Wheat stalk portray, a conventional artwork type of Bahraich, is a laborious and time consuming course of. Here is how it’s serving to women in Uttar Pradesh battle the clutches of early marriage and work in direction of monetary independence.
The primary market in Risia block, Bahraich district, Uttar Pradesh, is bustling with exercise.
The one massive marketplace for all the block, there are a number of retailers lining the slender winding streets. Whereas some promote groceries, greens, sweetmeats and readymade garments, others supply tailoring and hair chopping companies.
Squeezed amongst them is a small store run by Rachna Kumari, a petite and soft-spoken younger girl promoting distinctive wheat stalk work handmade by her.
Not surprisingly, this unconventional entrepreneurial alternative has made the 23-year-old the cynosure of all eyes for extra causes than one.
Not solely is her store the one one among its variety right here, however what additionally makes her stand out is her grit and braveness. Each morning, even earlier than her mom awakens, she finishes cooking and cleansing earlier than biking 5 km from her home in Risia block’s Chhitan Purva village to run her store alone. It’s this indomitable spirit and dedication that has helped Rachna comply with her desires.
In an aspirational district with low socio-economic indicators the place women are married quickly after reaching puberty, Rachna too, would have met the identical destiny.
Having to drop out of faculty as a consequence of household’s monetary constraints, she resisted early marriage and dared to pursue her desires to turn out to be an artist and an entrepreneur. Over the previous 12 months, she has offered about 200 of her work, 50 of which had been purchased since she opened her store in April this 12 months.
Right here’s how she achieved this admirable feat.
When alternatives make desires come true
Again in 2019, Rachna had nearly given up on life. “I turned depressed after dropping out. I assumed I must spend the remainder of my days doing family chores. Because the eldest of 5 siblings, there was a number of strain on me to get married,” remembers Rachna.
Round this time, the Aga Khan Basis (AKF) got here into the image with Challenge Lehar. Began to offer vocational coaching, entrepreneurship, and life abilities programs to marginalised younger girls, Challenge Lehar, run by AKF in partnership with The King’s Belief Worldwide, empowers women and younger girls from deprived backgrounds to rediscover and realise their potential.
The Challenge Lehar crew was reaching out to assist faculty dropouts within the Risia block restart their schooling. This was a godsend alternative for Rachna to not simply resume her research but additionally to persuade her mother and father to drop her marriage plans.
After she was admitted into school by way of Challenge Lehar, she was additionally recommended on entrepreneurial and profession prospects. One such session on wheat stalk portray was to vary her life without end.
Wheat stalk portray, a conventional artwork type of Bahraich, is a laborious and time consuming course of. It’s created by chopping wheat stalks into high-quality sections to craft intricate designs on material utilizing sharp-edged blades and razors.
“After class 10, I couldn’t research additional as a result of the federal government inter school was very far-off from my home. My household revenue was not sufficient to enroll me in a non-public school close by and so they additionally didn’t need me to review any extra. However now I’m economically unbiased and am paying for my schooling,” says the BA third-year pupil proudly.
Nonetheless, Rachna will not be resting on her laurels. Her store additionally doubles up as a coaching centre the place different women from marginalised backgrounds like her who need to stand on their ft get a second likelihood to vary their lives like she did.
She trains them six days per week in two batches. The one-month primary coaching course in wheat stalk portray prices Rs 500 per lady. Presently, she has 20 college students between the ages of 12 and 17 years.
Whereas educating these enthusiastic younger women is a joyful expertise, what provides Rachna immense delight is being chosen as a wheat stalk portray coach in February 2024 by the muse. After being a trainee underneath this venture to now turning into its paid coach, Rachna’s life has come full circle.
Paving a path for others
It takes Rachna nearly 8-10 hours to make one portray. The value of every framed wheat stalk portray ranges from Rs 1,000-3,000, relying on the intricacy of labor and its dimension.
Whereas some a part of the proceeds of the sale is spent on uncooked materials like wheat stalks, paying store hire and electrical energy payments, Rachna is utilizing the remainder of the cash to fund her dream to proceed her schooling.
Apparently, it was Rachna’s success story that impressed most of those college students to hitch her courses. When Pooja (17) heard about how Rachna turned her life round together with her portray and entrepreneurial abilities, she was eager to do the identical.
“I dropped out after class 8 two years in the past after I obtained married. If I might earn no less than Rs 5,000 a month, then I can get monetary savings to renew my research and in addition purchase a scooty. Then I don’t should stroll 3 km from my village to the Risia market,” says Pooja.
In the meantime, Fatima Khatun (14), Afreen Begum (12), Rehana (13) and Soni Bano (15), all college students who reside in close by villages, learnt about Rachna’s courses from Pooja, and joined it to uplift their households’ incomes.
Anjali (14) found this artwork type on Fb the place Rachna posts the images of her work. She was so motivated that she walked 8 km from her village to Rachna’s store to be taught the work.
The demand for wheat stalk work has elevated because it was chosen to characterize Bahraich underneath the state authorities’s One District, One Product programme. Launched in 2018, its aim is to encourage better visibility and sale of indigenous and specialised merchandise of every district.
Monika Rani, the district Justice of the Peace of Bahraich, has been pushing for girls’s empowerment by way of schooling and livelihood coaching. “Rachna is proving that given the chance and abilities, women can overcome all obstacles,” she says.
Edited by Padmashree Pande. Image courtesy: Swapna Majumdar.
