Srirangam craft teacher on the joy of working with your hands

For the past 10 years, T Jyothi’s ground floor apartment in Melur Road, Srirangam has been an informal school of arts and crafts for children. Held over Saturdays and Sundays through the academic year, Jyothi’s classes become a summer camp from Monday to Friday during the vacation months of April and May.

“I love spending time with kids,” says Jyothi as she packs off yet another batch of frisky little artisans for the day on a recent weekend.

“You get a big energy boost being around children, and also a thrill from seeing them complete their art projects,” she adds.

Jyothi’s early interest in needlework and art was fostered in her hometown of Thanjavur, where she attended a handicraft course conducted by the Saraswathi Mahal Library as a schoolgirl.

After marriage, when she moved to Tiruchi and Srirangam, she decided to start teaching craft once her daughter and son were old enough to manage their studies. At first, she taught her friends needlework, which led to requests for children’s courses.

Gentle instruction

For a set fee, Jyothi teaches students from Lower Kindergarten to Class 10 crafts like painting on pots and glass sheets, making keychains, greeting cards, and artificial flowers, stone work on pictures of deities, Madhubani art, macrame thread work, and embossing. Most of the art materials are provided by her. “Crafts help children to develop their concentration and skills,” says Jyothi. “Kids have become too dependent on the mobile phone and television, which is affecting their behaviour and memory power,” she says.

A part-time craft teacher at a private school in Srirangam, Jyothi says that encouraging kids to take up art in their spare time helps them to break their technology addiction.

Her home is full of craft projects, some of which are also used as guides in teacher training. “Today’s children are not afraid of their teachers. So if we try to make them obey us by shouting or scolding them, they won’t be willing to listen. It’s better for teachers to take a softer approach and emphasise on good behaviour in a gentle manner,” she says.

Originality is key

Even for a subject like craft, younger children need to be coaxed a little with singing and fun activities, says Jyothi. Older kids can be very innovative in reusing discarded materials to create new handicrafts. As a sample, Jyothi shows tall flower vases that her pupils have made from the cylindrical cardboard tubes that are used in printer paper rolls. Painted with bright colours and jazzed up with rhinestone decorations, these vases look pretty and sturdy standing on a base made out of discarded compact discs.

But she prefers to stay away from the internet for inspiration. “Many children come with ideas derived from YouTube videos, but I always tell them that originality is important to win a competition,” she says.

Though crafts take a backseat as students graduate to senior school, the lessons still have a positive impact on their drawing and handwriting skills. “Craft classes are also beneficial for people with disability to develop their motor skills and hand-eye coordination,” says Jyothi, who has worked a special educator. An avid cook and winner of many TV cookery competitions, Jyothi hopes to open an academy one day. She also undertakes orders for customising wedding gifts and festive elements like dolls for Golu displays. “For both teacher and student, it is very satisfying to see how a craft project gets completed when you are working with your hands,” she says.