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Unique selling concept
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Sale of used articles is a concept that "Natpu" tries to promote for the benefit of the have-nots.
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THE NEXT time you want to throw away odds and ends at home, stop! Keep old audio cassettes, crockery you never liked or blouse pieces `gifted' at one of those numerous weddings you attended; or the sari you are tired of wearing. Think of Natpu, a Chennai-based NGO that is reinventing the concept of recycling anything and everything.
Started in 1987 by Maya Narasimhan and her like-minded friends, New Association To Promote Upliftment (Natpu, Ph: 4971292/ 4996359) has recently opened a thrift shop on Pallur Kannappan Street in Mylapore. The concept, although very popular in Western countries, has somehow not made its presence felt in Chennai... until now.
As Maya says, "There are lots of women doing good things, and always in need of cash donations. This is a different way of raising funds.''
Natpu facilitates the sale of various articles donated, and these are often sold for a song. Sometimes even furniture is put up for sale.
The buyers are basically from poor families. When a woman buys an old handbag for Rs. 20, a smile lights up her face. "What is unique about the scheme is that if a potential `seller', instead of donating, expects some `cash', Natpu gives a large percentage of the sale price to him/her," says Radha Sundarajan, president of Natpu.
Earlier, the organisation held such a sale at various places in the city, an effort that will help fine-tune the `thrift-shop' concept.
From its humble beginning as a service organisation working to help educate girl children, Natpu has evolved over the decades... it now has a sewing centre, where the economically backward are taught to not only tailor but also to recycle old sheets into pillow covers, old dhurries into cushion covers and pouch bags...
Future plans include an informal placement centre for the poor, women entrepreneurship cell, legal advice, marital and other counselling by Lata Nityanand, a clinical psychologist, and a career advancement centre.
As Maya gets phone calls from sellers, the girls from the neighbourhood browse through the rack containing handbags, while a young mother fondly looks at a hand-me-down, satin and lace frock.
There are smiles all round... Naturally, it is a win-win situation for all.
BHAMA DEVI RAVI
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