakshmi says. There is no light without darkness. “My design is based on the wave form - the crest and the trough. All energy is transmitted through waves.” The “spiral,” another universal symbol - is the form of human DNA and the shape of our galaxy.

Created through 3D printing, the first cube is bright orange. “It’s about fire, progress and the energy that drives us,” she says. The second cube was made in collaboration with Dr Matteo Seita, assistant professor, School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, NTU who manipulated the orientation of molecules.

Onward to the moon

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A post shared by Lakshmi Mohanbabu (@lakshmimohanbabu)

The much-anticipated moon landing is only a segment of Lakshmi’s plans. For instance, she is already in talks with NTU to create mega cubes for public spaces in Singapore and the world “As an architect, I feel like it has to occupy all spaces.” As a fashion designer, Lakshmi is “translating it into scarves and shoes, which will be sold in the metaverse. The entire series is available as NFTs on the metaverse. “I have space sounds incorporated into the animation, because it’s based on a piece of art that has actually been in space,” she says. She created a range of carpets, and is working with Singapore’s Moon Festival and its famous “moon cakes.”

Via Singapore to the Moon

Born in Trivandrum, Lakshmi never actually lived in Kerala. Her father was soon transferred to Sikkim, back when it was still a Buddhist kingdom. “There was no religion at home,” Lakshmi recalls. In the late 1970s, the family moved to Afghanistan, where Lakshmi spent the better part of her childhood. “Just before the Soviet invasion,” Lakshmi remarks. “I could hear missiles whizzing overhead - you then get used to things,” says the artist wryly. Her time in Afghanistan was vibrant, and a culturally diverse experience which also highlighted human universality.

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A post shared by Lakshmi Mohanbabu (@lakshmimohanbabu)

She returned to Manipal University, Karnataka, where she graduated with a degree in architecture, met the man she would marry, then moved to Delhi, working with Rajiv Goel Architects and Benjamin and Benjamin (now Benjamin, Benjamin and Vats). Then, surprisingly, she chose to study fashion design at NIFT, “for all the wrong reasons,” she laughs. Following her sister into NIFT. A degree in fashion design, she worked with renowned designer Tarun Tahiliani, and was part of his first-ever show. She also taught at NIFT till in 2001, Singapore came calling, and she left with her husband.

The art and its muse

Her other major series, Expressions, sits in the same philosophical space as Interactions. These paintings are instantly captivating, vibrant and bold - presenting a suite of human emotions. Again, it is the sense of universality, duality and balance that she sets out to capture. “There is joy and agony, you can't have one without the other,” she smiles, adding, “Today, we interact constantly and travel. You visit a place, pick up something that appeals, but no matter what you do or where you go, you're still you.”

Follow Lakshmi on Instagram

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The Chaipreneuers bringing Indian tea to the world

(Our Bureau, May 21) Indians love their chai and tea exports have created many successful business ventures for decades. But a new breed of entrepreneurs have stepped in to blend technology with tea sourcing and quicken the supply process to ensure tea lovers globally get their first cup within days of production. Meet three Indian startups that are brewing success by redefining tea exports. Teabox: Kausshal Dugarr-founded Teabox eliminated middlemen and cut down the travel time between the produce and the end consumer from a minimum of five months to a few days. Backed by investors such as Accel Partners and corporate stalwarts like Ratan Tata, Siliguri-based Teabox has sold over two billion cups across 120 countries. VAHDAM: Founded in 2015 by then 23-year-old Bala Sarda, VAHDAM sells its superfood teas, drinkware and elixirs in 104 countries, raking in a turnover of ₹159 crore. Its clientele includes celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Mariah Carey, Martha Stewart, and Chris Prat. Udyan Tea: Three friends — Punit Poddar, Parvez Gupta and Soveet Gupta — started Udayan as an online brand when tea e-tailing was virtually unheard of. Today, they source teas directly from more than 150 estates in India and

Reading Time: 3 mins

Akshay Makar: Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneur helping industries reach net-zero goal

(March 22, 2023) '39 of the world's 50 most polluted cities are in India' made headlines the day Climatenza Solar founder Akshay Makar sat for an interview with Global Indian. It was exactly such headlines that prompted Akshay to work in the climate and clean energy space. "Whenever you see the newspaper, India always makes it to the top 10 most polluted cities. It is unfortunate but a harsh reality. This triggered me to work in this space and do something for the country," says the entrepreneur, who in 2018, started Climatenza Solar, a solar thermal startup that helps industries achieve their net-zero energy targets through the use of renewable energy technology, especially solar thermal solutions. With some roots in Chile, the startup is working with major industrial houses that are looking to scale renewable generation, including Coca-Cola, Unilever, and Rallis. "We are already building a plant for Coca-Cola and Rallis, which will save around 10,000 tonnes of carbon emission from the pilot projects, which is equivalent to around 6000-7000 cars on road," says Delhi-based climate entrepreneur, whose startup is at the forefront of the fight against climate change. [caption id="attachment_36425" align="aligncenter" width="353"] Akshay Makar is the founder of Climatenza

whose startup is at the forefront of the fight against climate change.

[caption id="attachment_36425" align="aligncenter" width="353"] Akshay Makar | Global Indian Akshay Makar is the founder of Climatenza Solar.[/caption]

The 29-year-old's efforts have placed him in Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia. "We are happy that our work is getting recognised. It will open many doors of opportunities and scale our reach," he adds.

Clean energy calling!

Born in Delhi, Akshay had always been keen to work in the climate space or robotics during his college days. While studying mechanical engineering at IP University, talk about Solar Photovoltaic (converting sunlight into electrical energy using PV materials and devices) had already begun in India. For someone keen to launch "something of his own" in near future, he learnt the tricks of the trade by working with a startup for a brief period. Things started to shift in 2016 when he attended a social entrepreneurship conference on Sustainable Development Goals and was invited to SDG 7 (clean and affordable energy).

"Seeing my vision and passion, my colleagues encouraged me to go to North Morocco to visit a plant that uses concentrated solar thermal power technology. They have been working on this technology since 1985, primarily to generate power. Even before Solar PV came into existence in India, in the 90s and early 2000s, CSP (concentrated solar power) had already substantially grown - and there were always talks between efficiency, economics, and technology."

While Solar PV was expensive and CSP was what most people preferred, Akshay argues that it's not a viable option in a country like India, "where we do not have infinite space to set up solar power concentrators." Moreover, with the beginning of mass manufacturing by China, Japan, and Germany in 2005, "the cost of Solar PV came down to 1000 percent. Earlier, the cost per watt was ₹10-15 lakh which has now come down to ₹50,000. Soon people started forgetting CSP."

[caption id="attachment_36426" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Akshay Makar | Global Indian | Entrepreneur Akshay Makar made it to Forbes 30 Under 30 list (Photo: Forbes)[/caption]

Akshay, too, was leaning towards CSP in the beginning but understanding its shortcomings, he switched from power to the industrial sector. "That gave birth to Climatenza Solar, where we started working with the industries and learning about their problems. Today, we are working with MNCs like Coca-Cola, Tata, and Unilever, and our goal is how we can accelerate this industrial decarbonisation to achieve the net zero goals of the industries."

Helping achieve net zero goal

It was at COP26 that PM Narendra Modi promised to cut down India's carbon emission to net zero by 2070, and Akshay is happy to play a part in achieving the goal. With the implications of climate crisis becoming real with each passing day, individual investors and businesses are now looking at the environment as a key parameter. "When environment becomes critical for businesses, it helps them focus on reducing the carbon emission. For every industry, be it in India or abroad, the focus is now on expansion, and this will lead to the generation of more operational energy," says Akshay, adding, "You can either focus on the existing non-renewable energy like fossil fuel which is bound to lead to carbon emissions or you use renewable energy using new technologies which shall provide you the same quality of energy - be it steam or hot water or electricity - but in a clean manner." Climatenza Solar's goal is to become sustainability partner of such companies to help them achieve the net zero target by providing solutions that are helping to decarbonize the industrial sector and reduce the global carbon footprint.

Ups and downs

Today, the startup is working with five key industries - food and beverage, dairy, textiles, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals, but it was a journey uphill for Akshay. For the first one-and-a-half years, he worked solely on the project before getting a team in place. "Being a hard-tech sector, people trust you only after you have proven yourself. But I am grateful that some early investors and accelerator programs invested in Climatenza at the early stage," adds the entrepreneur who calls strong commitment towards goals, team, and customers paramount.

Akshay Makar | Global Indian

Like most businesses, Climatenza Solar too felt the heat during the lockdown as its operations were affected. "We are not a software or a SaaS business that can be run online. It was hard but we take every challenge as an opportunity. We rebuilt in 2021 and started working with Rallis, Coca-Cola, and Unilever in 2022. It's been a lot of ups and downs, but that's what entrepreneurship is all about," he smiles.

Reducing carbon emission, one project at a time

So, what sets Climatenza Solar apart from its competitors? It is the low-cost, efficient technology and design innovation that takes into account the optimisation of space. "The size of our competition is large in terms of area and weight. So, we have developed the technology in a way that our collector is 10 times smaller in size than our closest competition in terms of weight and dimension. So, we can install it on the terrace or ground, especially car parking lots."

[caption id="attachment_36428" align="aligncenter" width="496"] Akshay Makar | Global Indian Akshay Makar at Stanford University to meet MBA students.[/caption]

In just five years, Akshay has been able to create an impact with his startup, and his sole focus is on decarbonising the industrial sector and reducing the global carbon footprint. "As we speak, we are already building a plant for Coca-Cola and Rallis. These are the pilot projects we are developing to witness how these technologies work and an opportunity for us to scale shortly," says the entrepreneur, who has plans to expand further in Chile soon.

A traveller, who loves to play sports and work out often, Akshay plans to meet 50-70 percent energy demand of industries in the next three-five years. "Because this will help reduce carbon emissions and create jobs in local communities as most of these industries are in remote areas so we aim to provide some good jobs to unskilled labour for a better living. Our goal is to see how this local manufacturing in India creates indirect jobs and impacts the subsequent industries," he signs off.

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Reading Time: 6 min

Sparsh Ahuja, Sam Dalrymple and Sadia Gardezi: Taking India-Pak partition witnesses back to their childhood homes through VR

(August 17, 2024) "All the gold and silver that we owned, I, an 11-year-old child at the time, dug a deep pit and buried it to keep it safe, because we didn’t think we wouldn’t return. We thought we will be coming back, but we couldn’t,” lamented 84-year-old Dharampal, who migrated from Sialkot in Pakistan to Jammu, then Amritsar, and ultimately Bombay during the 1947 partition. He shared his memories of those painful days with the Project Dastaan team that has been working to facilitate virtual reconnections of people to the homes they left during the tragic times. Dharampal’s father was tragically left behind during Partition on the other side of the border. “My uncle said, ‘I’ll give you the wood, I’ll give you all the wheat we have, get my brother back.’ They said, ‘We are not interested.’ My uncle couldn’t get his brother and he was later killed'.” Dharampal’s story echoes the countless journeys undertaken by refugees during the partition crisis. The event affected the entire subcontinent who had to suffer irreparable loss and trauma for the rest of their lives. About 14 million people migrated and thousands perished during the 1947 partition. View this post on

the rest of their lives. About 14 million people migrated and thousands perished during the 1947 partition.

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Launched in 2018 Project Dastaan serves as a poignant reminder that ordinary people are the most impacted when a nation is torn apart. Their lives are uprooted forever. In 2023 Project Dastaan became part of the British Key Stage 3 school curriculum. The peace-building initiative has also facilitated reconnection of the Bangladesh nationals.

Recreating memories

Co-founded by Sparsh Ahuja from India, Sam Dalrymple, an Indian of British descent, and Sadia, a Pakistani national, the project is a tribute to the legacy of millions of refugees whose lives were changed overnight. The nationalities of Project Dastaan’s co-founders represent an interesting amalgamation of people deeply affected by the partition of India.

Their project has been facilitating virtual reconnections to the homes of partition survivors. About 50 percent of those interviewed have been able to see their childhood homes using VR technology. While attempts for all were made, the changed landscapes made it difficult, and impossible for other cases.

“One of the things we've learned throughout this entire journey is just how absurd it is that it takes a team of 30 volunteers spread across five different countries with the world's most cutting-edge technology to take back grandparents who literally live just across the border. To all the people out there watching this video we have just one message: In an ideal world a project like this shouldn't exist,” says Sparsh Ahuja in an interview.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxzNJ_5_9DI

The documentary filmmaker and founder of Project Dastaan, Sparsh is a 2020 National Geographic Explorer, the youngest-ever recipient of the CatchLight Fellowship. He graduated as a FitzRandolph Scholar in PPE at the University of Oxford. His debut film, Child of Empire, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2022, and his latest documentary short, Birdsong, screened at SXSW, Sundance London, Palm Springs ShortsFest, where it won Special Mention: Best Documentary Short and was shortlisted for the Grierson Award. It was later acquired by The Guardian.

Bringing past to present

Talking about the process that they use to reconnect partition survivors to their childhood homes, Sam Dalrymple who happens to be the son of British descent author William Dalrymple remarks, “We begin by interviewing the partition witnesses. We then get our cross-border volunteer network to track down the locations and try to find any areas which may have survived. A lot of the places have changed, both countries have industrialised massively since 1947. And yet there's always something which remains in each of these villages or towns. Wherever we have been, there's a mosque, a well, a mandir, maybe the neighbour's house that has survived. After this, we send our filming team out to recapture those areas.”

Like his co-founders Sam too has a deep connection with the subcontinent as many of his British ancestors were born, raised and died in India with their graves in different parts of the country. His book Shattered Lands: The Five Partitions of India 1935–1975, is due to be published in 2024.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P88oFsv1FZ0

“We edit the filmed content into a full six-minute experience. This is then taken back to the original partition witness shown to them and then exhibited more broadly to the general public in order to educate about partition and about the stories of those who've survived it,” he explains.

Sam Dalrymple is the Co-Founder and COO of Project Dastaan. He graduated as a Sanskrit and Persian scholar from the University of Oxford, where he served as president and co-founder of the Oxford University Silk Road Society. He has worked with The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (a multibillion foundation), Turquoise Mountain and Vagaband. Sam speaks proficiently in Hindi and Urdu, and can converse in basic Farsi.

Inspired by the pains of their grandparents

“When my Nanu was just seven years old, he was forced to migrate from a small village in modern-day Pakistan called Bela, and moved to New Delhi. I'd see him in the corner of our house in Delhi, he'd be scribbling Urdu in his Diary and I’d ask him Nanu , you know how to write Urdu? " And he'd say, ‘yes, this is what we learnt at school but he'd close the diary quickly and would say ‘but now that time is gone,” shared Sparsh Ahuja.

It was during a coffee chat at Oxford University that Sparsh and his friend Ameena Malak from Pakistan exchanged their grandparents’ stories of Partition. They realised that their grandparents had travelled almost identical journeys in opposite directions, each yearning to go back home. However, due to wars, old age, and trauma, there were still too many barriers for either to return. This sparked the idea for Project Dastaan.

[caption id="attachment_53746" align="aligncenter" width="740"] Indian Culture | Project Dastaan | Global Indian From left to right: Sam Dalrymple, Sparsh Ahuja, Sadia Gardezi and Ameena Malak[/caption]

They brought their friends Sam Dalrymple and Saadia Gardezi who were studying at Oxford as well, on board and came up with the plan of a making sure every Partition survivor who they could find, would go home again, whether through virtual reality, video calls to locals who still remember them, or even an actual physical return, however difficult.

Across the border

Pakistan-origin Saadia Gardezi is the co-founder and creative lead of Project Dastaan. The illustrator and writer has worked as the Op-Ed editor for The Nation, one of Pakistan’s leading newspapers. Saadia graduated as an M.Phil. scholar in South Asian Studies, of the Weidenfeld Hoffmann Leadership Program at Oxford University. While pursuing Ph.D. at the University of Warwick she also works part-time as workshop facilitator and graduate tutor.

“We build bridges between India and Pakistan, and hope to educate people about the history and shared cultures of India and Pakistan through storytelling and films.

As Pakistan lead, I coordinate between volunteers and cultural heritage organisations in Pakistan, UK and India,” she mentions. For project Dastaan she has been deeply involved in researching partition stories and interviewing survivors.

[caption id="attachment_53753" align="aligncenter" width="803"] Indian Culture | Project Dastaan | Global Indian A still from the TIME's coverage of Project Dastaan[/caption]

“I have always had this sense of hankering of figuring out along that journey what changed, what took these communities that had been living for centuries together and turned them into enemies overnight. We wanted to go beyond just talking about the partition. We wanted to take these people back home,” says Sparsh.

Although they connected many people over phone calls, in this technological era virtual reality seemed the powerful solution to the yearning of partition survivors. “Old age and traumatic memories and the general fear linked to going back, still holds them back. Hundreds and thousands of people have not been able to go home (even after seven decades),” Sam remarks.

With the use of technological solutions, Sparsh, Sam, and Saadia are happy to help people of their grandparents’ generation cross borders. They are happy to turn their ‘crazy’ idea into reality.

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