Odisha-Based Homemaker Transforming Lives Of Rural Women Through Craft Bamboo Jewellery

Bhubaneswar: A Bhubaneswar-based homemaker, Priyadarsni Das, turned the COVID-induced lockdown into an opportunity to empower rural women in different districts of Odisha. Since the onset of the pandemic, she has been teaching the nuances of making bamboo jewellery with locally-available material free of cost. Using bamboo as the base material, she has conceptualised and developed a variety of products with the help of eco-friendly items.

As part of her experiments with bamboo, she treats the same with neem, turmeric and karanja extract. “The bamboo needs to be processed first by using these natural extracts. This increases the longevity of the product, which otherwise will decay,” she said.

For making the jewellery items, she uses local bamboo of different varieties. She has been able to create bangles of different shapes and sizes, hair clips, earrings, studs, necklaces, etc. Not just that, she has applied Pattachitra art on bangles, earrings and hair clips.

Besides, she also experiments with natural dyes by applying different natural colours for making her jewellery. To enhance the elegance of the costume jewellery, she uses solid bamboo with other wood beads, stone, glass and metal beads for making the pieces. She also collects seashells, conch, and dead snails to give a different visual effect to the jewellery items.

So far, she has trained more than 100 rural girls and women in Jagatsinghpur, Rayagada and Kendrapara districts. “Sometimes, I collaborate with voluntary organisations to reach out to rural women, keen on learning the art form. I don’t intend to earn out of it. Neither, am I trying to become an entrepreneur. Rather, I intend to empower these women so that they are able to earn a livelihood out of this,” said Das, who is married to the current director of NIFT Bhubaneswar, professor Binaya Bhusan Jena. Her husband’s research on ‘farm to fashion’ has further inspired her.

Earlier, in April she organised a training programme for about 25 Kondh girls of Rayagada district. The girls have now taken this up as their primary source of livelihood.  Both the training programme and the jewellery made by them were recognised by the state government, national and international agencies. These girls have started making bamboo-based jewellery, Rakhis and friendship bands with financial support from a voluntary organisation, SPARSH Foundation. During this year’s Rakshya Bandhan, the girls were provided free stalls by ORMAS at different places. They sold Rakhis worth Rs 50,000.

“Bamboo has got a lot of potential and one single plant of bamboo costing around Rs. 100 to Rs. 150 can be transformed into Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs. 3.5 lakh products by using basic skills and techniques. Proper utilisation of the resource can check forced migration of youth in search of employment,” explained Das.