 Are
you looking for a bagful of interior decorative
articles with in a limited budget? Visit the on
ongoing handicrafts exhibition conducted by Swayambhar-NARI,
at the YMCA, Secunderabad. Swayambhar-NARI,
a Kolkata based organisation has been striving
for the self-reliance of the economically down trodden
people, since 1988. Swayambhar-NARI, in association
with the Ministry of Textiles, Government of
India, is helping numerous people to be economically
independent by providing vocational training in
handicrafts manufacturing. The organisation also
conducts exhibitions in various cities of India
frequently so that its members can directly sell
the products to the customers at reasonable rates.
 Compared
to the exhibitions held in the city, the Swayambhar
exhibition is small, but there is no dearth of items
for the shopping lovers. The price of the exhibits
ranged from Rs. 10 to Rs. 10,000. The striking feature
of the exhibition is that most of the items made
from eco-friendly raw material like jute, bamboo,
paper pulp and cotton. Enter the exhibition hall;
you will be greeted by an array of colourful interior
decorating items, dress material for children, teens
and adults as well and many more. On your left at
the entrance you will find a variety of assorted
dolls, necklaces, pendants made up of jute, by Mr.
Santosh Chandra Lodh. Mr. Lodh, a resident of
Kolkata exports many of his products to USA
through Central Cottage Industry. He says,
" Children are my target customers. Because
they love to possess the dolls and like to present
dolls as gifts." Next to this stall you
will find many jute items like table mats, door
mats, pot hangings, elephant faces (wall hangings),
etc, all ranged between Rs. 20 and Rs. 1000. Move
forward in the same direction. You would be amaze
to see wide range of traditional cotton casual ware
like kurthas, Bathik printed T-shirts selling just
for Rs. 150.
 As
you reach the extreme left of the hall, Mrs.
Gopi Sippy, recieve you with a pleasant face
to her stall. She is expert in making designer candles,
mini artificial flower bouquets using jute, pottery
and dry flowers. Mrs. Sippy, hails from Bangalore
and she is one of the founder members of Swayambhar-NARI.
She says, "I prepared all these items on
my own. I deliberately used some pottery and bamboo
raw material in my works, so that other down trodden
people engaged in these professions can be benefited
indirectly, through me." The exhibition
brings to you the ancient Madhubani Art of Bihar
in the form of wall hangings and photo frames which
costs around Rs. 400. Traditionally the Madhubani
art is done on hand made craft papers. But with
the changing trends the artists now painting the
pictures on T-shirts (Rs. 175), Dupattas (Rs. 150-Rs.
400) and Saarees (up to Rs. 3000) to keep the ancient
art live in the modern era.
 Next
to the Madubani Art stall, there are three stalls
exclusively meant for the females. The stalls are
filled with variety of bangles, earrings, fancy
chains, purses etc. One of these stalls have square
shaped artificial beads with alphabets inscribed
on them. So you can order to make a designer key
chain or pendant with your name. The cost of the
each bead is just Rs. 3, and the making charges
for the key chain or pendant is just Rs. 5. The
extreme right of the hall is filled with Bengali
cotton and silk sarees. The price of the cotton
sarees ranged from Rs. 600 and Rs. 850 and silk
sarees is from Rs. 2,500 to 4,000. Besides there
are designer jute foot wear, lampshades made from
paper pulp, greetings, dry flowers on display for
sale at the mela. As the manufacturers are directly
selling their products to the customers the rates
of most of the items are low when compared to other
retail shops in the city. The weeklong exhibition
will conclude on 13 August 2001. |
