Artisans around us: Kiranbala Harichandan

A multi-proficient artisan who weaves magic with hands:  Kiranbala Harichandan

Kiranbala Harichandan is the master handicrafts person who runs Seven Diamond Multicraft, that is a producer of handmade items . Situated at Lokeswarpur, Pallahat, Khordha District of Odisha, this organization has been functioning since 2005. Previously, it started with home creations however now their creative work has made its path to diverse stalls in the last fifteen years.

Their products include applique paintings, embroidery, straw art and paddy artwork which is made by trained individuals. They even create pillow covers, sofa covers and bedsheets, which they promote from houses or from stalls at Gopalpur, Bhubaneswar or anywhere else when they get a chance.

Kiranbala, besides being an outstanding artisan, she also gives training to young people at distinctive locations for which she is being paid by the government. She has 15+ artisans working with her at Seven Diamond Multicraft. They acquire the raw materials in bulk from places like Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Puri & Pipili and they an inventory for 3-4 months.

Their efforts in this is field has started to pay off because of the high quality of work. She shared that recently , they got an order for applique work for a temple for INR 28,000. However, the temple administration was so impressed that they paid additional INR 2,000.

She is a self-made artisan, who had this hobby since her school days and later converted this to a business. She believes that  "handmade products have much greater authenticity and beauty than the machine-made ones". At the same time, she expresses grief, that people nowadays are unaware of the high-quality produced by artisans and prefer the machine-made cheaper products. She is happy that our honorable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modiji has started the "vocal for local" campaign, and this she believes makes the case for artisans stronger. 

The current Covid-19 situation has posed a problem for her as the sales are down, however they are assured that they have got enough stocks of their artwork, which would start selling once things return to normalcy. 

That’s called optimism and our salute to many more Kiranbala's in India who are promoting local products and creating livelihoods for artisans.

(Interviewed by Neha Dash, KSOM 2nd year student during her internship with EnigmaticIndia. Photos have been provided by Ms Kiranbala)

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Artisans Around Us: Md Khurshid Ansari

“You got to pack anything, whenever you make a sale and that is an opportunity”: Khurshid Ansari

Md. Khurshid Ansari is a craftsman of Jute & Cotton working as a trainer in a production unit at Rishra close to Hooghly, in West Bengal. His organization is a part of the Bharatiya Mahila Sangathan since thirty years. Nine years into this organization as a craftsman, Mr. Khurshid has gained a great deal of recognition worldwide. Mr. Khurshid is not only a great artisan himself but also contributes to the society as a trainer at the Aditya Birla Institute. He has received many awards for his contribution to the society including Aditya Birla Jan Seva Trust for two years.

His organization deals with jute & cotton bags, canvas & Tisco bags. They make workplace  lunch boxes (which is their best-selling product). Apart from this they supply gunny bags to Supermarkets/malls. In the initial days, he struggled a lot to form his team, which comprises mostly women. However after months of training, the team is well settled and delivering well. The supply chain for the products  involve procuring the jute and cotton directly from the mills  through an agent. The raw materials are  bought as per the frequency of orders and it is converted into finished good in an impressive line-up of the  twenty-five (25) machines for  Jute  products  and  twelve (12) machines for Cotton products. 

He definitely wants his products to go global through online channel, however due to very high packaging and shipping cost, he is unable to do so. This is limiting the sale of the products just to exhibitions and small shops/retail outlets. As asked by our team regarding how the Jute and Cotton bags will be reach globally, he quoted “you got to pack anything whenever you make a sale and that is an opportunity that strikes us”. As there's slowly a ban of synthetic resin packaging, the demand of jute and cotton bags has seen an increase. He has seen that the craze for such eco-friendly products is increasing both in  Asia and Europe. Traveling within the country with these merchandise to various exhibitions, Melas, International Trade Fairs, noted exhibitions in cities. He has gained heaps of expertise regarding client preferences and also understanding the dynamical demands. Apart from these, he has tied up with a chain of providers in Odisha, which has a good uptake on Jute products (as it’s a Temple State and jute is considered to be a lucky material as per Mr. Khurshid).

Through this story he wants to reach out to individuals who support buying eco-friendly products /merchandises and also make us aware of the impact he and his organization is creating in generating livelihoods in his locality.

(Interviewed by Neha Dash, KSOM 2nd year Student during her internship with EnigmaticIndia. Photos have been provided by Mr Khurshid)

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Birding along Tungabhadra high level canal, Hampi

We had been to Hampi once and the apart from the UNESCO sight, what made us visit this place once more a year later was the drive along the Tungabhadra high level canal. You must be wondering what's the big deal - driving along a canal. Exactly this was thought when the staff at Hampi Wilderness Camp wanted us to join them for this drive. The only motivation was that we were into bird watching and an early morning and late evening drive provided some chance for birding.

view of the canal

Early morning the Sun looked resplendent and glistened on surface of the water. We saw people in couple of tractor collecting sand in the bed of the canal - being a non-monsoon time there was less water quipped our driver. He went on to add that this was the high level canal and there was the low level canal or Tungabhadra right canal.

As we moved along, we spotted a white-throated kingfisher, quite obvious near a water body.

white throated kingfisher

A lot of other resident birds were seen- paddy field pipit, pied myna, collared and laughing doves, Red wattled lapwing and a Long tailed Shrike.

Long tailed Shrike

Deep Gorge

The first time around, we had gone in a Bolero  it was quite noisy, however during the second visit, Jungle lodges had upgraded this to an open jeep designed for wildlife safari. As we drove along the banks, our driver kept looking at the deep gorge walls formed by the water. Over the years the water had probably eaten into the concrete walls and formed the deep gorges. The wall were lined with rocks jutting out and tree & shrubs overhanging the walls. As we were wondering, our driver explained that this is the right terrain for two kinds of Owl - the Indian Eagle Owl and the Brown fishing Owl. While we had seen the Brown Fishing Owl, the earlier one was a first time for us. So, our anxiety grew and suddenly the vehicle stopped and the drive said look.

Indian Eagle Owl

Lo and behold on the other side of the bank there was a huge bird with beautiful orange eyes the Indian Eagle Owl - It was spell binding. During our two visit we saw a lot of them - some with their chicks and juveniles.

Our guide and driver encouraged us to do the evening trip and said something more was in store. Well the morning was a blessing and hence the evening trip was on. The sun was about to set, and our driver went about looking for something. 

He stopped near a spot and asked us to pick up the camera. Struggling to find the bird, he asked us to look at the ground and in front of us was a beautiful bird - the Painted Sandgrouse - golden in colour while black, brown and white plumage.

painted sandgrouse

Indian nightjar

The surprise continued and within a few minutes we saw an Indian Nightjar settled amongst a few rocks - fully camouflaged. As we moved on the green paddy fields below was beautiful to watch.

paddy fields

As we continued we saw a few Indian Silverbill, Grey Francolin, Red Adavat, Thrush, Yellow Wattled Lapwing and Indian bush lark.Our driver said there are chances of the Brown Fishing owl and soon he managed to spot one on the walls of the canal. Beautiful piercing yellow eyes.

Brown fishing Owl

The four trips along the banks of the canal was fulfilling and next time when I am there it definitely warrants another experience. If you are in Hampi, just visit this place - its a stone throw distance from Jungle Lodges and Evolve Back.

(Contributed by Sandip Mishra)

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Dansborg Fort, Tharangambadi : Piece of Danish Settlement in India

Vinod my friend called many months back and told me that we should visit Tharangambadi or Tranquebar, when we were in Chennai next. This stuck with me for quite sometime and when we planned a trip to Puducherry, visiting Tranquebar was definitely in the offing.

Fort Dansborg

The drive from Puducherry was only ~120 Kms and with a break at Chidambaram, Thillai Nataraja temple the journey didn't seem difficult at all. As we were approaching this place, my mind was racing - when did the Danish rule India. Had heard and read about other European settlers like the French, Portuguese, Dutch and the English but never about the Danish rulers. Maybe my knowledge of history was in sufficient - so a quick search on Google threw up this map. Crazy enough- there were three Danish settlements in India - Tranquebar, Serampore(Bengal) and Nicobar - governed through the Danish East India company set-up for trading purposes(mostly spices).

European Settlements in India : Source Wikipedia.

As we approached , I was expecting to see a huge fort, structure like the Rajasthan Forts but it turned out to be a small orange-pink garrison(large outpost) kind of thing. Fort Dansborg apparently is the second largest fort built by the Danes after Fort Kronborg. As the history goes it was build by Danish Admiral Ove Gjedde in 1620 after entering into an agreement with the Thanjavur King, Raghunath Nayak.

Bay of Bengal - view from Fort - Rusted Canon is also visible

It faces the Bay of Bengal and there is a beautiful beach with a lot of boats adorning the white sands. The structure is built in Danish style(as stated in the museum - I don't know a bit about architecture and rely on acquired information) with large halls, column structures, projecting drapery. Apparently it had the governors residency, kitchen, soldiers quarters, armoury, store rooms and strong walls in a trapezoidal shape. One can take a walk along the fort walls and enjoy taking photos. I enjoyed watching the sea from the Fort and the cool sea breeze was soothing. Imagined how the governor would have enjoyed his evenings and early mornings back in the 17th Century. If you are the inquisitive kind, there is a museum inside and though not much is there, some piece of history can definitely be seen.

Artefact in the musuem

As you come out of the Fort, you can visit the Zion Church, Jerusalem Church, Town Gateway, Masilamaninathar Temple and other buildings from that period. Couple of bungalows have been converted to hotels by the Neemrana group and one can stay there. Overall the walls around the citadel were not meant to weather military attack, rather protect from cavalry raids. Well if you are hungry there are a few ice-cream & bhelpuri/masala puri vendors just outside the Fort gate. The place is both child and elderly friendly and a tourist hot spot.

View of the Fort  facing the sea

This visit to Fort Dansborg was quit enriching and filled an unknown void about my knowledge of European Settlements in India. If you are in Puducherry take time off and visit this place.

(Contributed by Sandip Mishra)

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Along the Narmada, Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh

Long ago, Narmada river was a name(along with others) we used a lot during the "Map pointing" sessions of the Geography class. After as we graduated to senior school and college, the name again cropped up as "Narmada Bachao Andolan", which was on and off in the news.

boats in Narmada

Well that's all I had about Narmada river till a recent trip to Maheshwar & Omkareshwar in Madhya
Pradesh, which forms the life line of these places. Maheshwar or Mahishmati located in the banks of the river Narmada was the capital of King Kartivarjun. It assumed importance during the Holkar period when queen Ahilyabai of Indore revived this.

As you start exploring Maheshwar, one of the few places to go is the Rajgaddi and the Ghats (mostly the Ahilya Ghat, apart from Peshwar and Fanase Ghats). Early afternoon and the place was teeming with people and we decided to take a boat ride(one hr) on the serene waters of the Narmada river.

Ahilya Ghat with the Rajgaddi in background.

 We boarded an exclusive boat, and started our journey with the sun slowly starting to set .

view from our boat.

 Like us there were many tourists enjoying the boating.

Tourists in another boat.

Suddenly we say a temple in the middle of nowhere inside the river. Our boatman, informed that this was the Baneshwar Mahadev Temple. It is believed that a heavenly line from the North Star passes through this temple to the Earth's centre.(Not sure about this though). It looked majestic along the backdrop of the water and river bank.

Baneshwar Mahadev Temple

 As we moved on, we saw small settlements  along the banks of the river. Women with cleaning their brass pots and villagers herding their cattle and some fishing for their livelihoods.

washing utensils

Herding goats

 As we moved on the serene waters slowly looked rough and that's when our boatman said, here is the "Sahastradhara".We alighted on the bank of the river and walked along watching the white rapids and the beautiful sound of the gushing water. What a sight - suddenly the Narmada looked mighty and evoked awe.

Having spent sometime, we started our journey back we saw some birds including the Grey heron waiting patiently for its prey, the cormorant and river tern gliding across the water.

Grey heron

The beautiful Pandharinath Mandir(Lord Vishnu) was resplendent against the setting sun.

Pandharinath Temple.

 Holy men were seen sitting in meditating or getting ready to offer puja for the evening.

holy men & others offering puja

 As we reached the Ahilya Ghat, the Sun was already setting and the view was majestic.We thought we had to bid goodbye to Narmada for the day.

setting Sun.

What we didn't realise that there was more to experience. We made a short visit to a workshop to see how Maheshwar Sarees were woven. The craftsmanship was impeccable and it left us wanting to get more of it. however our driver insisted that we go back to the Narmada bank to witness the evening Arati(Puja).

Evening Arati

 When we landed only a few(maybe 50-60) of us were there and already many of them were feeding the fish at the bank of the ghat. Well then we saw the panditji preparing the Arati and then all of them started the puja and it went for 5-7 minutes.

Arati by the Narmada

The arati ended, the prasad was distributed to us and some were fed to the fishes. The evening was quite snappy and even though we wanted to go back to our hotel, we somehow continued to be glued to this river.

What a day it was...the Narmada has a story to tell about the Forts, Temples, People, Sadhus, Birds etc over the years and centuries.

For me from just being a line in a map to a news items, Narmada transformed in my mind to something that is reverend, life giving and beautiful.

(Contributed by Sandip Mishra)

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Trip to Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

We finally set off in the month of May to the oldest city ever-Varanasi. Umm, Banaras? No, Kashi! What’s in a name anyways!

The scorching heat, which was a little over 42C, didn’t actually seem to dampen our spirit, although a lot of people had cautioned us against it.

Well, the moment arrived, and there we were! Heading towards Ganapati Guest House, where we would be spending our next three memorable days. A little about why we chose this guest house and not any other. Its right on the bank of the river, alongside all the Ghats. There’s a balcony with a view of the Ganges which gives the guest house a breathtaking ambience. It is just a couple of minutes away from the main temple Kashi Vishwanath Mandir, although a little away from the main road. This meant that we would get dropped at a spot that was a15-minute walk away from the place of stay. It was worth it all, because the uniqueness of Banaras is its streets. The Ghats, the steep stairs and of course the legend of our Ganga maiyya and Shivji deciding to stay here for good!!

  At probably seven in the evening, the moment we checked into the hotel and stepped into the balcony, I looked onto my right, only to see the famous Dhashwamedh Ghat with the Ganga Aarti ongoing, and a large fleet of boats on the river, with loads of yellow lamps-dreams floating. An inexplicable visual, one must watch it to feel it!

We quickly hit the road to pay our respects to Shivji before beginning our journey. It was amazing to see the 4 feet narrow roads that led to the temple. Scooters, Gau Mata, people, everything fit so beautifully well into the small streets!

Behold! My dream came true as I stepped into the Kashi Vishwanath temple, that I had been yearning to visit (and I have no reason why) for a long, long time now.

The next morning, we set off for the boat ride, again an experience of a view into the life on the Ghats. If one Ghat had life in abundance, there were two others- “Harishchandra Ghat” and “Manikarnika Ghat”-  that were buzzling with the silence beyond life. While there were some who had just gotten out of the river after a holy dip, there were some others, whose bodies were put on the funeral pyre. There were also 

some bodies that were waiting, for their turn, to receive Moksha in the holiest place on this planet. Once, we saw 16 pyres at a time! They say, this is one place where the cremation happens on all 365 days of a year.

Amidst the sunrise, people, the floating shops for memoirs, the swim of the kids, the intense prayers, and the hustle and bustle, there I was, witnessing it all, with no words to explain how I felt.

Foooooooooood! Kachori, kulhad chai and jalebi. That was in our mind, as we set off towards the main road...yumm…we were already thinking about our next food destination! :’)

After a leisurely freshening up, we set off to the main temple again, and many prayers later, we realized the heat was picking up, and were advised against heading anywhere until evening.So, we decided to hit the main road in the hot sun, to find good food. Not that Ganpati Guest house doesn’t provide food, we were just too ambitious. And yes, we did find a restaurant, but there was nothing banarasi about the food they served. On our way back to the guest house, I couldn’t stop ogling at the stores that had the banarasi sarees on display. At 40C, after a heavy-not so banarasi-meal, there went my foot on a hole-y road, and cracked me up with a bad ligament tear. I quickly wrapped my ankle up with a bandage and set off again! This hole-y incident somehow decided the course of our next two days and how!

When walking is the only choice you have as there are no vehicles (that fit into the 4ft narrow lanes and not hit the Gau Mata at the same time), I never even fancied a thought that I could push myself so much. We kept walking.

A good rest later, we moved towards the evening boat ride, followed by the world-famous Ganga Aarti- a ritual par excellence.  And then we headed to the Kashi Chaat Bhandar, a small shop at the main road, which offers lightning fast service in spite of the great rush they have to handle, and serves great food! Favorite in the menu? Has to be the tangy tamatar chaat! Don’t even try forgetting to order it.

We set off to Sarnath-where Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon, the next day, in a vehicle booked by the

guest house, and on our way, visited the Sankat Mochan, and the Durga temples. It’s amazing to see the beauty of Sarnath, the teachings of Buddha, and the museum, all of which were calm and peaceful- offering a sharp contrast to what happened in Varanasi. 

We went to an outlet nearby to check out some Banaras memoirs, and once we were done, we returned back to the hotel and relaxed.

Khaikepaanbanraswala every day ;) you are not supposed to chew the paan. Atleast that’s what the vendor advised us to do.  It just melts in your mouth and gives you a chill feeling!

Day three, we were all set to return, and lo! How could we miss out on the KalBhairav temple!! We rushed to his abode, prayed and then came back for a leisurely lunch at Ganpati Guest house, as we started packing for our trip back home. *sobs*. I know I am going back again. This time in a colder season.

Banaras is in the Ghats. You have to feel it, you have to live it. With friendly people around, who are always willing to help, the ancient city of Varanasi still retains its fervor. Isn’t it surprising to see a city that hasn’t let modernization change its core even a bit? That’s Varanasi for you in a nutshell. A beautiful experience that makes you stretch beyond your limitations.:’)

(Contributed by Gayatri Kuppa, photo/images rights with Gayatri & Nikhil Kuppa)

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Trip to Medak Fort(Methuku Durgam), Telangana

We decided to have a short trip to Pocharam Lake and Medak even though Hyderabad was sizzling with temperatures reaching 40+C. After some bird photography at Pocharam lake we headed to Medak district/town to visit the Medak fort. 

However our first stop was at Medak Church, which is close to a century old and also apparently is the largest Diocese in Asia. It was teeming with people and we decided to come back later to this place. 

Medak Church

From the parking lot of the Medak Church we noticed a white structure on a hill, and looking at Google Maps realised it was our next destination the Medak Fort. Well thanks to Google Maps we reached the foot of a small hillock and started our short climb and suddenly the road ended...well no Fort in sight.

However there were a nicely crafted flight of stairs(obviously not friendly for Sr Citizens and Physically challenged citizens. After the short climb we saw our white building , with a few table & chairs

Haritha Restaurant

It was the Haritha hotel and restaurant which has four rooms on the top and a sit-out. The view from this place is spectacular- whole of Medak city and the towering Medak Church.

View from Haritha

Hunger pangs was driving us nuts and ordered Onion Pakodas, aerated drinks and water. The sit-out is quite okay with fans and it provided the much needed respite from heat.

Onion Pakoda

The Pakodas were very tasty with a touch of curry leaf and Ajwain. This place has  restrooms so, please don't hesitate to take the keys from the Manager...monkeys are around to trouble hence they keep the restrooms locked.

After taking directions from the restaurant staff, we climbed our next flight of stairs and came across the following note about the Fort. Please read it ...

Fort Details

We didn't expect any guide as we were already told at the Haritha hotel, and with the above as the only reference point we explored around. The whole place is in derelict condition, however govt had made some concrete steps for ease of climbing.

Not much to see except a few gates(dwarams, elephants sculptures) and some abandoned areas. 

The fort was probably used as a watch post and hence not massive in structure. Such a pity that this place built by our Kakatiya rulers don't find any place of importance in our ecosystem

Paved later by the govt

Many parts of the Fort is also desolate, so if you want to explore please do so in groups, not that we came across and vandalism/trouble mongers. It is a nice place to take some photographs and after spending around 40 minutes here and bearing the heat we decided to call it a day.

desolate section

As we climbed down the steps my thoughts were "why didn't the Govt either the Telangana or Central govt (through ASI) maintain this place?".

Entrance to the Fort

The Mubarak Mahal was restored by the Telangana govt and is being used as the Haritha hotel, probably one way of preserving this place. This is an important part of our history & heritage and deserves some attention from all of us i.e. citizens and the govt.

Well if you have time do visit this place.

(Contributed by Sandip Mishra)

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