Originally reported and written in July 2022, this story has been republished as part of our archival content.

For anyone who’d walk into eight-year-old Midushi Kochhar’s bedroom in Delhi, a strange but beautiful sight would greet them — seashells strung together, pebbles in jars, dried flowers turned into potpourri, vibrant snake skins collected on a hike and the list goes on.

While other children her age would have toys filling the room, why was Midushi’s idea of collectables so different?

“The love for strange things came naturally to me,” the now 27-year-old tells The Better India over a call. “I’d weave a story in my mind around these unique items and display them. It never mattered if others found them beautiful. What mattered is that they were beautiful to me.”

Throughout her growing-up years, this passion persisted and she went on to train as an industrial designer at Central St Martins, University of the Arts London in the year 2017 where she would constantly look for innovative designs. So when it was time for the final graduation project, she decided to put her idea of ‘eggware’ to the test. Here she used eggshells to create plates and spoons.

“I hadn’t a clue that this project of mine would one day be the forerunner of my venture — YLEM,” she says.

With a graduation project that stunned her professors, Midushi decided to take her skills to the real world and started a venture in the Netherlands in 2020. Makers on the move aimed at collecting local waste from manufacturing areas and building a material bank. The materials would then be delivered to schools in the area for children to use in their art projects.

Inspired by the take-off of this project, she returned to India when the COVID pandemic hit in an attempt to be closer to home. In June 2021 she started YLEM, a brand that would focus on making items out of innovative materials that others would consider........

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