Budding entrepreneurs earn in lakhs at a festival that showcased everything from the seven sister states. By Team Viva
Food that is as different from the mainstream north Indian cuisine as much as possible. Then there are the silks — extremely durable and has a natural yellowish-golden tint with a shimmering, glossy texture. Earlier, it was reserved for the use of royalty. The second is a woolly white silk, which is often referred to as the fabric of peace as it is processed without killing the silkworm. The offerings are as unique as they are diverse. So not surprisingly, the sixth edition of the North East Festival had visitors from the capital queuing up.
And it was not curiosity that got them here to have a dekko. The food-stall owners, weavers and first time entrepreneurs were elated by the response to the three-day cultural extravaganza. Not only did their crafts, foods and artefacts get an international recognition but it also gave them their due credit in the domestic and international market. It has also opened the doors to collaborate with several well-known names.
Entrepreneur Sushant Phukan earned Rs 1,80,000, this time around, the highest in the three years since he has been putting up his textile stall. Most of his wares found international buyers. He deals with North Eastern fabrics including cotton, Muga and Eri silk, which he mixes to get a fine texture. “This time the business is better than previous years. Last year, people just looked at the products. This time they are aware about the products, so they are confident to pick them,” he said.
Not just the products even the food is finding takers among the audience. Most of the specialities got over much before the day ended. Ethnic Kitchen, and Assam speciality cuisine restaurant has been selling non-vegetarian items like fried pork, chicken and vegetarian ones like paneer, chole and daal. Its owner, Hemanka Gogoi, said he didn’t expect a turnover of Rs 3,50,000 in three days.
“We are happy that people have discovered a taste for our food. It’s not only the people from North East, craving for a taste of home, but even North Indians who are enjoying. One of the couples complimented us saying that they haven’t eaten a tastier pork gravy in their lifetime,” Gogoi said.
It’s not only Assamese cuisines or crafts which were a hit among the festival-goers but also the food from Meghalaya, Sikkim and Tripura. A first-time stall owner, Davidson Shangpliang from Shillong was amazed at the reception that his Khasi food received. “I did not expect that Khasi food would be in demand. We did not anticipate that there would be so many people lining up. We lacked adequate manpower of just five people who managed everything. But we didn’t fare too badly. We earned more than Rs 75,000,” he said.
Debutant Juhaal, an online authentic Assamese kitchen product and ready-to-cook food items, too registered its presence with the shop that they had put up to showcase their items. “We are very happy as our launch took place the way we expected it to. We got a really good response from the buyers. We will get to work on our drawbacks. So far, we have sold items worth Rs 2,25,000 in three days. It was a good exposure,” said co-owners Olenka Dilip and Krishnazina Thakur.
Interestingly, collaborations too were forged at the festival. The Sikkim food stall Romaroo, for instance, was approached by a Delhi food joint. “We used organic ingredients from Sikkim to give customers authentic food. Our sel roti, pork momo and gundruk pickle are the best selling products. We couldn’t accept the deal received from a Delhi restaurant as we didn’t want to change our base,” said Tika Sharma, owner.
Shyamkanu Mahanta, chief organiser of festival, is glad that the fest has given exposure to the budding entrepreneurs. “We haven’t charged a single penny from the stall owners. I am glad that they had a good business here. I wish them luck,” he said.