An entrepreneurial venture of a Jharkhand-based brother-sister duo is trying to promote an extinct art form called meenakari in the tribal state.

Khusboo Soni and Shubham Soni, both commerce graduate with accountancy honours from Vinobha Bhave University, Hazaribagh, have floated their venture Rekrock Crystart Private Limited in 2019 and despite downswing because of the pandemic, they have posted a turnover of nearly Rs 10 lakh in the financial year 2021-22. They sell their products under the brand name Rekmaa, which is named after their mother.

“Our journey started during the graduation in Hazaribagh with an idea to work for artisans, following in our mother’s footsteps. She has been working on the same model for the last 25 years. We had won the third prize in a contest organised by Startup India in collaboration with Jharkhand government in 2018 and our idea was also adjudged as the most innovative idea. We used the prize money of Rs 25,000 to fund our startup with a vision of restoring the art and cultural heritage and being a job provider to rural artisans,” said Khusboo.

The brand Rekmaa has a tagline that says “Fusion of luxurious crafts with your curiosity” and it boasts of silver-plated meenakari and hand-engraved artefacts and crystal jewellery.

“Meenakari is an age-old art form of decorating metal with coloured enamel. It is reputed for its excellent designs and beautiful colour combinations. The art form mainly involves in making colourful jewellery. Other objects produced using meenakari include decorative articles, dining sets etc,” said Khusboo.

They have trained and employed 16 artisans including more than eight women, mostly from rural parts of Hazaribagh.

“We try to produce artefacts and crystal jewellery of good quality by adopting local art and cultural heritage with new design style. The finished artefacts including silver metals and hand-engraved ones have prices starting from

Rs 1,000, while crystal jewellery prices start from Rs 300. We provide marketing and raw materials for the products of the local artisans,” said Khusboo.

The startup has already tied up with Khadi India and e-tailer Amazon.

“Our products are listed on the Khadi India portal and also on Amazon. While we are in the process of developing our own website soon, we also have understanding with government departments and district administration in which our products are used for gift purposes on different occasions,” said Khusboo.

Since it is a low-cost and skills-oriented initiative, it also promises to help the downtrodden join mainstream.

It was selected as a startup in the Jharkhand government state entrepreneurship board meet in 2019 and got registered with department of promotion of industry and internal trade (DIPP) in September 2020. It was also registered in MSME in 2020.