Amidst the lush, rolling hills of Mao, a little girl would hurry home from school, her footsteps quickening as the scent of fresh earth and wildflowers filled the air. Her parents, hardworking farmers, would be in the fields; she would eagerly lend a hand, carrying baskets of fruits and vegetables from the farm, her small hands carrying whatever little weight they could.

But it was in the quiet corners of the land, where a patch of flowers bloomed, that she found the most comfort. There, tending to her lot with the same care her parents had taught her, she would look at their delicate beauty, unaware that these moments spent nurturing those flowers would turn into a vision that would connect the hills of Mao to the cities far beyond.

Mao, in Manipur, often referred to as the “land of flowers”, is known for its lush, organic produce and its people’s love for nature. Chokhone Krichena, the 32-year-old founder of Dianthe Pvt. Ltd., is leveraging these sentiments to help floriculture farmers by bridging the gap between rural growers and urban consumers. By helping backend farmers get market access, she is giving them a means to safely grow their flowers and sell them at a fair price, driving the local economy.

From a hobby to a business

Chokhone’s journey into floriculture was not a sudden one, but rather a story of rediscovery. Growing up in a farming family, she was always surrounded by agriculture, even though her family’s land was not suitable for large-scale commercial farming. The hilly terrain of Mao makes it difficult for farmers to grow cash crops. Instead, most people cultivate fruits and vegetables using traditional, sometimes primitive methods. Despite this, there was always an air of possibility in the village — and for Chokhone, it was the flowers that caught her attention.

“I’ve always been very interested in flowers since I was a little girl. It was my hobby, but I never thought of monetising it until after COVID,” Chokhone tells The Better India. During the pandemic, like many others, she found herself reconnecting with old interests. As people across the world took up hobbies like gardening and pottery, Chokhone returned to her childhood passion: floriculture.

“I started growing flowers in a small patch of land near my house, and slowly, people started taking interest and placing small orders,” she says. It was in these early days that Dianthe began to take shape. “Since there was a little demand, and I knew how to connect with sellers, I thought, why not turn it into a business,” she shares.

When are you going back to the city?

The transition from hobbyist to entrepreneur wasn’t immediate. Chokhone’s family, especially her parents, were sceptical at first. After all, she had gone through the conventional educational route, getting a degree in Biotechnology from Guwahati, and interning at a pharmaceutical company in Bengaluru. In Mao, where job security and a stable career were prioritised, her decision to pursue floriculture was met with concern.

“When I told my parents........

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