Constable By Profession, This Woman Puts Odia Craft In World Market

Bhubaneswar: She works as a police Constable but her passion lies in creating new designs of crochet items. Meet Sandhyarani Behera of Odia Sahi under Chakapada block of Kandhamal district who has put the Odisha craft in the world market.

Sandhya has been pursuing her passion for the last 13 years. She has been making Kurtas, gown, winter wears, bed sheet, pillow cover, sofa cover and other home decors with different colours of wool and thread.

“As I am a government servant, I cannot get involved in any Self Help Group (SHG). That is why I am guiding the women members of some SHGs in the design work and marketing their products also,” said Sandhya.

Under the guidance of Sandhya, over 300 women of Chilika, Balasore, Angul, Boudh, and Phulbani are making these items. They create different designs with cruise and colouful threads and wool. While Sandhya helps them give shape to their ideas, Maninageswar tailor group near Khallikote in Ganjam district carries out the stitching work.

“With the help of a Chennai-based organisation, we send these items to other countries. Besides, ORMAS is enabling the women to sell the products in different parts of Odisha,” said Sandhya.

Notably, in a decoration contest in Chennai in September, 2019, Sandhya got a place in Guinness Book Of World Record. She and her five-member team had showcased 200 items in the contest. Out of 360 participants, Sandhya and her team set the world record. She has also received many state-level awards for this work.

Sandhya started her career as a Constable in Kandhamal district in 2004. Now, she is working at GRP, Khurda.

“My husband is very cooperative. He accompanies me to different states to attend workshops to learn more about this work. I have visited Kolkata, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Ludhiana to observe the new crochet designs,” said Sandhya.

“I want to help the poor women who cannot step out of their homes to earn livelihood. They can earn by working from their homes and help their family financially,” said Sandhya.

Her next step is to send the crochet woolen and thread works to other countries directly, she added.