Nainital: Flowers hold a lot of significance in our society; be it for religious prayers or offering them for someone’s well-being or simply gifting to a person to make their day better, they are used for various purposes. However, as soon as they wilt, they are thrown away in the trash cans. Nainital’s Dr Kiran Tiwari came up with an interesting idea of utilizing the wilted flowers, through which she has been able to provide employment opportunities to women.  

Who is Dr Kiran Tiwari?

Dr Kiran Tiwari is the founder of Cheli Arts Institute, who resides in Nainital, Uttarakhand. She mentions that her organization designs various products that are made of waste flowers and leaves. The concept in itself sounds unique and biodegradable. Dr Kiran expresses her concern about the environmental degradation, and how little effort human beings are putting in to promote a greener future. 

The process 

Dr Kiran Tiwari’s organization works with two primary goals. The first is to become green crusaders and the second is to provide employment opportunities to dependent housewives. Typically, flowers offered in temples go to waste, and Dr Kiran decided to choose Naina Devi Temple and Gurudwara Shri Guru Singh Sabha to collect flowers from. Women workers gather the dried flowers from the places daily, separate the petals to create dye from them. The dye is used to make designs and patterns on clean cloths. 

Making designs

Dr Kiran shares that apart from the clothing, various organic products such as Holi colours, Kumkum, organic boosters are also prepared. The organization takes part in various events where they conduct workshops regarding the same. Her team of women workers encourage people to join the initiative. 

Phulari Arts

Dr Kiran has given a name to the art which is ‘Phulari Arts.’ The name signifies the designs made from flowers and leaves. She further mentions that these creations, featured on stoles, sarees, and dupattas, are sent for sale in the Mallital market of Nainital at varying prices.