I was selected by Happy Hands Foundation, a non profit organisation which focuses on reviving the dying crafts of India, for a month long Youth Act Fellowship which focused on reviving the traditional coir craft of India. Happy Hands Foundation provided selected fellows the opportunity to travel to a craft cluster in Satasankha, Odisha and be a part of the artists' daily lives and assist in capacity building. As part of the fellowship, the fellows worked with coir craftsmen and created new designs and introduced various accessories to the artists.
During the fellowship, we all got a chance to take a day off and go to Puri and nearby places which are famous for their architecture and cultural heritage.
The day we visited the sun temple of Konark and the Jagan Nath Temple in Puri, was an eventful one. Here, we saw a vast ocean of ancient architecture and cultural heritage.
The street leading to the
Puri temple abound in lighted diyas. We
had to be careful to sidestep them while walking. Also the crowd on the street
was immense so that even though we were holding each other’s hands tightly, we
feared getting separated. As we got to the entrance, we realized that we had
left Deepti, Mausiji and Jenaji behind. We had to call them to tell our
location. After a long time, they finally found us.
Meanwhile, a hilarious incident happened. Rajbir got into an argument over price with a person selling Lord Vishnu’s idols. He started chasing Rajbir wherever he went to sell him the idols. Rajbir kept running to get rid of the man but the man stuck like a leech and followed behind. Finally he went away only when Jenaji scolded him.
By then it had started to rain. He ran to find a shelter in a shop as we did not carry our umbrellas along. By the time it stopped, the street we had to cross was flooded. Everyone except I and Rajbir was wearing chappals. So we managed to cross the road. But Swati, Ranjana and Deepti hesitated as the water was very dirty. Rajbir had an idea. He stopped the people coming on bicycles and motorbikes and asked them to provide lift to the girls. It was so funny to see them sitting on the backseats of bicycles. The waterlogged road tried to be a hurdle in our way but the child in us found enjoyment in it too!
We also spent some fun-filled time at the Konark beach. Although I could not capture all the moments of our journey due to my malfunctioning camera, it was one of the days that we would remember for all the years to come.
Staying in a village in Orissa and assisting the artisans was a challenge. But with our strong will power and sincere effort, we enjoyed our stay there. All it took was a positive attitude accompanied by self-motivation and determination. When our work was covered in Hindustan Times we felt like we broke our back for a good cause. It was a lovely experience!
