“Won’t you come into my garden...” ...said the Butterfly Spotter
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| Vivekanandan M. |
Vivekanandan M. of IIM Kolkata chose a unique career path: it led him straight into a butterfly garden. Shinjini Ganguli savoured his colourful story
Picture this. A lush green lawn soaked in soft summer light. Leaves aplenty, in almost every shade of green. The scent of freshly mown grass. Beautiful dew-kissed blossoms. And yet, something missing.
Enter Vivekanandan M.
Like a benign magician, he seems to blow butterflies into this colour-thirsty space. And suddenly, the garden is aflutter with the whisper of wings.
Honey, the scene is for real. This man actually coaxes butterflies into gardens for a living. As far as ideas go, we think this one is spot on!
How the Idea Took Wing
The idea flew up and landed softly into Vivekanandan’s head one fine day in March last year. He wasn’t exactly a butterfly enthusiast, but the thought of doing something different had no doubt been buzzing in his mind for some time. That is why, while leafing through an article about butterfly gardens, he felt attracted to the idea of creating one.
Today, Vivekananda’s consultancy firm Butterfly Spotter assists resorts in creating butterfly gardens. The consultancy also helps resorts to advertise their butterfly gardens through social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc.
The Opening Scenario
India boasts more than 1500 species of butterflies. And as Vivekanandan points out on his website, www.butterflyspotter.com, our nation ranks 7th among those that search for keywords such as “Butterfly Gardens’ and ‘Butterfly Farms’.
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| 1.Flowers that butterflies love: Lantana, Pentas, Ixora, Tridax, Marigold, Sunflower, Buddleia, Milkweed, Kadipatta, Lemon, etc. 2.India’s top 5 butterflies: • Paris Peacock • Common Jay • Spot Swordtail • Southern Birdwing • Crimson Rose 3.Vivekanandan’s tips for inviting butterflies into your home garden: • Identify butterflies present in your surroundings • Buy the right plants to attract the butterflies • Use cow dung and ash instead of artificial fertiliser for your garden • Butterflies will visit your garden as soon as flowers begin to blossom |
Add to this the fact that several resorts across the country are looking for ways to add aesthetic value and make their guests’ stay more enjoyable, and the idea of starting a butterfly consultancy firm made perfect sense!
But of course, getting into the butterfly business wasn’t a bed of roses. The concept of butterfly gardens wasn’t strong in India. All we had were a few started by the government to conserve the species, and a handful of small-scale operators.
Looking back, Vivekanandan thinks this proved to be more an opportunity than a challenge.
A Smooth Glide
The business took off with a 1,000 sq ft Butterfly Park in Uttarakhand, a pilot project with Neemrana Hotels. There was no looking back. It’s
been just a year, and already, Vivekanandan is creating mesmerising butterfly gardens for
the Taj and Club Mahindra.
His pitch to the top management guys from these biggies, whom he contacted through LinkedIn and his alumni association, was met with instant approval. The secret? “Well, that’s the power of a novel idea,” he says, with a smile.
What about the money, honey?
Vivekanandan makes between `1,00,000- 2,00,000 for every project that he takes up. Ask him about the investment he made, and he grins, “A good camera is my only investment.” Yes, he started his butterfly consultancy with just a camera, contacts with local entomologists and plant nurseries. Pretty economical, isn’t it!
So it is for the hotels and resorts getting a butterfly garden built in their compounds. According to Vivekanandan, building a butterfly garden costs as little as a swimming pool. In fact, the cost is only marginal for hotels and resorts as they already have gardeners, plant nurseries, etc.— elements needed for creating a butterfly garden.
Marketing isn’t expensive for the firm, either. Mostly, it is done through personal contacts and social networking sites. But that also means the profits are not huge either. “Since its inception the business has suffered no severe or critical challenges, but since the field is new we don’t know what this venture may eventually turn into,”
reflects Vivekanandan.
| Beautiful and graceful, varied and enchanting, small but approachable, butterflies lead you to the sunny side of life. And everyone deserves a little sunshine. ~ Jeffrey Glassberg
(author of Butterflies Through Binoculars) |
The one thing that does worry him a bit is the impending climatic changes in the country. These, he says, will affect the migrating patterns of butterflies. And obstruction that he fears is the scalability of the team to meet the demands of future projects.
By 2014, Vivekanadan aims to build another 100 butterfly gardens across the country. Having notched up projects with the top names in the hospitality sector, his next wish is to work with Isaac Kehimkar, the author of The Book of Indian Butterflies.
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