Begging hands now weave charming craft!

Vadodara: For over two decades, Shobha Madari, 42, was forced to beg to make ends meet. Like her husband Sanjaynath, a snake charmer, the enforcement of stringent wildlife laws, ensured that the family drops its ‘beens’ and perish in penury. During Covid-19, they were the ones severely hit by the pandemic.
But Shobha has now started weaving colourful woollen bags, purses, hairbands, mufflers, socks and frocks. And she is not the only one. Fifteen female members of the Madari community, who were otherwise left with no option but to beg or carry out menial jobs on the streets of Ramol in Ahmedabad, are looking forward to make a decent earning.
This transformation was the result of the efforts undertaken by the Bhasha Research and Publication Centre, Vadodara which trained these women in crochet and braiding skills in the past nine months.
Members of these nomadic community — snake charmers (Kalbelia) — currently camp on Garudiya tekro, a government wasteland in Ramol. They have already received multiple notices to vacate the land.
“Nine months ago, we carried out a skill mapping exercise and then took up crochet and braiding training programme with funding from Paul Hamlyn Foundation. It has also given fabulous results. We are now planning to organize an exhibition in Ahmedabad to share the experience and results of the project,” said Dr Madan Meena, trustee of Bhasha Research and Publication Centre, Vadodara.
“In the long run, we will initiative similar models with eight denotified and nomadic communities in three states. We will also start an e-commerce website to market the products prepared by them,” said Meena.
“During the training period, these woman from Madari community were also paid stipends. They have already turned into artisans with excellent skills,” said Mohammed Sharif Malek, coordinator of Bhasha’s livelihood project. Apart from Kalbelia community, the centre wants to replicate the model for Sansi, Kanjar, Nat, Gadia Luhar, Bedia, Bachada and Pardhi communities in Gujarat, Rajasthan as well as Madhya Pradesh (MP).
While the Budhan Theatre from Gujarat will work with the Bhasha Research and Publication, Vadodara authorities for the project in the state, in MP, Muskan and Jan Sahas will be working on replicating a similar model.
In Rajasthan, Kota Heritage Society and the Gramin Shiksha Kendra will be working on skills of the nomadic communities.