Bhopal: With an aim to discouraging people from buying Chinese rakhis and promote Swadeshi items, Subhash Mahila Mandal of Seva Bharati is imparting training to girls to make eco-friendly rakhis under 10-day workshop in Annapurna Mandir near Subhash Phatak. They are using multani soil, papers, quilling and peeper wool, foam, silk thread, gota, pearl of garland and rudraksha et al for making the eco-friendly rakhi.
Pratibha Shukla, convener of Subhas Mahila Mandal, a women wing of Seva Bharati said, “We have organised the workshop for making eco-friendly rakhi for the first time in protest of Chinese rakhis. We also want to create patriotic feelings in young generation. By selling cheap and attractive items, China has captured Indian market. However, there is no label of ‘Made in China’ written on rakhis but most of Chinese material is being used for making them. We don’t want to depend on China and other countries, so we are imparting training to girls to promote handmade rakhi by using Indian materials.”
Bharati further said, “After finishing and packaging, we will exhibit these rakhis in ‘Sawan Mela’ in August at Anandham for sale. I am sure all will be sold out. And we will use the money for the children to whom we are imparting training. Now, we have 15 girl children of age group 6 to 17 years of Acharya Narendra Nagar slum area in the workshop. This is our trial year but we will organise it on a large scale from next year.”
“The motto of our workshop is to use and promote Indian products and boycott foreign products. We are trying to create best from waste things. We are using waste materials like wool, foam, silk thread, gota, pieces of bakram, pearls of garland Tulsi and rudraksha to make rakhi. These items are available in everyone’s home. We will also use rice and pulses,” said 78-year-old Hardini Joshi, a former LIC official and member of the Mandali adding, “I also trained my three daughters to make rakhi when they were young. And till now, they tie hand made rakhi on the wrist of their brother. It gives you great feeling when you tie handmade rakhi. It also strengthens sibling bonding.”
Another member, artist Prerna Sharma said, “Being a woman, we also want to make girl children, especially of slum areas, self dependent.” “For the first time I got chance to learn to make eco-friendly rakhi. It is very interesting. I never thought we can also make rakhi by using household items,” said Jyoti Rathore adding, “I have no real brother but I will tie this rakhi to my cuisine.”
Similarly, Sadhna Yadav, 17, who is busy making rakhi said, “I am very happy to think I will tie the eco-friendly rakhi which I made in the workshop to my brother. I shall not purchase rakhi from market this year.”
