Kutch (Gujarat): Women artisans from Shrujan are braiding threads to make rakhis for the soldiers of Indian Army and to help artisans affected by the pandemic. On this Raksha Bandhan -- celebrating the relationship between brothers and sisters -- women artisans will gift rakhis to Indian soldiers.
Shrujan is a non-profit organisation and is a part of Kutch Craft Collective (KCC) which has been supporting the traditional crafts to make a sustainable livelihood for artisans.
Along with Shrujan, RDI, KalaRaksha, Khasab and Khamir are also a part of KCC and on this Rakhi, the organisation has collaborated with 'Habba' for the 'Jai Jawan' to prepare 40,000 rakhis.
Under the programme 'Jai Jawan', craftswomen in Kutch are working to revitalize the ancient craft of hand embroidery which has its branches in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
'Habba', an initiative of Bengaluru-based Rang De, was established with an aim to bridge the gap between customers and artisans. Women artisans from five various organisations are preparing rakhis for the Indian soldiers using the local handicraft materials.
Though the order was placed for 40,000 rakhis, women artisans have already prepared 1,00,000 rakhis which will be sent to soldiers deployed at the frontiers. Organisations like Khamir, Kasab, Srujan and VRDI have been active participants of this initiative.
Amiben Shroff from Shrujan informed that Habba approached Shrujan and placed an order of 40,000 rakhis to be sent to Indian soldiers as a token of appreciation and gratitude. Around 20,000 rakhis were prepared by Khamir, 10,000 by KalaRaksha and 10,000 by Shrujan.
Shroff said, "Habba has taken this strong initiative to help the artisans during the pandemic. Four weavers, helpers, nine women were working to make Trirangaa band. Apart from this, twenty-two women did the stitching part."
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"Women from Bhuj village are also preparing rakhis. This is our first connect with the Army and we want to express gratitude to them. We also aim to help those artisans facing a financial crunch amid pandemic. We have also decorated rakhis with artificial pearls and beads. Every material used is local handicraft which depicts the vast diversity of the nation. Each artisan will be paid Rs 30 per rakhi and the money saved will be spent for the development of the local artisans," said Hemali Chauhan, who works with Khamir.
Chauhan added, "Women artisans from Khamir have singularly prepared 20,000 rakhis out of which 15,000 rakhis have been made out of waste materials, black cotton and 8,000 from handwoven fabric. The main purpose is to provide employment opportunities to these women artisans who have been badly hit during the pandemic. And this will also boost the morale of the Indian soldiers."
"This is a strong initiative to encourage local artisans and to promote the handicraft of Kutch. It is also an opportunity to express solidarity to our Indian Jawans. The money saved will be utilised for the development of the local artisans," said Rajubai, who is associated with Shrujan.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Kuntal Ben said, "Rakhis of different and attractive designs have been prepared by weaving pieces of waste plastics with fabric. The time frame is short and rakhis have to be dispatched to be sent to Indian soldiers. This will honour our brothers in arms."
Barkha Anjaria said, "We made 40,000 rakhis in nine days with the help of 41 people. Weaving was a challenging task but our morale got boosted as rakhis would be supplied to Indian soldiers. On an average basis, 1,033 rakhis were made on a daily basis. We have also included colours of Tricolour and colour of Satyagrah."
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