As we enter the last week of posts on our series on INSPIRING WOMAN, we meet a woman who creates elegant bags from the waste material from tailoring shops.
This post is by Anjana K. Nair who has been a Bhagwad Gita scholar since the age of 6. Once a corporate trainer, as well as a singer and dancer today she is a freelance writer. Anjana is currently working on her first book ‘Confessions of God’, which she says is spiritual fiction based on the first eighteen chapters of the Bhagwad Geetha. You can read more of her work here.
A WOMAN WHO TURNED TRASH TO TREASURE
It’s a go green era. The cities have clogged drains and people are worried about waste disposal. There are ecological revolutions happening in and around the metros. Reduce, Reuse, Refuse and Recycle. This is the mantra of many ecological revolutions that happens around. But have we ever thought that the bits and pieces of tailoring waste can be sewed out into beautiful and elegant bags? Definitely not! They were just landfills for us. But artist Radha Gomaty did. That was how Sangmitra was born as the friend of the society.
It was at an exhibition of cloth bags in Cochin, I came to notice her. She and her ‘sisters’ made beautiful jholas and Batuas that would tempt one. It would go with anything. They are more natural, fashionable and affordable ones. There were also backpacks, spectacle cases and pouches. They work as a team, a team of highly inspired women.
She is an artist who has won Lalithakala academy award for sculpting, a poetess, a painter and a nature lover. As she says every single woman has a tendency of hoarding bits and pieces together. Sangmitra is an extension of it.
There was no such stimulus for a beginning. But Radha got a chance to go to Bristol in 2004 where she took some homemade stuff like terracotta trinkets, vegetable dyed shirts etc. She got a stall between the chrome and steel and all tech ones. But as soon as all these were placed, it resembled a wild tropical flowering. Some of them came in and to her surprise they bought from her many of the handcrafts. The ecological awareness they had, inspired her. She is helped in this venture by Reena Rosario, the neighbor who runs a tailoring unit and Jaya, who stitches the bags.
In 2009, they launched the first exclusive collection of bags in association with ANMPU Media trust, Cochin. This was the one which I had stumbled upon.
Sangmitra bags are made with care and quality. The process is not an easy one though. Radha picks the waste that tailoring shops and units generate. Each bundle of waste is a celebration and it creates some sort of anticipation. In her words, “We don’t know what we are going to find in there. It takes a lot of time and energy sifting through the pieces of cloth.”
Sourcing tailoring waste is just the beginning. The real work starts later which is divided into two steps – sifting the rags and picking the suitable ones. The production of bags comes next. Some they have designed, for the others there are samples which they fabricate.
Once they complete the sifting and sorting, a little patch work, blend of colors and textures, a short discussion and finally the bags are done.
“Patch work is a woman’s narrative, her passion, her story and this recycling is a prayer to all beings” says Radha.
“These rags may have stories to tell. If the cloth has a strong smell of pan, beedi or cigarettes it’s a men employed unit. If there are stains of food, it has to be women. I know several women who have this tendency of hoarding small pieces of cloth. Even I did, for whatever reason, and it stays there. I just extended that tendency,” she laughs. It’s an extension of a hidden passion inside many of the women. But here the waste that may be dumped is exchanged for currency.
It is a perfect option for a classy affair and there is never a need to attach an accessory as the fabric itself gives you the edge. Backpacks in heavy or light fabrics, available in a number of shades, with pockets for cell phones and other essentials will be liked by all. Sling bags and totes, which are a mix of fragments of different pieces of cloth in various hues, are sure to spice up your wardrobe. They also have silk bags in aqua and apple green colors, which catch the eyes of any passerby. Jholas and Batuas promise the desi stroke to one’s costume and many have small add-ons and are a great choice for gift bags.
Sangmitra makes corporate gifts too, provided they get enough time. The reason is they don’t work like any other unit, which purchases production materials from stores. Though made from cut pieces the quality is not compromised. Attention is paid on each stitch and seam that brings out the bags. Jaya, the core strength of Sangmitra worked in a garment export house for sometime which helps maintaining the quality.
When we learn about her more and more, it’s inspiring. She is a nature lover who contributes her part to the society in a pretty interesting way. Now she is looking forward for the expansion of this to garment industry as well. Who knows, this creates a green revolution!
Hail Nature! Hail Sangmitra!
~~~
Team First Feather: Radha truly is an example of someone who has transformed an original idea into a successful business venture. What’s inspiring is how she does her part for the environment at the same time.
Do you know of anyone who inspires you to put your first creative feather in your cap?
Send your thoughts in around 500- 1000 words to firstfeather.consultants(@)gmail.com and we'll feature you on the blog!
The deadline for our Inspiring Women series – is March 21st. Yes today and we’ll be accepting entries till the end of the day only!
Oh and also 35 of the best entries from the overall submissions to the blog on different topics will be selected and compiled into an e-book to be released in April 2012.
So make sure that your thoughts reach us by then and yes, we can see you whipping out those thinking caps!
No comments:
Post a Comment