The morning of the 30th of July 2011 was a memorable day in the lives of the Kora Kagaz team and the hundred and seventy four students of The Chennai Primary School, Odaikuppam in Besant Nagar. The students of this underprivileged school were very excited to receive notebooks and footwear! The happy smiles on their faces and the twinkle of gratitude in their eyes made the tedious process of collection, segregation and binding absolutely worth it for Shreya Prakash and the members of her team, Kora Kagaz.
Kora Kagaz, literally meaning ‘Blank Paper,’ is a project that strives to reduce the wastage of paper by making meaningful use of it. Unused wasted paper is made into new books and given to those who cannot afford them and used wasted paper is recycled to make envelopes, scratch pads and in the binding of the books. Through this, Kora Kagaz wishes to address in a simple way two important issues that plague the Indian society: subsidizing education and decreasing carbon footprint. This innovative social experiment also employs the underprivileged to bind the books, thereby providing them with seasonal employment to sustain their livelihood and thereby integrating them into society. Further, Kora Kagaz also provides other required stationery items to the children as well as footwear, to aid better health and a pleasant educational experience. While on one hand there are those who misuse the abundant resources at their disposal, and on the other there are those who have to fight for their rightful share, the Kora Kagaz team works passionately to be the connecting link between these two groups as they believe in making a difference and giving back in a green way.
Kora Kagaz is the brainchild of 17-year-old Shreya Prakash, a High School graduate in Commerce from Chinmaya Vidyalaya Taylors Road, Chennai. The Kora Kagaz project was the pretty lass’ entry as part of the project round for Teen of the Year 2010, which was held in Mumbai. This innovative project went on to win The Best Community Project – A Special Mention Award at The Teen of the Year National Finals held in Mumbai amidst 120 other entries. Winning this award gave Prakash a seed capital of Rs. 5000. When quizzed on who has been her support and mentor throughout this project, Prakash regards those at the Teenager as a strong support system for the entire team. However, for her personally, she regards her parents, her Amma and Appa, as the biggest mentors of the project. In fact, it was her father Mr. N. Prakash, The General Manager of the prominent hotel The Taj, Chennai, who suggested that she take on this initiative. Together, the father-daughter duo has built on this idea and developed it meticulously to bring it to where it is today. Prakash says, “Even today they are the first and foremost people who I approach for any advice regarding the working of the project”.
Gradually, with the motivation received from her mentors, parents and school, Shreya Prakash went on to involve her schoolmates and thick friends Khyati Patel (the creative head of operations), Summit Agarwal (the treasurer of the organization), Shraavan Ravindranath (the managing director of the operations), Darshan Khicha (the head of planning), Yash Jain (the head of human resource) and Gaurav Khemka (the marketing manager) in her venture. Together the Kora Kagaz core team went on to collect paper, segregate it, bind it and successfully made around 550 books in their first attempt. The win at the Change Makers Conference 2011, took care of their financial requirements, as the winner of the contest received a funding of 3 Lakh rupees ($6000). This initiative was selected as the top 5 of 220 entries selected to present their idea in front of a distinguished panel of 20 eminent leaders from various fields. It was then that Prakash and her team hatched upon the idea of employing the underprivileged for binding the paper to make books. Since then
Kora Kagaz has been working on getting more schools involved and on expanding their volunteer base.
Like all entrepreneurial ventures, these young social warriors also had their own share of obstacles and hindrances to overcome. “We still face difficulties while encouraging people to donate their waste paper and not sell it off to the kabaadiwallas (local paper vendors who buy the waste paper). We need to keep sending out constant reminders.” says Prakash. Storage was also initially a problem but they overcame that thanks to help offered to them by a generous family friend. The segregation of the unused paper from the used paper is undoubtedly the most taxing part of their process. “The segregation process alone requires way more than 5 - 7 hours with the amount of paper we are receiving at the moment. Right now we spend around 5 hours a day and must have put in at the least around 25 odd hours,” quips Prakash. Nevertheless, the team sure knows how to have fun whilst working simultaneously. They are currently working with the support of many prominent city schools like Sindhi Model Senior Secondary School, Bhavans Rajaji Vidhyashram, Good Shepherd International School and Holy Angels Matriculation Higher Secondary School. Their strong bond, chirpy rapport and the united goal to bring smiles to many an underprivileged child’s face, makes them do what they love and love what they do!
Having just graduated from High School, the team is currently spending their summer vacations immersed happily in their galaxy of empty paper. However, like all good things that come to an end, the summer vacation will soon too and the new chapter of College Life will eventually begin. Yet, this new beginning does not waiver the spirit of the core team. Says Prakash, “Even with college I’m sure we will manage as by then I envisage that we would have a pretty strong volunteer base. Moreover, the core team is an extremely dedicated set so the aspect of drifting away doesn’t worry me much.” The Kora Kagaz team dreams of expanding their base to more cities in the country a few years down the line. But as for now, they are currently working to have their organization registered, design their own exclusive website and also to employ more people for the process of recycling and binding.
With their invitation to new minds to join them in this venture and their gradually increasing volunteer base; Kora Kagaz is slowly taking baby steps to make a difference in society, as they believe in working to give back to the best of their ability, and wish to leave an everlasting impression on the lives they touch. Reflecting on the value of “Service to mankind is service to God,” a value that Prakash learnt throughout her schooling in Chinmaya Vidyalaya, she says, “Nothing makes me happier than blank paper because I get immense happiness by just imagining how many children can benefit from all that we call waste!” Shreya and her team dream of tomorrow where every child, despite the child’s social and/or financial status, has an opportunity at receiving education and imbibing good values which can help them live a better life.
