In Melakkal, Murugesan, a farmer by profession, decided to be one of the first entrepreneurs of ROPE. "The company taught me how to make yarn. Once I learnt the art, I taught my wife and we bought a machine. We then employed two women from the neighbourhood."
In the first week, he found it to be a loss making proposition. Instead of closing down the operation, he tried to find out the reason behind the loss. From 500 metres in the first week, they made 1000 metres in the next week. In the first month, he managed 5000 metres.
Today, Murugesan has 18 people working under him and they make 350,000 to 400,000 metres of yarn a month.
Murugesan's dream is to employ at least 50 people. "There are 3000 people in our village, out of which 1800 are adults. We have farming activities only three months a year. So, people need work for the remaining nine months, and if I can give work to as many people, it will be a boon. I want to change the face of my village!"
Soon Sreejith began approaching big companies like IKEA with the idea of customising his units to suit the requirements of the companies. For IKEA, ROPE makes mats from corey grass.
Image: Murugesan displaying a banana yarn
Also read: India's top-earning artists
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