This is a story of change among tribal communities in Jharkhand - a story of economic empowerment, of government accountability and revival of a dying tradition. It is a story of revived cultural identity for tribal communities. It is a story not about change driven by money but by a motivation and commitment.

The Need of the Hour

As the winter winds blow over the woods of  Saal, Arjun, Kendu, Ason and dried Palash ; rhythm and flavour of traditional fairs  and  harvesting festivals bring the finest spirit of  Jharkhand . Bakr-Id, Christmas,   Makar Sankranti, Tusu Parab and Basant Panchami – all in a row have created a festival fervour among the people. 

Excellent traditional Pithaa and rituals add to the festival mood among people at large.  In Jharkhand festivals are always coupled with dances and music.  The dancers use colourful costumes and age old ornaments and musical instruments as they make merry in their community.

But even before the tunes of Mander , Kendri, Bansuri are faded, almost 20 to 40 % of the rural population move out of their homes/ village for earning their daily bread. Even after 60 years of independence, almost 30% of land has no irrigation facility. Due to scarcity of water there is only single crop and a large section of people are plunged into uncertainty every year. Roads from the calm villages lead either to a distant brick kiln or a construction site. They call it destiny.

For large section of rural / agrarian people we need to create water resources by tapping rain water and generating alternate employment with local natural resources. This is the call of the day.

If villagers (both tribal/non-tribal) are forced to leave their own socio – cultural set up and surrounding they may lose their own identity, culture, ritual  and ethnicity. It will be the greatest ecological disaster.

We need to act to safeguard the identity of the tribes of Jharkhand.     

Visitors in the Land of Gondha

·     Students from Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, visited the village cluster in Potka , that is transcending a silent revolution with Gondha Grass and indomitable spirit.  The students were highly impressed. They came back with surprises and satisfaction that how poor villagers have been creating the tangible  impact in the rural society. They have come up with suggestions, as to how this project can be developed further with more production and infrastructure created by villagers..

·     It was a different experience for a couple of  NRI families who visited an unusual site in rural heartland where tribal women weave their dreams with coloured thread and Gondha grass. They saw the grass mat items being sold at Ranchi Udyog Mela. The most interesting information for them was of course tribal women and entire villagers contributed in building the common work-shed for tribal weavers.

·     Business School Students of XLRI, Jamshedpur, have been making an in-depth  study about the raw material procurement, resource management, production and marketing of the traditional handicraft products for sustainable development of the people of Potka involved in Grass mat making. They later invited the women group to participate in the Maxi fair at their campus.

·     Mr. Rahul Purwar, IAS, Director, Industries, was highly impressed with the high motivation level of the tribal women making grass mat  when he preferred to visit this remote village on his own taking a que from IITF, New Delhi. He sees a great possibility of production and marketing of grass mat in near future.

·     Mr. K.C. Shashidhar, Chief Zonal Manager, NABARD had a charismatic presence at the common work shed, when he met more than sixty tribal women artisans at Ragrasai. Artisans freely interacted with him about their problems, strengths and weaknesses. It was a great experience for the Bhumij and Kalindi artisans to share their views and expectation with Mr Sashidhar

·     Mr. R C Prasad,  General Manager, District Industry Centre and  Mr. P. K Lohani, Dy Director, Industry surveyed and evaluated ongoing training programme at Janumdih, Bhalki and Harina. Training Programme at rural centres for SC/ST traditional artisans  is a new initiative of Department of Industry, Government of Jharkhand

Marketing… Fair… Sale…

Khadi Mela

Pyatkar artist Mr.Vijay Chitrakar and Mr. Sanjeev Kumar from Kalamandir participated in Khadi Gram Udyog Mela at Morabadi Maidan Ranchi, at the invitation of Department of Industry, Government of Jharkhand. This was organised to promote various forms of handicrafts and handloom items produced by local artisans during 20th December’06 to 7th January’07. The artisans had the opportunity to sale  their  products as well as they got an exposure to the market.

Two young Pyatkar artists (Mr. Jagannath Gayen, Mr. Sukhdev Gayen) were invited by office of the Asst. Commisoner, DC(H) Ranchi at the same  Mela. It was great learning experience for the young artists. They received the Artisan Identity cards at the fair itself.

Trade Fair 

Kalamandir participated in India International Trade Fair at Delhi Pragati Maidan, New Delhi between 14th November and 28th November. A beautifully decorated craft village was installed to give a impression of a Tourist village with different artisans demonstrating their skill with close cooperation of Department of Industry, Government of Jharkhand to match the theme. Live demonstration were held by Lagnu Malhore (Dokra), Shukh Dev Maharana (Chhau Mask), Dhirendra Chitrakar (Pyatkar paintings), Robin Purty (Wood carving),Dugni Bhelawadi (Sohrai painting).

Further the entire Jharkhand pavilion  was completely decorated with    Pyatkar paintings made by the artists of Dhalbhumgarh viz, Mr.Gopal Chitrakar and Mr.Vijay Chitrakar in association with Sujit Das and Chandan Jaiswal.

Crafts produced by artisans of Kalamandir were chosen for gift and mementoes for the dignitaries and the guests visiting Jharkhand   pavilion. All the items are highly appreciated. Kalamandir stall was awarded the best stall award.

Saras  

The fair was organised jointly by the Govt.of Maharastra and Rural Development Department, Govt. of India at Bandra Kurla Reclaimation. Mumbai from 23rd December, 2006 to 3rd January 2007.  Sri Hari Sahu and Sri Biswarup Chatterjee participated on behalf of our organisation sponsored by NABARD. We presented handicraft items produced by SHGs of artisan like Grass Mat, Dokra (Brass Metal Items), Pyatkar Painting, Greetings Cards.  In the earlier part of the Mela, Dokra items did not sell as expected.  However, Grass Mat items were very popular from the beginning and sale was very good. Incidently our grass mat project is partly supported by NABARD.

Shilp Gram, Udaipur

It was an excellent rural set up with various rural artifacts finding their places in various hut shaped stalls.Traditional artisans from Kalamandir participated in Shilp Gram Mela    at Udaipur from 23rd to 31st December, with product range from   grass mat, wood carving and Pyatkar painting. The artisans, namely     Mr.Anil Chitrakar(Pyatkar paintings),Mr. Bibek Singh Babu (Wood Carving), Ms. Rekha Pareya (Grass mat) attended the fair invitation from EZCC, Kolkata. All the items were appreciated by visitors though it did not find many buyers.

Saras, Ranchi

Along with members of other SHGs of the district we too participated in SARAS mela at Ranchi during. It was a great exposure for the artisans to interact with their counterparts producing various craft items for livelihood.

Training Program, Amadubi

A four month training session on Pyatkar painting has been started by Kalamandir supported by Industry Department at Amadubi village of Dhalbhumgarh for the young artists who had left their traditional craft long back. Twenty trainees were selected by the General Manager, DIC and verification was completed by Sub Divisional Officer, Ghatshila.

Hon’ble Mr.Sudhir Mahato,  Deputy Chief Minister, Jharkhand inaugurated the proposed training center in the presence of Mr K K Khandelwal, Secretary,(Industry), Mr.Dhirendra Kumar, Special Secretary,(Industry) .  

Potka Artisan Cluster

Grass mat items on quality path

20 tribal women were selected from Bara tola/ Neechatola of Janumdih village of Potka Block for the training of grass mat items under Department of Industry for development of skill among villagers. The selection process and motivation was done by none other than Sri Amulya Sardar, MLA. Potka on 14 December 2006. Kalamandir has taken a step towards empowerment of women and help them to become equal partners in a progressive society.

NABARD nourishes tribal skill

A 60 day training programme for Design Development in Grass Mat making was undertaken by NABARD at Janumdih village from December 15, 2006. For the purpose of training, 30 tribal women have been  selected from artisans who were already given basic training in grass mat making. After the training they are expected to produce quality items.

Mr. Deepak Kothari, Deputy General Manager, Union Bank of India inaugurated the training programme. After interacting with the members of the SHG he announced that soon the centre will get two Solar lamp and school bags for all the children of SHG members who are student of the EGS school being run at the centre. Mr.N Parhi, Asstt General Manager, NABARD was also present on the occasion.

All the individual artisans have opened their individual Bank account with Union Bank of India besides their SHG account. Habit of thrift has been constantly encouraged by Mr C M Murmu, DDM,NABARD.

Bhalki and Harina rises from ashes

They lost all hopes. Odds were insurmountable to them. Dr Nitin Madan Kulkarni, DC, East Singhbhum had other ideas. Visiting this area few months back he promised them a new road to life, provided they are ready to take up the challenge. The proposal to give them training in using modern tools and making of finer products was immediately accepted by Mr R C Prasad, General Manager, DIC. After the survey, 20 Kalindi (SC) women craft persons were selected and motivated to join the training programme. Under the able guidance of Sri Binod Bihari Manna a training program has  been started from 15 December 2006.

Opening up New Vistas

A team of field workers along with officials of Industry Department led by Mr R C Prasad, GM, DIC  visited Adardih, Kuidih and Choga villages of Seraikela Kharsawan district to identify craft persons for bamboo. Kalamandir proposed to start a training programme on bamboo crafts works immediately in the line of Potka block by Department of Industry. We have short listed 15 tribal women from Adardih and 15 more from Kuidiah for the training. Training will purely focuss on technical and design development.

A proposal to train 20 traditional weavers in Milan Chowk of Ichagarh block has also been mooted by Kalamandir for making traditional handloom cloths.   

Aesthetics – Tradition – Entertainment

Natraj Kala Kendra, Choga visited and performed at Pallkat, Kerala at the invitation by Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre. They were again invited to perform at Travel World, Mumbai on 1 February 2007 where they performed so well that even foreign delegates were moved and posed hundreds of enquiries for tourists.

Adim Bhumij Kherwar Samity performed colourful Firkaal dance at the Republic day celebration program at Jagdalpur, Chhattishgarh. It was a great entertainment to the audience.

Deuridih Chhau Kendra ,Kharsawan presented an interesting episode of Delhi Chalo in memory of freedom struggle at Seraikela on the occasion of Republic Day.

Thus after a long arduous journey through the red soil of Chhotanagpur , we found a right direction of  creating opportunity  for alternative employment for the tribal / indigenous artists and artisans. We have sufficient resource, capacity and talent. We lack capital and entrepreneurship. We need to develop it through training and capacity building. It is not in theory, but we have been practicing this on the soil of Janumdih in East Singhbhum that dancers and craft persons are now creating their own employment.

This independent initiative mingled with determination and community sense will show the way.

- Amitava Ghosh, the visionary behind this effort, lives in Jamshedpur and leads Kalamandir. He can be contacted at celluloidchapter@hotmail.com