Adding glitter to gifts

Telaprolu Neelima, an enterprising woman, has ventured into packing gift articles and designing them. Along with her husband, Neelima shifted base to Vijayawada from Hyderabad couple of years ago. She is a mother of two and owns a boutique. Neelima started working on her creative streaks in packaging gift articles to add some attraction or uniqueness to them.

She specialises in wedding and engagement trousseau packing. She designs the display trays that contain sweets and fruits. Her creativity and quality of work have won her many clients not only in Andhra Pradesh but also from other States. These attractively wrapped gifts are also being sent to Dubai and the US.

“Generally, my clients want gifts to be unique. My designs are flamboyant but are also pocket friendly. I design gifts according to the budget of the customer. It is easy to mobilise material to meet the work orders in major metros like Hyderabad, where manpower is also available at reasonable wages. When compared to other metros like Delhi, Chennai and Bengaluru, the gifting on platters is not so popular here.

But it is slowly catching on in Vijayawada,” said Neelima.The girls of Prajwala, a home for orphans, help Neelima in designing gift packs thus providing them an opportunity to earn a little while learning. Neelima’s unique works include decorated coconuts, umbrellas, baskets, addu thera for Hindu weddings, etc.

Ch Sowmya Sruthi