Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Seeing the creative handicrafts produced by the adivasis of the Vidharba region, Smita Ayachit felt strongly that their talent needed to be promoted. And she tried to do it herself.
So she gave up her civil law practice and ventured into marketing their goods. Today, the outfit she floated – VEDHA (Village Enterprise Development of Handicraft Artisans) – has ensured 40 families a means of livelihood and also got them visibility in markets outside the local sphere.
“We moved from Nagpur to Pune a couple of years ago, because of my husband’s transfer. In Nagpur, I had my legal practice, but I always had a yen for marketing. For sometime, I had been thinking of diversifying, getting into something different,” says Ayachit.
Accompanying friends like the late Vinu Kale, who were already working in this field, she was able to see the craftsmen at work. “But they have a very limited range of designs and the only place they sell their wares is at the local markets, and that too for a pretty measly sum,” she explains. That got her interested, and she, along with an architect friend Sunil Joshi, started VEDHA.
By that time she had moved to Pune, and the idea took root to get their goods and sell them in the city, where the buying capacity is definitely more. “We narrowed down to bamboo craft as it was less expensive, more durable and, of course, eco-friendly. It has a rapid growth rate, so cutting it regularly does not matter much. Initially, we would get the bamboo from Assam, but as we acquired more expertise in bamboo selection, we started taking locally-grown shoots. We were able to procure some land near Ramtek (close to Nagpur). There these adivasi families are given a place to stay and it has also developed as their art village. Today, about 40 families are established there.”
The first display of these bamboo goods was at an exhibition at the B.J. Medical College grounds about two years ago. Encouraged by the response, she got furniture and illumination designers to put in more ideas for the workmen to create.
While this is a far cry from her days of legal battling, Ayachit finds this work closer to her heart. With her marketing talents getting an outlet, the fact that this enterprise has provided employment to the tribal youth makes her feel more content with the way her time is spent. “Even if all the goods cannot be sold, the worker gets his wage.” That gives Smita Ayachit reason to believe that she has won her case!
