Jamshedpur: Carrying fresh sprouts to work may sound great. But, there's always the risk of turning one's office bag into a puddle of water.

Though a green power food, sprouts immersed in water can be cumbersome to carry. But a youth originally from Jamshedpur now studying design at NID-Ahmedabad, solved the problem to win a national award recently.

Bistupur-based St Mary's School alumnus Abhishek Bharadwaj, 25, won an India Star award conferred by Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP), an apex body guided by the ministry of commerce and industry to improve packaging standards.

Abhishek's award-winning idea was 'Sprout in a Pocket', a carry bag for sprouts.

Abhishek received the prestigious award in New Delhi on October 27, making him eligible for the next level of packaging competition Asia Star to be held in Sri Lanka in December. The final level is World Star.

The Asia and World categories will be organised by World Packaging Organisation.

So, how did this idea of a sprout pocket germinate?

The youth, who thanked Aamir Khan's path-breaking film Taare Zameen Par for his career - "my parents were pressuring me to join engineering but changed their minds after watching the film" - said the pocket was dedicated to health conscious people who were frequent travellers too.

"They'd love sprouts. But carrying fresh sprouts gets difficult because they need to be immersed in water. What I have created is a zipped pocket in which one can place sprouts in water to leave overnight or carry as and when required. A pocket can carry 40 grams of sprouts, ideal for a day," Abhishek, who after leaving Jamshedpur studied in Sri Chaitanya School, Vishakhapatnam, and NIFT, Bangalore, said.

The pocket is ideal for chickpeas, radish, black beans and more to sprout. Each pocket has many pores covered by stickers that can help drain out water and help in air circulation.

Made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the pocket can be recycled.

Eyeing an entrepreneurial future in food packaging, Abhishek said this award gave him a boost. "My creativity has been recognised. I hope I do well in the next level too."