JOIN USThere is more to Bellary than temples, ruins and watching the sun set sitting atop Hemakuta and Matanga Hills.
There is something beyond Hampi too. If you are a lover of art, handicraft, nature, trekking and bird watching, then you should make it to Sandur, a valley about 53 km from Hospet. Even during a flying visit, one should step into the Sandur Kushala Kala Kendra (SKKK) campus.
In Sandur, the late M Y Ghorpade’s name, son of the erstwhile ruler of Sandur kingdom, continues to resonate. Being a former minister, this politician and lensman par excellence, had set a high standard for himself in public life as well as in the mining business in Karnataka. He had set a similar benchmark in the social work he did through the cooperative society SKKK as well as the Sandur Residential School.
Hands at work
SKKK, established in 1984, has been successful in creating additional financial income for the female members of the families that are working for the Sandur mining company. A good number of Lambani (Banjara) women who reside in the hamlets around Sandur are gainfully employed through the society.
Women belonging to this tribe, whose roots can be traced to northwestern India, have a unique talent to use thread and needle to create magnificent designs on cotton fabric.
There are about 300 Lambani women in over eight hamlets, who are engaged in this craft. They do hand embroideries. The designs are still traditional, though they are experimenting with contemporary designs supplied to them by the society. The huge campus of SKKK in Sandur town houses a shop, a stone sculpting section, a cane and bamboo furniture unit, besides cotton khadi spinning-weaving section, a tailoring workshop and a natural colour dyeing unit.
Women artists have flexible working hours and they can work from home too. Doorstep delivery of the materials required is done by SKKK. A senior artist can earn up to Rs 6,000 a month, including Rs 2,000 worth of groceries supplied by the society.
The exquisite patchworks of thread and mirror are beautifully stitched on cushion covers, hand bags, pouches, clutches, skirts, salwar kameez, quilts, wall panels, table clothes to name a few. Bright red, blue and yellow are the prominent colours and only natural dyes are used.
SKKK has developed a good marketing network for its products. It has assured clients within and outside India. The artists have won state, national and international awards for their craft work. They are proud two-time winners of the UNESCO award for excellence in contemporary art.
In 1991, it had taken the assistance of Dastakar for improving design, development, skill training and marketing. Today, Fabindia has become one among the key clients. The turnover of the society sometimes crosses Rs 1.5 crore a year.
M Galeppa, Marketing Officer of the society, says the highest demand is for women’s wear like kurtis and pyjamas.
One of the guiding forces behind the organised business networking is Roohi Azam. This young textile designer is a native of Sandur but now works from Bangalore. She used to supply designs to the artists and now is on the administrative side.
Roohi proudly says there is no competition for the Banjara artists anywhere in India. She says, “We have huge demand for our products. We are opening an exclusive SKKK shop in Bangalore. We had supplied products to Japan for three years. We even have a geographical indication (GI) tag. We have taken part in many shows and exhibitions, including the London Fashion Week. The one problem we have is shortage of artists to meet the demand for our products.”
A dying craft
Roohi says the younger generation in Banjara is shying away from wearing the traditional costumes, let alone doing embroidery for ours. With money power growing, Lambanis are taking up agriculture. During the peak mining period, a lot of women had drifted to the mining fields to earn better money.
During the monsoon season, they prefer to work in agriculture fields. Girls who are getting a formal education, are no longer interested in sticking to the traditional vocation.
“For us, the challenge now is to identify more women artists who belong to the same tribe in other districts. Even Walmart was keen on doing business with us, but we are not equipped to meet the demand,” Roohi says.