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FLOWER OF THE WOODNeed Assessment Survey of Sholapith cluster, Mandirbazar block, South 24 Parganas, W.B.
Survey bySaurabh Kumar,
forDCS, MSMEs
www.designclinicsmsme.org
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This survey report is dedicated to all the efforts, the entrepreneurial spirit and life of the Sholapith
craftsmen and craftswomen of Mandirbazar block in Diamond Harbour subdivision of South 24 Parganas
district, West Bengal. The Sholapith products are handcrafted to create one of the most beautiful and
outstanding masterpieces of the modern world.
Dedication
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Contributors:Many individuals are owed thanks for their valuable inputs to this report, including:
DCS for MSMEs team:Ali Imam AbidiAshok Mondal, DCS coordinator, east zoneJaimin DaveJitendra Singh Rajput, DCS coordinator west zoneKirti ParmarPinki PanchalPurandar DattaRavindra U JumaniRupali RaiShashank Mehta, Project Head, DCS for MSMEsSoumen GhoshSudev Mandal
BWWA, Kolkata team:B. S. Kayal, CEO, BWWA, KolkataDeshbandhu NaskerDebprosad Purkait
Sholapith cluster team, Mandirbazar block, 24 Parganas (South), WB:Arjun Paik, RatneshwarpurBasudeb Halder, MaheshpurBishradeb Halder, BazarberiaBiswanath Gayen, MaheshpurChinibus Mistry, Bazarberia
AcknowledgementDebashish Sarader, GokulnagarDebu Gayen, MakhimpurJayanta Gayen, PukuriaKalidas Naskar, BazarberiaKalipada Mondal, GokulnagarPradip Sarader, GokulnagarSanath Halder, MaheshpurSanath Halder (he works with Kalidas Nasker) , MaheshpurSatyaranjan Halder, BazarberiaSatibrata Halder, BazarberiaSudaib Purkait, GokulnagarSubhankar Halder, MaheshpurSushanta Gayan, PukuriaUttam Halder, Bazarberia
Many thanks to Mr. Nitesh Chandra, Country Manager E Factor India for his valuable contribution in financial and business insights related to the development of Sholapith cluster into a vibrant one.
Funding:This project is funded by DCS for MSMEs, an initiative of the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Government of India (GOI), Bengal Women Welfare Association & National Institute of Design.
Disclaimer:The analyses and views expressed in this report are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed
by the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Government of India (GOI), Bengal Women Welfare Association (BWWA) or National Institute of Design (NID).
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AITC : All India Trinamool CongressB2B : Business to BusinessB2C : Business to CustomerBWWA : Bengal Women Welfare AssociationCBDFC : Common Business & Design Facility CentreCFC : Common Family CentreCPI(M) : Communist Party of India (Marxist) DAP : Design Awareness ProgrammeDAS : Design Awareness SeminarDC : Development CommissionerDCS : Design Clinic SchemeDCW : Design Clinic WorkshopDP : Design ProjectsDRD : Department of Rural DevelopmentDSIR : Department of Science & Industrial ResearchGOI : Government of IndiaIED : Importer Exporter CodeINS : Indian National CongressMFIs : Micro Finance InstitutionsMSMEs : Micro, Small & Medium EnterprisesMSMED : Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises DevelopmentNAS : Need Assessment SurveyNID : National Institute of DesignNSCBIA : Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International AirportRBG : Royal Botanic GardensSC : Scheduled CasteSJBCEB : Sir Joseph Banks Centre for Economic BotanySPU : Sholapith Primary UnitSSU : Sholapith Secondary Unit
AcronymsST : Scheduled TribeSTU : Sholapith Tertiary UnitUK : United KingdomUSA : United States of AmericaWB : West Bengal
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Contents Executive summary
1.0 Introduction About DCS for MSMEs About NID About BWWA About the design consultant Purpose of Sholapith cluster NAS report NAS methods
2.0 NAS of Sholapith cluster, Mandirbazar block About DCS for Sholapith cluster Scope of NAS for Sholapith cluster NAS approach and methodology NAS techniques for Sholapith cluster Sholapith cluster of Mandirbazar block Findings and Recommendations Sholapith cluster: form production to customer Findings and Recommendations
3.0 The twenty Sholapith units, Mandirbazar block The Sholapith cluster units: Introduction The twenty units of Sholapith cluster Findings and Recommendations
4.0 Value chain analysis of Sholapith cluster Sholapith cluster: VCA Sholapith cluster: Findings
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5.0 Recommendations Sholapith cluster: Highlight recommendations Sholapith cluster: Conclusion 6.0 Appendices Tools, Chemicals, Machines, etc. of Sholapith cluster Step by step process of Sholapith rose flower making Step by step process of Sholapith dying Sholapith products made in the cluster for export market Sholapith products as seen in the foreign market NAS schedule, Sholapith cluster Sholapith resources on internet
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Executive summaryShola is a plant which grows in the tropical wetlands all over the world. The Shola wood is used to make flowers and other decorations. These beautiful finished products are used the world over on various occasions like marriage, festivities, religious ceremonies, private celebrations as well as brought to daily use as decorations. The specialty of the Shola products is that they are very light weight, flexible, absorptive of colour as well as fragrance which once induced in them can last for months on end.
This report outlines the entire process of Shola products production in Mandirbazar block in West Bengal. Also outlined are the people behind the Shola craft and the over all human network which makes this beautiful art possible. To prepare this report twenty Shola craft units in the region were studied, insights were obtained and some relevant business and design recommendations were subsequently were arrived at.
It was found that Shola craft is the key engine driving the economy of Mandirbazar block. A remarkable feature of this economy is the existence of a healthy balance between everyday work, environment and way of living of the local people. Unfortunately, this balance is continuously threatened on account of destruction of the ecology of the Shola plants and the unfavourable balance of power in favour of the exporters as well as the raw material suppliers. Compounding it all is the fact that in addition to being illiterate, the Shola craft
skill is the one and only that most craftsmen possess, with no fall back option in case the Shola craft business becomes unviable.
The Sholapith craft plays a valuable role in building a local economic sustainability and a contemporary local society in Mandirbazar area. A stronger and a sturdier cluster model will help the environmental, social, cultural & physical well-being of the Sholapith cluster to evolve.
Highlighted recommendations:
In view of the challenges and opportunities present for the Sholapith cluster, a multi-pronged approach needs to be undertaken for the cluster to reach its full potential and better the lives of those dependent on this intricate art for their sustenance. Specifically, a CFC needs to be set up that will:
- Improve cooperation between the educational (research, art, design, technology, business and management) sector and Sholapith cluster to ensure that training needs are met, while reducing burdens on the Sholapith cluster
- Improve financial assistance, both public & private participation, for the business startups and for unit’s business growth
- Explore other strategies for promoting growth of the Sholapith cluster - Improve effectiveness of public sector participation in Sholapith cluster activities
- Aim to turn local talent into productive skills and jobs in tune with the advancing diverse needs of the Sholapith cluster, locally, nationally and internationally
- Create vision for Sholapith cluster, nationally and internationally
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INTRODUCTION1.0
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1.1 About DCS for MSMEsIn February 2010, Shri Dinesh Rai, Secretary, MSMEs, Government of India in association with National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, announced the launch of the nationwide Design Clinic Scheme for Design Expertise to MSMEs, a unique and ambitious design intervention scheme for the country’s micro, small and medium scale enterprises. The focus is to support the development of globally competitive industries that will form the foundation for India’s future prosperity. The scheme targets MSMEs expected to become drivers of high-wage jobs and long-term economic sustainability.
Any manufacturing/service enterprises defined under the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act, 2006 and based on the limit for investment in plant and machinery/equipment for manufacturing/service enterprises as notified from time to time fall under MSMEs. The Scheme applies to enterprises within the clusters/industrial clusters approved by the DC MSMEs.
Purpose 1. To increase awareness about the value of design and establish design learning in MSMEs.2. To increase competitiveness of MSMEs products and services through design. Objectives
1. To create a sustainable design ecosystem for the MSMEs sector through continuous learning and skill development.2. To promote use of design by MSMEs for developing products and services that are market led.3. To focus on building the design capability of MSMEs to enable them to improve business performance as well as compete in the global market.
Key principles 1. Adopting a rigorous, yet applicant friendly process.2. Promoting and disseminating design concepts in regional or local languages, which are understood by the MSMEs.3. Establishing benefits without overwhelming the MSMEs.4. Learning from other successful design-support programmes.5. Establishing systematic processes for design and product development in MSMEs.
The Design Clinic Scheme has been developed by the National Institute of Design (NID) for easy percolation of design thinking philosophy and maximizes benefit for MSMEs units.
The DCS is divided at three broader levels:
1. Design Awareness Seminar (DAS)
2. Design Awareness programme (DAP) a. Need Assessment Survey (NAS) b. Design Clinic Workshop (DCW)3. Design Projects (DP)
These activities are helpful in smooth transitioning to several levels of design intervention in industrial and business activities of MSMEs.
The design awareness seminar is a sensitization seminar, aimed to create a platform for MSMEs units to interact with design experts, industry experts and academic experts to create awareness & understand of design methodology and benefits of design to MSMEs in their business strategy, product-service, process, operations and branding & communication. To take design to a higher level of manufacturing functions, it is very important to develop an understanding of the design scenario and environment at an early stage of conception for MSMEs.
The next stage of activities is the design awareness programme, focused on exploring industrial functions and activities to develop a holistic map of MSMEs clusters and units. The design expert/s generates design information about products, market scenario, technology, communication, research and development, and various industrial functions along with human factor study for ergonomics, safety,
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convenience, learning and skill up gradation through design research. The programme provides design remedies for identified opportunities through the design clinic workshop with the members of the clusters.
To strengthen and bring a long term engagement between power of design and the clusters and in order to understand the design needs and design problems of the cluster, design projects are identified during the need assessment survey and discussed during the design clinic workshop. Projects which require intensive design observation and interventions, can be taken up as design projects with the help of design experts. Projects can be related to design intervention in area of product/process /strategic areas where design can help in generating solutions and value for individual or group of MSMEs.
The project reported here is the outcome of the second phase of the DCS activities i.e. Need Assessment Survey (first part of the Design Awareness Programme). The NAS is done for the Sholapith craft cluster, Mandirbazar, 24 Parganas (South), WB. This survey is a combined initiative of DCS for MSMEs team at NID and BWWA, Kolkata.
(http://designclinicsmsme.org/)
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1.2 About N.I.D.
The National Institute of Design (NID) is internationally acclaimed as one of the foremost multi-disciplinary institutions in the field of design education and research. The institute functions as an
Photo: National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad
autonomous body under the department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) under Ministry of Science
& Technology, Government of India recognizes NID as a scientific and industrial design research organization.
NID has been a pioneer in industrial design education after Bauhaus and Ulm in Germany and is known for its pursuit of design excellence to make Designed in India, Made for the World a reality. NID’s graduates have made a mark in key sectors of commerce, industry and social development by taking role of catalysts and through thought leadership.
National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad is assisting the Ministry of MSME, Government of India, as a nodal agency for implementing the scheme. As part of the scheme a Design Clinic Centre and its regional centres are being set up to reach out to all parts of the country. For easy percolation of design thinking and philosophy and maximum benefit for MSME units the Design Clinic Scheme is divided at 3 broader levels. These activities are helpful in smooth transition in to several levels of design intervention in industrial and business activities of MSMEs.
1. Design Sensitisation Seminar2. Design Awareness programme a. Need Assessment Survey b. Design Clinic Workshop3. Design Projects
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1.3 About B.W.W.A. KolkataBWWA was set up to meet the dual objectives of poverty alleviation and women empowerment. BWWA, incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956, Ministry Of Corporate Affairs, Govt. of India, carries out microfinancing activities. In West Bengal, BWWA works to bring a ray of hope in the lives of the poorer section of the community and in particular empowerment among women. Poverty and inequality mutually reinforce and bring about the degeneration of a society. The world’s largest democratic republic faces a long and demanding struggle to eradicate the evil of glaring socio-economic disparity, which can destroy the very fabric of democracy, if left unchecked. It is this disparity in West Bengal that BWWA aims at fighting through sustainable planned intervention.
It started as a Micro Finance Institution (MFI) in March 2009 under the leadership of Mr. Bimalendu Sekhar Kayal. BWWA opened its first microfinance branch at Rajpur (near Narendrapur) in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal in March 2009. BWWA started with 2 branches in the year 2008-09 only in the state of West Bengal and today it has opened 8 branches across 3 districts in West Bengal.
Till date, BWWA has disbursed a total of Rs. 160.76 lacs among 2484 women seeking financial assistance. Loan outstanding stands at Rs. 135.82 lacs. At, BWWA the repayment rate is recorded at 99.88%. The local
office of BWWA in village post South Bishnupur, Mandirbazar block of Diamond Harbour subdivision is engaged with the Sholapith cluster units.(http://www.bwwaindia.com/background_history.php)
Photo: Mr. B. S. Kayal, in an interview with the NAS researcher
Photo: Deshbandhu Nasker and Debprosad Purkait of BWWA in
Bazarberia during NAS
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1.4 About the design consultant
NAME: Saurabh KumarDATE OF BIRTH: 19th May, 1980NATIONALITY: Indian
ADDRESS FOR COMMUNICATIONFlat no. C - 301, Pushkar Apartment 1, Near N.I.D., Paldi, Ahmedabad, Pin: 380007, Gujarat, India
EMAIL: [email protected]: www.designhumon.com
Saurabh Kumar is a Strategic Design Management graduate, with a work experience of six years in the design industry and equipped with Design thinking, Strategy design, New Business development, Design
research, Project management, Design management, Product design & development, Experience design and Brand & Communication design. All the previous practical work experience and exceptional design dexterity prepares me for a Strategy Designer with a focus on socio–business balance.
Aligning business + design of the products and the services would be at the core at the strategy formulation and implementation.
ORGANIZATIONAL EXPERIENCE (as on 15th of July, 2011)* A.ORGANIZATION: DESIGNHUMON Consultancy Services.DURATION: January 2010 - PresentDETAILS: Work as a Design Strategist, Industrial designer & Brand expert - Chief Strategy Officer, DESIGNHUMON Consultancy Services, India.
* B.ORGANIZATION: DMA Yellow Works Pvt. Ltd.DURATION: September 2010 - December 2010DETAILS: Worked as a Senior Strategist with DMA Yellow Works, India.
* C.ORGANIZATION: LUMIUM Innovations, Ahmedabad.
DURATION: January 2010 - September 2010DETAILS: Worked as a Strategist, & Design Manager with LUMIUM Innovations Pvt. Ltd. India.
* D. ORGANIZATION: Automotive Division, TATA Elxsi Limited, BangaloreDURATION: June 2006 - May 2007DETAILS: Worked as Senior Design Engineer at Automotive division with TATA Elxsi, India.
* E.ORGANIZATION: Two wheelers Division, HONDA R & D, GurgaonDURATION: January 2004 - May 2006DETAILS: Worked as a Senior Designer with HONDA R&D, India
* F.ORGANIZATION: Lifestyle Department, JAYANITA Exports, DelhiDURATION: September 2003 - December 2003DETAILS: Worked as a Designer with JAYANITA EXPORTS, India
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND* A.PROGRAM: Masters in Strategic Design ManagementINSTITUTION: National Institute of Design. Ahmedabad (www.nid.edu)
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DURATION: June 2007 - October 2009
* B.PROGRAM: Masters in Strategic DesignINSTITUTION: Politechnico di Milano, Milan (polidesign.net)DURATION: September 2008 - December 2008
* C.PROGRAM: Graduation in Lifestyle Accessory DesignINSTITUTION: National Institute of Fashion Technology, New DelhiDURATION: June 2000 - September 2003
Photo: Maheshpur village, Mandirbazar
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1.5 Purpose of Sholapith cluster NAS reportIn order to assist in the development of DCS strategy for Sholapith craft, the NAS of the current and potential stakeholders in Sholapith cluster villages in Mandirbazar block was carried out. This report seeks to put forward the efforts and activities of individuals involved in the Sholapith cluster initiatives through three deliverables:
1. Review of the current - core context of the cluster - the people (craftsmen, exporters, buyers, associations and the government agencies and other important individuals who make this cluster) involved - the place where-all this cluster exists - the product and service developed by the cluster - the holistic system, of concept to customer approach of the cluster, and - the future direction for the cluster development
2. Analysis of challenges in Sholapith cluster’s socio-business approach, in context to culture, process and ethics. 3. Recommendations for addressing those challenges.
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1.6 NAS methodsTo ensure a comprehensive and in-depth survey, the following three sets of methods were undertaken to study the various aspects and diverse possibilities in an endeavour to produce this report. 1. An all-inclusive literature, web, other relevant report review was conducted on a diverse range of topics important to the success of Sholapith cluster sustainability & evolution, locally and worldwide.
2. Interviews were conducted with a total of twenty-eight cluster stakeholders, including the Sholapith craftsmen, executives from BWWA, exporters, buyers, designers and design institutions, economic development professionals, cluster development professionals, management professionals and educators.
3. Base line data was compiled for the Sholapith cluster, using best available data resources from the main stakeholders. Critical data, which if revealed could adversely impact the competitiveness of individual units have not been included in this report and confidentiality requests have been upheld in their best interests.
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NAS OFSHOLAPITH
CLUSTER,MANDIRBAZAR
BLOCK
2.0
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2.1 About DCS for Sholapith cluster The office of the Development Commissioner (MSMEs), Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, GOI formulated the plan to implement the Design Clinic Scheme (DCS) for design expertise for Sholapith cluster in Mandirbazar block of 24 Parganas district, WB. The scheme is approved by GOI under the 11th five-year plan and national manufacturing competitiveness programme.
The DCS for the Sholapith cluster is supported and implemented by the east zone office of DCS for MSMEs, Kolkata in association with the Sholapith cluster association, an associative of BWWA, Kolkata.
In total, twenty units were chosen which represented the Sholapith cluster in the Mandirbazar block for NAS under DCS for MSMEs. The units representing the Sholapith cluster are registered as MSMEs units with the Government of India. According to definition of MSMEs, all the representing units of the Sholapith cluster are classified as micro enterprises, since their investments in tools, plant & machinery does not exceed twenty-five lakh rupees.
The DCS for Sholapith cluster is divided into three phases:
1. Design Awareness Seminar (DAS)2. Design Awareness Programme (DAP)
3. Design Projects (DP)
The DAS for the Sholapith cluster was successfully held on 18th of February 2011 in presence of the member of the Sholapith cluster units, team from east zone office of DCS for MSMEs, Kolkata and team from BWWA, Kolkata. The seminar was held at the PWD guest house in South Bishnupur.
The seminar was organized by the MSMEs cluster Association, BWWA, Kolkata for their members to interact with the Design experts/subject experts. The interaction was intended to design sensitize the members of the Sholapith cluster units by providing opportunity to the participants to understand design methodology and benefits of design. The member from the east zone office of DCS for MSMEs, Kolkata introduced participants to the DCS and the design experts generated design awareness through case studies and good design practices presentations.
After the successful conduction of the DAS, DAP for the Sholapith cluster was planned by the east zone office of the DCS for MSMEs, Kolkata and BWWA, together.
DAP is aimed to generate design awareness within the Sholapith cluster members with cluster centric design information and participatory workshop for better understanding the role and benefits of design
in industrial context of cluster. Out of the fund allotted under the DCS for MSMEs, to Sholapith cluster for DAP, 25% is contributed by BWWA, Kolkata through collection from the Sholapith cluster units or already existing Sholapith cluster units’s fund.
To generate more insights relating to cluster units, products, operations and market and deliver contextual design diagnosis and remedies the DAP is divided in 2 segments:
- Need Assessment Survey (NAS)- Design Clinic Workshop (DCW)
In order to understand the design needs and design problems of the Sholapith cluster, the expert designer was appointed to conduct an intensive design research to map the present scenario and opportunities for design intervention in the clusters through interactive learning, guidance and training. This aims to serve, as a base for addressing the general design needs of the Sholapith cluster and working out design solutions in the following DCW with the units of the Sholapith cluster.
The NAS which may last for 10-15 days for the Sholapith cluster in Mandirbazar block is part of the DAP done under the DCS for MSMEs which will be followed by DCW. In the interactive DCW conducted by the design experts, the cluster members learn the
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creative problem solving techniques/design process to explore opportunities and develop breakthrough solutions. Through interactive discussions and workshop activities, remedial solutions are generated. The workshop could be for 1-5 days depending upon the need of the clusters and the number of units covered under NAS.
Further, the DAP will be followed by Design Projects for the Sholapith cluster, Mandirbazar block.
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2.2 Scope of NAS for Sholapith ClusterSholapith cluster products are known worldwide for their profound beauty and longevity at quite affordable prices.
Sholapith craftsmen and craftswomen, while mostly poor and unexposed to the demands of the global marketplace, are talented and open to innovation, especially when it creates opportunities to access new markets.
Today, only a handful of craft units in the Mandirbazar block region engaging 1000 labourers thrive. Many of the existing and the potential Sholapith units are threatened by competition from Thailand, China and countries who are also, the biggest exporters of Sholapith products.
The competition of Sholapith products with alternative materials – in particular, plastic – is increasingly threatening the future of Sholapith cluster.
Given the very expensive raw material, the limited electricity, the need to buy many inputs, inadequate telecommunications and road infrastructure, and a labour force that does not always understand the efficiency demands of the market, Sholapith craft producers fight an uphill battle against the efficient, low-cost alternate products and their manufacturers.
Statement of Work: The NAS will conduct a value chain assessment to better understand the constraints and design opportunities for the Sholapith crafts industry in Mandirbazar block.
This value chain analysis will build on the study of the global marketplace for Sholapith aimed at understanding the competitiveness of the local units in the global context and will clarify:
1. competitiveness strategy (end market) for the industry (focused on improved efficiency, improved quality/differentiation, and/or changes in demand)
2. the constraints and opportunities along the value chain, especially in light of internal conditions in Mandirbazar and changes in the global marketplace (the threat of China, south-east asian countries and others)• the relationships among actors that either inhibit or contribute to competitiveness• the actual and potential sources of learning and innovation in the chain, and• the distribution of benefits from the bottom to the top of the chain.
3. the design interventions required to benefit the cluster including the workflow processes.
Deliverables:
The researcher will develop a draft report and – after receiving comments from this mission – a final report.
Limitations: The end market study for Sholapith products has been carried out using secondary data as the exporters and buyers are spread wide and far and could not be interviewed in the time frame available.
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2.3 NAS approach and methodologyThe author of this report is a registered design consultant with the DCS for MSMEs. The author was engaged by the east zone office of DCS for MSMEs, Kolkata to carry out the NAS for the Sholapith cluster. The BWWA team of South Bishnupur played a major role in selection of the units, organizing and fixing up appointments with the Sholapith cluster units for NAS.
The twenty selected Sholapith cluster units for the survey were chosen on criteria covering maximum diversity of Sholapith product range. The chosen units together showed a wide variety of skills sets, knowledge base, product mix, size of business and the complete positioning of their products and their businesses in the market. The twenty units were spread over seven villages in the Mandirbazar block of South 24 Parganas district. The seven villages are listed below:
1. Bazarberia2. Gokulnagar3. Maheshpur4. Makhimpur5. Matilal6. Pukuria7. Ratneshwarpur
The study conducted during the NAS was carried out in two distinct phases. The research focused on the Sholapith cluster units’ perspective, and involved interviews with members of the working group,
executives of the cluster association involved and profiles of twenty cluster units who have been active in producing Sholapith products and are in direct contact with the exporters. A few of these units have at times
attempted to enter the export business on their own but have not been successful.
This field study was conducted over nine days period from 3rd to 11th of May 2011. Given this extremely short time frame and the complexity of the subject, it was not possible to explore in detail all of the niche opportunities for the export and buying system of Sholapith products. These niches were chosen according to current strengths and export growth potential within broad and specialized markets. Therefore, in addition to helping identify key trends of the Sholapith products, success patterns, export & buying behaviour and obstacles to direct exporting by the Sholapith units, a thorough research was done on the internet, for more detailed insights.
No field surveys or correspondence with appropriate governmental agencies were initiated due to time and financial constraint. Due to the time limitation in the survey, most of the studies related to the exporters, the buyers and the end-users were done online and through telephonic interviews.
Basic anthropological, botanical, geographical, commercial and sociological information search related to Sholapith cluster was collated using the Internet. All the data was read, filtered and reference links were prepared. The Internet accounts were at times diverse and data of publication is not the criterion of quality.
Photo: National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad
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A strong emphasis was placed on studying the back-end and the front-end scenario of the Sholapith cluster in depth, right from the process of Shola plant farming to the end-use of the Sholapith products, worldwide.
2.3.1Orientation for NAS to the Sholapith unit members
The survey started with the base orientation about NAS to the members of the Sholapith units. On the first day, there were personal introductions, brainstorming sessions about the scenario of the cluster and the future direction and highlight issues were discussed.
2.3.2Desk research for the Sholapith cluster
Desk researches (secondary research) done for
the Sholapith cluster has proved to be the fastest and the most time saving way to understand and analyze both the supply and the purchase side of the Sholapith products and the cluster’s global reach. The understanding from the desk research was essential to guide the research tools used for field research.
1. Use of internet
Internet is one of the most efficient sources of information to understand the day-to-day Sholapith global landscape. Sholapith business related information which indicates what type of products are sold, how they are sold and bought, in what quantity and at what cost, sold to which type of customers including their geographical location and so on were collected. Using the various search engines like www.google.com, www.yahoo.com were used for modulated searching.
For most of the research related to exporters, buyers, B2B /B2C business, worldwide customers, internet proved to the best and most prominent means of extracting information for Sholapith research.
2. Studying government published data
GOI and government of foreign countries have published a great extent of data online that has been used to understand the system of the Sholapith cluster, its advantages, scale and its future scope, which are available through books, documents, internet, etc.
These data are related to Sholapith history, social, raw material, products, financial, economical aspects, etc. Although the GOI websites did not prove to be of much use in terms of updated data regarding the Sholapith cluster.
3. Interview with industry experts involved in Sholapith crafts
Interviews were conducted with a few exporters from Kolkata and people involved with the Sholapith cluster, locally.
2.3.3Field research of Sholapith cluster
Field research comprised of quantitative and qualitative research of Sholapith cluster and its elements. The objective was to investigate the craftsmen’s level of understanding and knowledge of the process of creating the end products from the Shola plant. In addition, their understanding of the business end was also sought to be investigated.
Quantitative research
The main focus of this quantitative survey/research of
Photo: NAS orientation at Bishrabed’s unit, Bazarberia village
Diagram: Relation between Etsy & Gayen Enterprises with Google
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the Sholapith cluster units was to know numerical data in form of numbers, what, when, how often, etc. to profile the target of the members of the units, the kind of products they make, etc. and in what proportion. A structured questionnaire was prepared that mainly contained pre-defined questions which yielded closed -ended answers, like profile of the members: age, education, the length of time they have been in the business, other business engagements, the kind of products they make, their exporters, buyers, etc.
The quantitative research consisted of a total of twenty face-to-face structured interviews conducted across seven villages of Mandirbazar block.
Techniques involved for the quantitative research;
- Interviews: personal & group meeting- Review of relevant literature- Review of Internet material- Work samples
Qualitative research
The aim of the qualitative data was to get in-depth insights usually rich and detailed insights about the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the Sholapith cluster touch-points. Mainly the in-depth interviews and the observational behaviours of the members of the units, in-home environment, in-unit environment, living conditions and a lot of hidden insights were targeted. The discussions with the members were at times kelp very open ended and friendly. The questions and the discussions were designed on the spot, rather than pre-defined questions and their order.
The discussions were targeted to yield more of self/thematic responses. The discussions revolved around themes like member’s day-to-day activities, the living conditions, the member’s level of inclination to the craft sector, hindrances in their Sholapith business, issues with exporters and the local dealers, medical issues, family issues, financial issues, educational facilities, etc.
Most of the qualitative insights were targeted in the member’s natural environment. The timings were usually not decided before hand, but the interviews were usually conducted after their work timings in their homes, at the lunch/dinner times, while spending time with the members in the market areas, etc.
The interaction was spread to all craftsmen of the unit and the family members of the unit owners. A total of fifty five individuals from the Sholapith cluster
Photo: Charuwala Mondal - Sholapith craftswomen, Gokulnagar
units were engaged in interviews and discussions. The clusters members included both craftsmen and craftswomen and their age ranged form eighteen to seventy two years.
30
2.4 NAS techniques for Sholapith cluster
To obtain the information and data required for our quantitative purposes, the researcher relied on a slew of techniques. Listed below is an exhaustive enumeration of such techniques:- Observation - workplace area - home - friends & family - Products & processes - Local infrastructure- Facilities: health, education, market, water, electricity- Personal meeting: face-to-face- Work samples- Discussions
- Focus group- Video ethnography
Photo: Seema Purkait, daughter of Sudeb Purkait, GokulnagarPhoto: Suparna Halder, a Sholapith labourer, Maheshpur
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2.5 Sholapith cluster of Mandirbazar block
Sholapith cluster is a concentration of small businesses in the geographic region of Mandirbazar block in the Diamond Harbour which is one of the subdivisions of South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. South 24 Parganas has the urban fringe of Kolkata on one side and the remote riverine villages in the Sunderbans on the other side.
The Sholapith cluster units are interconnected by the markets they serve, the Sholapith products they produce, their suppliers, their buyers, local/trade/financial associations and the training institutions (ex. Department of Rural Development, Kolkata) from which members of the Sholapith units receive training. The Sholapith cluster in the small villages of
Mandirbazar block is dominated by thousands of small businesses working from home. The twenty chosen units for NAS are supported by these small household businesses, which work in sync to meet the supplies for exporters, nationally.
According to ‘thefreedictionary.com’:
Cluster
n
1. a number of things growing, fastened, or occurring close
together
(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/cluster : Collins English
Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins
Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003)
and, according to ‘wikipedia.org’:
A business/industry cluster is a geographic concentration
of interconnected businesses, suppliers, and associated
institutions in a particular field. Clusters are considered
to increase the productivity with which companies can
compete, nationally and globally. In urban study, the term
agglomeration is used. It is also a very important aspect
of business strategies. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Business_cluster)
2.5.1About Mandirbazar block in South 24 Parganas district
Mandirbazar is a town with a police station and a
community development block in Diamond Harbour subdivision of South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal, India. Geographical Location of South 24 Parganas area: Latitude North 20´20” South 22’06” ; Longitude East 88’20”West 88’60”. Area is 8165.05 sq.kms.
Diamond Harbour subdivision is a subdivision of the South 24 Parganas district in the state of WB, India. It consists of Diamond Harbour municipality and nine community development blocks: Diamond Harbour–I, Diamond Harbour–II, Falta, Kulpi, Magrahat–I, Magrahat–II, Mandirbazar, Mathurapur–I and Mathurapur–II. The nine blocks contain two census towns and 99 gram panchayats. The subdivision has its headquarters at Diamond Harbour.
Facts:
The Community development block is a rural area
earmarked for administration and development in India.
A Block Development Officer administers the area.
A community development block covers several gram
panchayats, local administrative unit at the village level.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Development_
Block_in_India)
Gram panchayats are local self-governments at the village
or small town level in India. As of 2002 there were about
265,000 gram panchayats in India. A gram panchayat
can be set up in villages with minimum population of 300.
Sometimes two or more villages are clubbed together to
Photo: Sholapith product’s local movement in Mandirbazar block
32
form group-gram panchayat when the population of the
individual villages is less than 300.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gram_panchayat)
The other four subdivisions of South 24 Parganas district are Baruipur, Canning, Alipore and Kakdwip. Alipore is the district headquarters.
Rural area under Mandirbazar block consists of 10 gram panchayats, viz. Anchna, Nisapur, Ghateswar, Krishnapur, Dakshin Bishnupur, Dhanurhat, Jagadishpur, Chandpur, Gabberia and Kecharkur. There is no urban area under this block. Mandirbazar police station serves this block. Headquarters of this block is in Mandirbazar.
Presently Mandirbazar block and Diamond Harbour subdivision as a region encounters some grave problems like excessive density of population, which overload the civic administration. It also lacks an effective network of transport and telecommunication, adequate health facilities, available drinking water, etc. Agriculture, small micro industries and pisciculture are all at their peak in the subdivision.
2.5.1.1History
After the Battle of Plassey (1757 AD), which concluded with the British supremacy over Siraj-ud-daulah, the rights of twenty four Mahals, which were under his control, passed on to the British. The tract of land conceded to the British included the present area of the present region of Mandirbazar block which contains the Sholapith cluster .
2.5.1.2Geography and climate
Mandirbazar is located at 22.38°N 88.27°E. It has an average elevation of 6 metres (20 feet). Mandirbazar has the urban fringe of Kolkata on one side and the remote riverine villages in the Sundarbans. A small coastal region is on the extreme south, while the Sundarbans mangrove forests form a remarkable geographical landmark at the Ganges delta.
The Hooghly river is the main river which runs along the west border of 24 Parganas district and enter the Bay of Bengal.
The climate in Mandirbazar is mainly tropical savanna climate. (WIKI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_savanna_climate)The main seasons are summer, rainy season, a short autumn and winter. Summer is main known for excessive humidity, while the highest temperature ranging from 38 °C (100 °F) to 45 °C (113 °F). At nights, a cool southerly breeze carries moisture from the Bay of Bengal. Monsoons bring rain to the whole state from June to September. (http://www.wbagrimarketingboard.gov.in/Area/Rain.html)
Winter (December–January) is mild with average
West Bengal
BANGLADESH
NEPAL BHUTAN
I N D I A
South 24 Parganas
Photo: Location of Mandirbazar, South 24 Parganas district
Table: Rainfall by district and months in 24 Parganas (S) district (Ten years’ average 1996-2005) in millimetres
Jan-uary
Feb-ruary
March April May June July August Sep-tember
Oc-tober
No-vember
De-cember
24 Par-ganas (S)
12.1 11.9 46.6 50.9 118.3 254.7 326.4 319.5 261.9 215.9 34.0 4.8
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minimum temperatures of 15 °C (59 °F).
2.5.1.2Agricultural economy
Agriculture is the main stay of the people of Mandirbazar. The land is level, which encourages agriculture. Rice, sugarcane, timber, betel nuts, coconut, wheat, sunflower, moong daal (pulses), vegetables (mainly ladyfinger, potato, cucumber, onion, brinjal), dates, tamarind, jackfruit, and fruits such as mango, papaya are the principal agricultural products. The agriculture mainly supports the local rural economy. A considerable amount of people draw their living from the agricultural sector. Poultry farming is catching up in the area with many small businesses involvement.
Every Monday or Friday, the weekly market is organized in Pukuria village where the villagers buy
their weekly needs such as cereals, vegetables, clothes and other household items.
Consumption of fish with rice, particularly freshwater fish, is known to be among the staple food in this region. The local ponds and lakes are the major source of fresh water fishes. The most common fishes available are rui (rohu), catla, mrigal, chingri (prawn).
A part of the world’s largest mangrove forest Sundarbans is located in extreme south west of Mandirbazar block. The wetland floral diversity shows several economically important wetland plant resources of which large numbers of species are used as medicines, paper pulp, thatching materials, vegetables, food for water fowl, as green manure and compost, water purifier and fodder etc. A few crafts of economic importance to the people of Mandirbazar block are Sholapith craft, terracotta, jute, bamboo craft.
2.5.1.3Banking and finance
Banks near by Mandirbazar block are as following
1. AXIS BANK, MADHYAMGRAM IFSC CODE: utib0000547 MICR CODE: 700211039
2. PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK, SOUTH GARIA IFSC CODE: punb0320000 MICR CODE: non-micr.
3. UNITED BANK OF INDIA, RAINAGAR IFSC CODE: utbi0rgrc12MICR CODE: 700027113
4. STATE BANK OF INDIA, KRISHNACHANDRAPUR IFSC CODE: sbin0005735 MICR CODE: 700002574
(http://www.onefivenine.com/india/villag/24-Paraganas-South/Mandirbazar)
2.5.1.4Transportation
In Mandirbazar in the Sholapith cluster area, almost all the units in the villages have now been connected with brick roads. The cluster villages exist along the motorable road running across Diamond harbour on west and Jaynagar on east. Kolkata in north is almost equidistant from both Diamond harbour and Jaynagar. These roads and bricked paths now carry goods and Photo: Moong Daal cultivation, Maheshpur village
Photo: Poultry farm, Pukuria village
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ideas throughout Mandirbazar. Today isolation is a thing of the past and the people are learning about each other more and more. Every major center of population is now connected by regular bus services in the adjoining region. People walk to cover small distances and for long distances they have many options such as bicycle, three wheelers, buses, jeeps and trains to travel to Kolkata.
Three-wheeler vehicles, both peddled and motorized, are the most widely available option in the region for transportation.
Regular bus service is available to transport people from Mandirbazar to Kolkata and major towns. A 61 kms railway line connects the region of Mandirbazar to Sealdah, Kolkata. For example, LKPR Sealdah EMU/34725 takes passengers to and from Lakshmikantpur to Sealdah, Kolkata. Some other projects for extension of rail communications are in
the offering.
The Closest airport is Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (NSCBIA), Kolkata. The drive from Mandirbazar to the NSCBIA is 73 kms (Approx.).
2.5.1.5Demographics
The people of Mandirbazar in the native language are referred to as Bengali and are ethnic community native to the region of Bengal.
Population & gender: In the 2011 census, Mandirbazar block had a population of 1,83,093 out of which 94,627 were males and 88,466 were females. Decadal growth for the period 1991-2001 was 14.54 % for Mandirbazar, against 20.89% in South 24 Parganas district. Decadal growth in West Bengal was 17.84%.
Photo: Local bus transport service, Mandirbazar block Photo: Motorized 3-wheeler transport service, Mandirbazar block
Photo: Train route from Lakshmikantpur to Sealdah (on Google)
Photo: A father & a son riding a bicycle, Mandirbazar block
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Language: Bengali or Bangla is an Indo-Aryan language of the Mandirbazar block. It has evolved from Magadhi, Prakrit, and Sanskrit.
Typically people live in mud houses/bamboo houses with dhaan (rice) roof. The major source of employment in the region is Sholapith craft.
2.5.1.6Culture
The cultural milieu in Mandirbazar reflects the
usual cultural characteristics of similar small towns in Bengal and is far from being influenced by the cosmopolitan culture of the metro city, Kolkata. The community continues to perpetuate the Bengali cultural manifestations like drama, recitation, classical music, songs and dances.
Every year during Ram Navami ‘Ramayan’ popular television series made by Ramanand Sagar, is still a extremely a big hit, which goes on continuously for 7 nights. The stories of Ramayan and Mahabharata is played and it is in-acted by the local youngsters in the evenings in the temple premises.
2.5.1.7Food
Rice and fish are traditional favourite foods, leading to a saying in Bengali, machhe bhate bangali that translates as ‘fish and rice make a Bengali’. Every
village has a number of pokhars (ponds), which are a great source of fresh fish. A host of gourds, roots and tubers, leafy greens, succulent stalks, lemons and limes, green and purple eggplants, red onions, broad beans, okra, banana tree stems and flowers, green jackfruit and red pumpkins add to the vegetarian part of the meal. Recently the food inflation is causing a major hindrance to healthy life of the local population.
2.5.1.8Drinking water
Photo: Moong Daal cultivation, Maheshpur village
Photo: Mud house with rice straw roof, Ratneshwarpur village
Photo: http://www.soesju.org/arsenic/wb.htm
36
The region depends on community deep tubewells for drinking water supply installed by the local government.
In a survey conducted in 2006 The ground water in the South 24 Parganas district which contains the Sholapith cluster region has been tested for arsenic contamination. Arsenic is a carcinogen which causes many cancers including skin, lung, and bladder as well as cardiovascular disease. (http://www.soesju.org/arsenic/wb.htm)
The local pokhars caters to all other needs of water supply.
2.5.1.9Festivals
Durga Puja in October is the most popular festival in Mandirbazar. Other major festivals celebrated by the
people of this sub division are Diwali and Holi.
2.5.1.10Costumes
Women from the Mandirbazar region commonly wear the Saari, often distinctly designed according to local cultural customs. Among men, western dressing has greater acceptance. Men also wear traditional costumes such as the Kurta and Dhuti, often on cultural occasions.
2.5.1.11Education
Mandirbazar region has an average literacy rate of 82%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 86% and female literacy of 77%. The district Diamond Harbour is very equipped with primay schools, Shishu Sikhsa Kendra, Junior School, Secondary School, Madrasa, Higher Secondary School.
2.5.1.12Health
Mandirbazar block has a few local doctors. To get medical facilities, people from the region also travel to Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, etc. The common health problems of the people of this region are common-cold, fever etc. The close by medical facilities are available in Mathurapur, Jayanagar. Advanced medical facilities are, however, distinctly absent.In Mandirbazar block, in 2008, tests confirmed patients with health issues like Dengue and Chikungunya from among the other health issues.Photo: A student on her way to school in Mandirbazar block
Photo: Women in Sari, Bazarberia village
Photo: A typical pokhar in the Mandirbazar block
37
Photo: Children playing cricket in Diamond harbour
2.5.1.13Sports
Besides other Indian sports, cricket and football (soccer) is the passion of the younger generation.
2.5.1.14Local market
The things of daily needs are available in local kirana shops, vegetable markets , fish markets and the like.fresh vegetables, fish, meat, poultry and fruits are generally available in these markets. There is a ‘haat’ every Saturday in the nearby Pukuria village where all the Shola raw materials as well as end products are on sale.
2.5.1.15Places of Interest
Major places of interest for tourists near Mandirbazar region are Diamond Harbour, Bakkhali, Ganga Sagar, Sundarban, etc. In the tourism industry, Bakkhali beach and Diamond Harbour have earned popularity as picnic spots mainly for the Kolkatans.
2.5.1.16Government and Politics
The main players in the regional politics are the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC, the Indian National Congress (INC), the Left Front alliance (led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M)).
Following the West Bengal State Assembly Election in 2011, the AITC and INC coalition under Mamata Banerjee of the All India Trinamool Congress was elected to power (getting 225 seats in the legislature). The Left Front for the past 34 years had ruled West Bengal, making it the worlds longest-running democratically elected communist government. There
are total of 294 legislative seats from 19 districts of WB, which went to polls for West Bengal 2011 Assembly elections. Out of total 294 seats, 294, 68 seats are reserved for SC and 16 seats are reserved for ST candidates.
South 24 Parganas District comprises of 30 constituencies. They are Baruipur East, Baruipur West, Basanti, Behala East, Behala West, Bhangar, Bishnupur, Budge Budge, Canning East, Canning West, Diamond Harbour, Falta, Gosaba, Jadavpur, kakdwip, Kasba, Kulpi, Kultali, Magrahat East, Magrahat West, Maheshtala, Mandirbazar, Metiaburuz, Partharpratima, Raidighi, Sagar, Satgachia, Sonarpur Dakshin, Sonarpur Uttar and Tollygunge.
Mandirbazar (Vidhan Sabha constituency) is an assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district. It is reserved for scheduled caste candidate. In the WB assembly elections 2011, Joydeb Halder, an AITC candidate won the election and gained over the candidate from CPI(M). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandirbazar_(Vidhan_Sabha_constituency)
2.5.2Historical context of Sholapith cluster
Well-preserved historic craft, purely handmade, Sholapith decorations, lifestyle and religions products are the exemplary handicraft trade of the modern world. Sholapith craft was a ubiquitous trade widely distributed, but largely centered in and around the local needs of the Mandirbazar block region. A major portion of the products catered to the needs of the capital city Kolkata, WB. Maheshpur village in the Photo: Vegetable market, South Bishnupur in Mandirbazar block
38
Mandirbazar block was the epicentre of the Sholapith craft in the past which mainly focussed on the traditional religious and ceremonial events before the demand for production for exported oriented market of Sholapith products emerged. As the export market for the Sholapith products opened up, the exporters from Kolkata, Tuticorin, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore started giving production orders to the scattered Sholapith businesses in Mandirbazar block.
2.5.3Sholapith products: traditional ‘vs’ modern
Prior to the export based business in the modern scenario, the overwhelming majority of the Sholapith products was essentially used in Bengali marriages (topors: headgears used in Bengali weddings), pujas, decorations at shops and homes, etc. and the business were mainly, local. Now the businesses have evolved to cater to the international users and occasions such
as decorations at weddings, gifts items, Christmas, etc. Therefore, the designs have evolved to meet such modern needs. The products made are low-margin commodities. The profit made by the Sholapith cluster units mainly depends on the huge volume orders (in thousands, sometimes in tens of thousands).
Photo: Sholapith Goddess Durga by Manjusha, WB
Photo: Sholapith decoration in festivals in WB Photo: Sholapith birds for decorations
Photo: A couple in Sholapith headgears during marriage in WB Photo: Sholapith decoration in mandir at Sanath Halder’s house
39
Photo: Shola flower fragrance diffuser by Peralessence, USA
Photo: Sholapith training centre in Maheshpur village
2.5.4The modern outlook of Sholapith craft and its business
The Sholapith craft is at an important stage of transition. A larger variety (almost 99%) of products are produced for export. Like many other crafts, Sholapith craft began to evolve in the late 1990s, with a majority of new entrants drawn from diverse social and business backgrounds into the Sholapith products scenario. The craft underwent a major expansion a decade ago, in response to the fast-growing foreign demand for Sholapith decorative and lifestyle products. The many different designs of Sholapith products in use are available all over the Internet world.The younger generation started to move out of the local businesses and tried, not yet successfully, to
tap the export market of these kinds of products. Frequent trips to cities have brought exposure and new opportunities for the Sholapith business, which may turn into some positive developments in the future.
Today, in the local economy it holds a very significant role in engaging a large chunk of the population of the region. Number of craftswomen engaged in making Sholapith products is on a high, since the men are generally busy in developing the business and dealing with the exporters in Kolkata and other cities of India and trying to develop newer business opportunities.
Internationally, the Sholapith faces tough competition from similar produced by China, Thailand, USA and other countries. Even the products face close competition from fresh flowers/paper flowers, corn husk flowers, cloth flowers, plastic flowers, in case of Sholapith flower products.
2.5.5Sholapith craft and it’s training
The knowledge and skills required to produce beautiful products from Sholapith have passed from previous generation to the newer. With the changing demand for different kind of Sholapith product designs from international buyers, the craftsmen and craftswomen have adapted themselves, accordingly.
The unit managers impart training to their craftsmen and labourers to develop designs as per the order received by the exporters.
In the local village of Maheshpur, Sholapith craft training school, supported by Department of Rural Development, Kolkata is run where hundreds of local women attend the training. They learn the ways to develop the new products made out of Sholapith.
2.5.6Sholapith craft’s contribution to local economy
Sholapith cluster has successfully contributed to the local economy. Provides means of livelihood to tens of thousands of families in the region of Mandirbazar block. Although many younger people are moving to cities in search of job opportunities, the Sholapith craft and its business remain a foundation of satisfied living and a source of nourishment in every sense for the people engaged with it.
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2.5.7Findings & recommendations
The Sholapith cluster is the lifeline of thou-sands of people in Mandirbazar block region. The findings from the survey of the cluster as part of the Mandirbazar block and its ele-ments gives out many interesting discoveries. The discoveries comprises of traditionally rooted way of life of the people and the envi-ronment in and around the Shola wood, its craft and its business. The Sholapith craft has been sustainable locally in the region for hundreds of years. With changing ambitions and the requirements of the local people the craft has moved out from its region to become a lifestyle product of international standards.
Some of the finding & recommendations for Sholapith cluster of the Mandirbazar block are as following:
SHOLAPITH HISTORYFINDING- The knowledge and the skill among the peo-ple engaged in the craft is intact and limited since hundreds of years. It is striving to evolve to cater to the high demand of increasing variety and quality of international standards of Sholapith products both for local as well as for the international market.
RECOMMENDATION
GEOGRAPHY & CLIMATE
AGRICULTURAL ECONOMYSHOLAPITH CRAFT: TRADITIONAL VS MODERNITY
LOCAL MARKET
SHOLAPITH CRAFT: CONTRIBUTION TO LOCAL ECONOMY
PLACES OF INTEREST
EDUCATION
ELECTRICITY SUPPLY
FOOD
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
BANKING & FINANCE
DEMOGRAPHICS
SHOLAPITH CRAFT:A WAY OF LIFE
SHOLAPITH CRAFT AND ITS TRAINING
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
SPORTS
HEALTH DRINKING WATER
INTERNET
TELE-COMMUNICATION
HISTORY
FESTIVALS
SHOLAPITH CLUSTEROF MANDIRBAZARBLOCK
ARCHITECTURELANGUAGE
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
RECREATION
FAMILY & COMMUNITY
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- The Sholapith craft needs a strategy frame-work to highlight the historical values of the craft and connect it to the modern needs of the buyers and customers. This needs cre-ation of hiring trends, planning, design & development, sales and marketing, branding & promotion experts strategy team for the Sholapith cluster.
GEOGRAPHY & CLIMATEFINDING- The region is adversely affected by summer, severe rainfall at times and floods which in-terrupts the life in general and the Sholapith business in particular.
- In the rainy seasons the Sholapith produc-tion is affected due to shortage of craftsmen availability. The craftsmen get involved in preparing the field for rice cultivation during this season.
- The urbanization of the region is pushing the Shola raw material production away.
- The Agricultural interests and confidence in the region is going down with people opting to take up alternate work or businesses for better income.
RECOMMENDATION- For severe weather conditions in summer and rainy seasons the cluster needs a regular supply of orders and permanent craftsmen
who work throughout the season. An addi-tional payment system along with the regular payments for the work has to be brought in for the craftsmen.
- In every village in the cluster region a per-manent shade with the electricity, drinking water and toilet facilities has to be built which can be utilized by multiple units as and when needed.
- The cluster needs its own permanent water-proof Shola sticks warehouse which can be used by the units to keep their raw material and access it as per their need. The availability of raw material in good condition is a prior-ity for all the units. The raw material can be bought in bulk by the clusters which would cost lesser for the units.
DEMOGRAPHICSFINDING- The overall population of the region and those engaged with the craft is getting older. The younger population is moving to cities for better job prospects and the local popu-lation has started to take up alternate busi-nesses with better returns in comparison to returns from Sholapith business.
- Most of the production in the cluster is cone by craftswomen. The women engaged in the craft have to balance their household and the craft activities all the time. The situation is
really pressurizing for them since they do not get enough time for their own wellbeing and cannot focus on the developments of their children effectively. It is a bit of silent exploi-tation by the overall regional system itself as they are seen as mere workers.
RECOMMENDATION- A awareness program has to be launched in the cluster region to engaged the young talent to be part of the Sholapith craft in different capacities.
- The knowledge and the skills is to be effec-tively passed from the senior craftsmen to the younger generation it the region.
- A common training centre can be developed where the younger population with interest in Sholapith craft can be given training in the business and product design of the Sholapith products.
- There is a greater need to empower the women workforce in the region to play a big-ger role in the Sholapith business and com-munity development.
FAMILY & COMMUNITYFINDING- Majority of the families members who work as craftsmen or craftswomen at the cluster units earn as low as Rs. 30 (approx.) per day.
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- The families in the local community are competing with each other to get production orders from the same local units.
- The poor families solely depend on the Sholapith craft as they do not have their own farmlands or any alternate source of income.
RECOMMENDATION- The cluster has to move out of the exporters clutch who rule the Sholapith business and develop its own export authority. This will cut down the middlemen profits and bring back better income for the cluster, the craftsmen and bring over all prosperity in the region.
- A common facility centre (CFC) has to be developed to tap the international market and connect to the buyers and the customers directly.
BANKING & FINANCEFINDING- The local banks and finance institution do not support loans for the Sholapith craft. There is a issue of transparency in the local mechanism and the units and the crafstmen fear they have to pay bribes and pay interests much more than the actual amount.
RECOMMENDATION- Engage local and nationalized banks and the financial institutions for entering into a pact with the cluster, under which the country’s ef-
ficient lender would provide easy and afford-able credit to Sholapith units and craftsmen.
ROADS & TRANSPORTATIONFINDING- The local roads within the villages are kac-cha or made up of brick and mud which hin-ders the movement of people and motorized vehicles. This in turn affects the fast move-ment of Sholapith raw materials and products between units.
RECOMMENDATION- Engage the local government and the pan-chayats to speed up the infrastructure devel-opments in the region. Instead of making mud and brick roads, the roads shola be made pakka using concrete and charcoal which would be less expensive in long run since it would require less maintenance every year es-pecially in rainy seasons. Better roads would facilitate easy movement for the people and vehicle carrying the raw material and finished products.
INTERNETFINDING- The units engaged in the Sholapith business do not have internet facility to support their business except a one or two. The members are not at all computer literate.
RECOMMENDATION- Set up a Common Computer Training
Centre (CCTC) which will help the units members and the craftsmen to learn using computers. They can be effective in connect-ing to exporters & business, learn new design softwares to design products with better specifications and do a research about new market and product opportunities.
- Engage research, business and design ex-perts to impart better training to the cluster units and the craftsmen.
FOODFINDING- The prices of cereals, vegetables, fish, meat, fruits etc. is increasing rapidly. The food infla-tion is threatening to throw majority of gen-eral population as well as those engaged with the Sholapith craft to poverty.
RECOMMENDATION- Encourage the cluster & the farmers and promote better agricultural practices in the region to produce high yield and better qual-ity food products. The aim is to bring in the food security in the region and cut down the unwanted food price inflation. Bring in the perspective of community and collective farm-ing among the farmers.
DRINKING WATERFINDING- The ground water in the region and South 24 Parganas district is tested positive for
43
arsenic contamination. This is a dangerous situation as arsenic is a carcinogen since the population entirely depends on the ground water for drinking water supply.
RECOMMENDATION- Water quality standards should be revisited, especially for chemical contamination by Ar-senic, and more research done.
- The local government and the panchayat need act in advance to secure the arsenic free drinking water supply in the cluster region. Central Government should encourage state governments to develop community based water quality monitoring guidelines.
- The cluster community need to be trained and empowered to manage their own drink-ing water systems, including quarterly (minimum) monitoring of water quality. This should be part of a well planned and imple-mented campaign to generate awareness, change attitudes and behaviour.
ELECTRICITY SUPPLYFINDING- Majority of the craftsmen do not have elec-tricity supply in their houses. In unfavourable summer and rainy seasons, it is impossible to work inside the house. Even in days with good weather conditions the work ends by 6:30 p.m. after which the sunlight is enough to continue the work.
RECOMMENDATION- Immediate uptake of small scale renew-able energy generation (grid connected and off-grid) units in cluster region is needed to ensure quality generation of electricity and supply at local level to ensure supply of elec-tricity to all units and the region in general.
- Introduce sustainable sources of electricity supply in the cluster region. Evaluate oppor-tunity for solar and wind powered electricity generation in the region.
ARCHITECTUREFINDING- The Sholapith cluster run their units from this houses. Especially the front rooms and the veranda are used as the workplaces and the to store raw materials. The units also have
workplaces which they take on rent. - Many of he owners of the Sholapith units and almost all the craftsmen and craftswom-en live in houses made up of mud, bamboo and rice straw.
RECOMMENDATION- Efforts by the central and the state govern-ment should be made to ensure that the house in the cluster region are pucca (brick and concrete) with permanent walls and permanent roofing. The permanent nature of the house would facilitate the people such the house is able to withstand the peak summer and rough rains and the weather conditions in general of the place throughout the year.
- The houses should have disaster resistant technology to be able to withstand earth-
Photo: Craftsmen temporary shade made up of bamboo, rice
straw and plastic sheets
Photo: Kundurani Halder’s workplace with no electricity facility
44
quakes, cyclone, floods, etc.
- Most importantantly the spaces should be designed to help the units and the craftsmen to organize their Sholapith work, store their Shola wood safe and totally water proof and utilize the space most effectively for their peak production orders.
EDUCATIONFINDING- The Sholapith unit owners have studied on an average till primary schools. And the thousands of the craftsmen and the crafts-women do not have any educational qualifica-tion. They all depend on the Sholapith craft which is highly skill based work which does not require any formal education. Most of the children goes to private schools for education.
RECOMMENDATION- Revisit the government plans for rural edu-cation and ensure the education is met for all with the help of qualified teachers, school infrastructure, and the quality education.
- Introduce subjects on creativity, design and technology in the basic curriculum in govern-ment schools and private schools which in long run would help the regions innovation capability. The schools will be the microcosm of the cluster and the region in general.
- Need for a visionary educational framework to strengthen institutional partnerships be-tween the government, local bodies and the community in the task of adult education pro-moting equity and quality for all in the region.
- Set up of a research centre for Shola plants to increase its yield and improve Sholapith use. The education and the raining programs should also focus on the awareness and better design practices.
HEALTHFINDING- Due to lack or healthy food, clean drink-ing water and sufficient medical facilities, the health of the general population and the craftsmen and craftswomen involved in the Sholapith craft is not healthy which affects the cluster if the situation is not attended soon.
- The cluster region do not have any hospital or a medical facility centre. For health issues or any major treatments the people have to travel long distances since the local region does not support sufficient medical facility.
RECOMMENDATION- Train and enhance capacity of local health centres and panchayats to effectively own, control and manage public health services.
- Ensure representation of existing cluster community group and the general population on existing medical facilities centres may help facilitate their work and feedback to the com-munity.
- Promote access to improved health-care at Photo: Children playing in front of a government school building
in Gokulnagar village which is barely functional
Photo: A women is washing utensils in a pokhar. Most of the
pokhars in the region are polluted and not fit for use.
45
household level through the village level vol-unteer worker.
LANGUAGEFINDING- Bengali is the main language in the region. The population in the region do not speak or write or do not even understand other languages such as hindi or english. This is a big hindrance for the people involved in the Sholapith craft as this business requires constant interaction with exporters or may be buyers who speak hindi, english and other languages.
RECOMMENDATION- Introduce bilingual education in schools for help students learn languages such as Hindi or English other then Bengali. Multi language capability will help the students, the cluster and the region in general to help in transition to mainstream global business and lifestyle.
RECREATIONFINDING- The region does not have any recreational centres or community centres for the older people or the regional population in general. People spend their time in markets in the evening after their working hours.
- People in the cluster region meet up withe their friends at temples and local market area for recreation.
RECOMMENDATION- Set up recreational centres for the cluster members especially focussing on the elders and the senior citizens to come together for group activities, social support, public infor-mation, and other purposes. The senior mem-bers of the Sholapith cluster can also utilize the centres to discuss the issues and action plans for the cluster.
PLACES OF INTERESTFINDING- The region has a spectacular natural beauty to simple domesticity. There are many reli-gious and coastal tourist spots around this region.
RECOMMENDATION
- Promote Sholapith craft region as craft based tourism for artisans and craftspeople to produce and sell their work in local and tourist markets is often critical to the overall success of a community. Successful crafts-men and craftspeople contribute to a success-ful communities.
- Encourage the cluster to be proud of a long Sholapith craft history for both preservation goals as well as encouraging entrepreneur-ship and new business development opportu-nities.
SHOLAPITH PRODUCTS: TRADITIONAL VS MO-DERNITYFINDING- Most of the Sholapith products such as flow-
Photo: Temple is being used as recreational area by a few people
in Bazarberia village. They are playing cards in the temple area.
Photo: Limited designs of Sholapith items such as Kadam
decorative items are seen in the local cluster region and the same
items are supplied to Kolkata since many decades.
46
ers, flower sticks, made for the export market are very similar to the products made for the local or national markets. The skill required to make these products are easy to learn and does not require much time or energy. Where as to meet the demand for newer products focussed to foreign culture needs a high level of creativity and would require advanced tech-niques and skill to produce.
- No formal design or business training is imparted to Sholapith craftsmen and crafts-women in the region. One such training school which runs in the region teaches a few craftswomen about how to make regular Shoapith products.
RECOMMENDATION- Engage experts from across the design and business world to help the Sholapith cluster units achieve balance between the traditional processes within the cluster and the modern pull for the new products and services.- The cluster members and the craftsmen must be moulded out of tradition approach to handle the Sholapith material and design new products targeting the modern lifestyle requirements across different cultures
CONTRIBUTION TO LOCAL ECONOMYFINDING- The Sholapith craft is the major source of income for thousands of people in the region and at a macro level it drives cluster economy.
- Any decrease in demand of the Sholapith products would adversely affect thousands of families engaged with Sholapith craft in the region.
RECOMMENDATION
- Focus on Sholapith clusters continuous growth will help preserving cultural inheri-tance, employment generation, transforma-tion of local raw materials into useful goods and supplies to meet the needs of both rural and urban communities, income generation
Photo: One of the many families that practice the Sholapith craft which forms for backbone of the regional economy. Sholapith flower
sticks are seen in the left corner of the veranda.
47
and linkage with other sectors.
- An efficient sales and marketing team is required to be in place to help the cluster ap-proach buyers directly and capture markets across the globe. A better demand for Shol-apith products would boost the clusters power to boost the local economy of its region.
48
2.6 Sholapith cluster: from production to customer
2.6.1Sholapith craft and it’s significance
People living in the Mandirbazar block engaged with Sholapith craft have successfully utilized the Sholapith, Aeschynomene Aspera, since time immemorial. It’s very easy for any newcomer/visitor to Mandirbazar region to notice that the Sholapith cluster and its products is very important to the livelihoods of the people of the region, as it provides the main means of generating income. About 80% of the total people engaged in Sholapith craft belongs to Scheduled caste.
Fact:
Scheduled Castes (“SC”s, [parishiShTa jAti] in most
Indian languages) and Scheduled Tribes (“ST”s) are
Indian population groupings that are explicitly recognized
by the Constitution of India previously called the “depressed
classes” by the British. SCs/STs together comprise over 24%
of India’s population, with SC at over 16% and ST over
7.50% as per the 2001 census. The proportion of Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the population of India
has steadily risen since independence in 1947. (http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheduled_Castes)
The Sholapith craft has been growing in the Mandirbazar block region. This has come about due to both economic hardships aggravated by few job opportunities in the region and developments in the export of the Sholapith products. In Mandirbazar, the Sholapith business expanded in the late 1990s when more and more export houses realized the potential of this beautifully crafted product’s export significance in the foreign countries.
The Shola plant grows in lakes, ponds and wetlands; and is partially submerged in the water (anchored emergent hydrophytes). (http://www.kerenvis.nic.in/biodiversity/Wetlands.pdf)
Fact
Emergent anchored Hydrophytes: Usually this category of
plants grows in shallow water and along the wetland. The
roots, lower parts of stems and sometimes the lower leaves
remain submerged. The apical parts and flowers rise above
the water surface. The species under this category include
Aeschynomene aspera L, Aitenanthera philoxeroides
Griseb, Echinochloa crusgalli L, Ipomoea fistulosa Mart,
Oryza minuta Presl, Ranunculus scleratus L., etc. (http://
www.envisassam.nic.in/newsletter/july-sept,07.pdf)
Aeschynomene Aspera does not grow so widely in the Mandirbazar region, but a few farmers cultivate it on their own land, at times on rental agricultural land. In the Mandirbazar region Shola has become so much in demand that the resource has become scare and local supply of Sholapith does not fully meet the raw material demand. The Shola sticks can be bought from the local haat (market) on every Saturday from the market produced locally or are bought from Kolkata to meet the excess raw material needs.
Local people of Mandirbazar have utilized the Shola for Sholapith craft for hundreds of years. The soft, porous, light and supple white inner core - pith of the Shola stem is used for making beautiful objects. The outer skin is brown and is peeled off to use the soft portion from the core. The core is sliced into strips and made into sheets, cubes, cones and slices, which are shaped to give form to the imagined designs. The process is simple, but the craftsmanship requires a steady hand and great skill. Sholapith items form an integral part of the major religious rituals in WB. Skillful hands shape this Shola stem into many objects such as models of temples, churches & mosques, carved images of Gods
Photo: Sholapith flower, stick and roll by Kalidas Nasker’s unit
49
and Goddesses, wedding headgear (topor), flowers, garlands, decorations items. The rejected leftovers are used as fuel for cooking purpose, locally.
In the craft’s earlier years the Sholapith products were limited to religious and ritualistic products like wedding headgear for traditional Bengali wedding,
flowers and garlands. In the recent past since 80s (approx.), it has grown enormously in public Durga pujas where Sholapith craftsmen mainly contribute to ornaments for Gods and Goddesses and have found a wider application in home décor. In todays business context the Sholapith cluster units are mainly catering to the export market by producing large quantities of Shola flowers of various styles and using interesting techniques. Majority of the members of the Sholapith cluster are women.
2.6.2About Sholapith plant
Nomenclature: Aeschynomene aspera L.
Name origin: By Carl Linnaeus in 1753Kingdom: PlantaeOrder: FabalesFamily: Fabaceae or Leguminosae (Fabaceae: a large and economically important family of flowering plants, which is commonly known as the legume family, pea family, bean family or pulse family.)Genus: AeschynomeneSpecies: Aeschynomene asperaPlant’s common names: Sola or Shola (Hindi), Kuhila (Asamese), Laugauni or Netti (Tamil), Sola-Pith-Plant (English), Angioquinho/Pinheirinho (Portuguese) (http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?310707), Sano Hang Khai (Thai-Thailand) (http://www.tcie.com/sola_flowers/)Seed: Brown to black, glossy, oblong-kidney-shaped, 2-2.5 * 3-3.5 mm in sizeHarvest: Once a yearPart of the resource used for the craft: Stem
Degree of transformation to create products: HighCultural control: Control by handEconomic importance: Sholapith craft, Cork substituteScale of trade: International
The ‘Shola’ plant Aeschynomene aspera is well known in India. The pith is very light, spotlessly white, extremely flexible and long lasting with excellent insulating property. These qualities of ‘Shola’ pith have been thoroughly exploited and have been used to make fishing floats, sun hats, toys and other handicrafts for a long time. In WB, a separate community - ‘The Malakar’ professionally collect ‘Shola’ pith and prepare attractive jewellery out of it. This is used for decorating idols of Goddess Durga and other Gods and Goddesses. The genus Aeschynomene belonging to the family Fabaceae, comprises about 160 species of primarily tropical legumes in tropical regions of both the hemispheres. (http://aem.asm.org/cgi/reprint/50/3/732.pdf)
In India, Aeschynomene species is represented by 3
Photo: A. Aspera by Velva E. Rudd, US national museum
Photo: A. Aspera with the tools for craft, Agomani block, Assam.
50
species namely A. aspera l. (Phul Shola), A. indica L. (Kat Shola) and A. americana L. (Dhani Shola). The three species can be distinguished from each other with the help of their distinguishing characteristics.
Among these 3 species, most significant commercial value of ‘Pith Shola’ is obtained from A. aspera L. that is distributed in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Aeschynomene aspera L. was described by Carl Linnaeus based on a collection of P. Hermann. (L. K. Banerjee, S. K. Basu and D. Ghosh - Botany Survey of India : http://www.bsienvis.nic.in/publication.htm)
Fact
Pith: also called medulla - is a substance that is found
in vascular plants. The two main functions of pith are
nutrient storage and the transport of nutrients through the
stem, branches, leaves, and roots of the plant. Pith is made
up of soft, spongy parenchyma cells, and is located in the
center of the stem in eudicots (both herbaceous and woody)
and in the center of the roots in monocots. It is encircled by
a ring of xylem (woody tissue), and outside that, a ring of
phloem (bark tissue). In some plants the pith is solid, but
for most it is soft.
The pith or medulla is the spongy tissue forming the central
cylinder of the stem of most flowering plant, especially those
of the dicotyledonous. It consists of cellular tissue composed
mainly of parenchyme. The word is thence applied to the
spinal cord or marrow in animals, to the medullary end of
a hair, and to that which forms the central part or core of
any object or substance; hence, figuratively, vigour, energy,
concentrated force. Very light hats or helmets are made
of the dried pith of the Indian spongewood or hat plant
(Aeschynomene aspera, the native name being Shola).
Europeans in India and the East wear these pith hats. The
Chinese Ricepaper-tree (Aralia or Fatsia papyrifera), from
the pith of which the delicate white film known as “rice-
paper” is made, is also known as the pith-plant. (http://
www.theodora.com/encyclopedia/p2/pith.html)
2.6.2.1Distribution
A. aspera is believed to have originated in sub-Saharan Africa between Senegal and Sudan. It is widely distributed in the lowlands of western, central, north-
eastern and southern Africa. In 1986 it was introduced into the Philippines and since then has been grown experimentally across South and South-Earth Asia. (http://www.oswaldasia.org/species/a/aesas/aesas_en.html)
They grow naturally in wetlands i.e. ecotones or transitional zones that occupy an intermediate position between dry land and open water. It is native of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.
Fact
Wetlands: Wetlands are ecotones or transitional zones that
occupy an intermediate position between dry land and open
water. Wetland ecosystems are dominated by the influence
of water, they possess characteristics of both terrestrial
and aquatic ecosystems and properties that are uniquely
of their own. Wetlands support a wide array of flora and
fauna and deliver many ecological, climatic and societal
Photo: Geographic distribution of the Genus Aschynomene, ‘The
american species of Aschynomene’ by Velva E. Rudd.
NAMECHARACTERISTICS
STEM LEAFLETS STIPULES PODS
A. aspera (Phul Shola)
glabrous to moderately hispid; pith soft
1-nerved, 1-1.5 mm wide; linear-oblong
25 mm long 8-10 cm long; straight echinulate
A. indica (Kat Shola)
glabrous to moderately hispid; pith hard
1-nerved, 2-2.5 mm wide; elliptic-oblong
upto15 mm long
2.5-4.5 cm long; straight or slightly curved
A. americana (Dhani Shola)
glandular hispid; pith moderately soft
2-5 nerved falcate 10-25 mm long
2-2.5 cm long; falcate, hispidulous
Table: Three species of Aeschynomene and their characteristics
51
functions. Scientists often refer to wetlands as the “kidneys”
of the earth and forests as the “lungs” of the earth. India
by virtue of its extensive geographical stretch and varied
terrain and climate, supports a rich diversity of inland and
coastal wetlands. (http://www.kerenvis.nic.in/biodiversity/
Wetlands.pdf)
In India it is found along the margins of fresh water swamps, rice fields, tanks, jheels/pokhars (ponds), beels (wetland) and lakes in the greater parts of states of West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In West Bengal it is largely distributed in South and North 24-Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Midnapur and Bankura districts, whereas A. indica is also found throughout India, including the Andaman group of islands in the paddy fields.(Structure of Shola wood: the traditional Indian art material by M. N. B. Nair and H. Y. Mohan Ram)
2.6.2.2Shola wood: The traditional art material
Shola wood, produced by the Indian aquatic shrubs A. aspera, is the one of the lightest wood known. It is a marble-white, soft and spongy material used by traditional Indian craftsmen to produce a wide range of decorative products. In commerce this wood is enormously call Sholapith. Shola results from the activity of vascular cambium and has all the components of wood (secondary xylem). The structure basis of this versatile natural material helps its conversion to beautiful Shola products. Wood structure is present in A. aspera (absent in A, indica). The wood
is storied and diffuse porous. The wood chiefly consists of thin-walled fusiform cells, endowed with abundant simple pits on end walls, giving them a sieve-like appearance. Pits are rare or absent on tangible walls. Shola wood shows a marked reduction in the number of vessels and fibres. The restricted distribution of fibres around certain vessels indicates that besides providing support they also help in preventing the vessels walls from collapsing. The large-scale replacement of fibres by thin-walled fusiform wood cells is mainly responsible for making second lightest wood known, only after Quipo.
It is inferred that fusiform wood cells are involved in short-distance transport of water but eventually filled with air to provide the Shola wood its unique characteristic properties.(Structure of Shola wood: the traditional Indian art material by M. N. B. Nair and H. Y. Mohan Ram)
Shola/Indian Shola wood (A. aspera) is the softest wood (specific gravity 0.04) in the world only after Quipo (Cavanillesia platanifolia) according to Wood Janka Hardness Scale/Chart (AuthorJohnny W. Morlan.
Janka hardness in Pounds Of Force {lbf}:Quipo (Cavanillesia platanifolia): 22 Pounds force (lbf)Indian Shola wood (A. aspera): 40 Pounds force (lbf)
The Janka Hardness Scale was invented in 1906 by Gabriel Janka {1864 - 1932}, an Austrian wood researcher and is an adaptation of the Brinell Hardness Test for metals. The Janka Hardness Test measures
how hard wood/lumber/timber is. The higher the number, the harder the wood.(http://www.morlanwoodgifts.com/MM011.ASP?pageno=207)
The structure of Shola wood provides the basis for being an ideal material for traditional Sholapith craft where softness, lightness and resiliency are required. Shola wood can be easily cut, peeled, stretched and bent owing to the presence of abundance fusiform wood cells. The air-filled cells account for the insulating property of the wood. The wood of A. aspera is easier to peel (than that of A. indica) a property that could be attributed to the presence of distinct growth rings in the former. (Structure of Shola wood: the traditional Indian art material by M. N. B. Nair and H. Y. Mohan Ram)
2.6.2.3Chemical composition
Chemically, the pith is composed of lignocellulose devoid of free aldehyde groups, which shows a close resemblance to the cellulose, by colour reaction. In air-dry condition, the ‘Shola’ retains 8.6% moisture like Calcium, Phosphorous, some free Nitrogen along with crude protein and crude fibre are the main constituent of the plant. The seeds contain yellow brown oil and some fatty acids.
2.6.2.4Ecology
A. aspera is found 0-900 m altitude in tropical areas with a distinct dry season and a rainfall distribution.
52
It is a semi-aquatic pioneer plant of marshes and temporarily wet places. It will grow in a wide range of soils, from pure dune sands along rivers to peat soils in mangrove swamps. (http://www.oswaldasia.org/species/a/aesas/aesas_en.html)
2.6.2.5Cultivation and growthA. aspera is a shrub that grows upto 4 m in swamps, river banks tanks or lakes. A. aspera is propagated by seeds and stem. Seeds are dormant and hard seed coat
Photos: Sholapith plant cultivation
1. The seeds sown in the soil with high moisture content
2. When grown to 2 feet to 2.5 feet it is transplanted in a
water filled land
3. A fully grown Shola plant
4. Stock of Shola sticks
5. The Shola sticks are spread in the farm for drying in
sunlight
6. A bundle of dried Shola sticks are ready for sale and use
1 4 6
2 5
3
prevents easy germination. The seeds require high soil moisture or flooded condition for germination.
The seeds germinate during dry season when the lands are not submerged under water. Sometime, new shoots also develop from the cut-stumps. The flowers (yellowish in colour) bloom and fruits grow from August to November. Fruit ripening causes drying and brown discoloration of leaves and stems, ending the growth cycle.
53
The swollen and robust stems are collected during months of September to December. These are cut into bits of about 1 meter and dried, the unused portion of the stems along with the ripening pods are usually thrown in the same water body where they float until the seeds are self-sown.
The most suitable planting technique for A. aspera depends on locality, soil type and it’s ecosystem. In Mandirbazar region, the Shola farming season is done from the month of May to October. During the month of May dry season the seeds are sown in the well-ploughed land with good moisture level. During rainy season of June and July the plants grow to 2-3 feet in height. By mid July the plants are transplanted in nearby ponds, lakes and lands with good water level. The plants are submerged in water with their head slightly above the water level. During the month of August the plant grows to 150 inches (approx.). During this time the shola stem grows thick to 1-1.5 inches. By September the stems are cut and the spread in the fields to dry up. Drying takes 15- 20 days. These stems become light when dried. By October the Shola stems are ready for go to market and for use.
2.6.2.6Husbandry
The ability of Aeschynomene aspera to form above-ground nodules and to fix nitrogen in waterlogged and marginal soils largely determines its value as a green manure in wet rice. Due to its soft structure, Aeschynomene aspera green manure is easily incorporated into the soil and mineralizes rapidly even under flooded conditions. In eastern India it is
sometimes sown as an intercrop between rows of rice and trampled into the soil before it starts shading the rice. Relay planting of Aeschynomene aspera has been used successfully to exploit the short fallow period between two rice crops in multiple cropping systems.
2.6.2.7Biological control
Few diseases and pests are reported. A bacterial wilt is reported to affect biomass production in some areas. The leaf-eating larvae of the Lepidopterous species Eurema lecabe (not accurate) can became a problem when A. aspera is grown in the short-day season. (http://www.oswaldasia.org/species/a/aesas/aesas_en.html)
It is considered a minor weed of rice paddies across its region.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeschynomene_aspera)
2.6.2.8Commercial use
The pith (high in content) of A. aspera is domestically & commercially (more than A. indica) important as it is soft, lightweight and can more easily peeled and shaped. The harvested stems (max. 5 cms in diameter) are cut into 60–90 cms long pieces and stored until dry. The bark is then removed and the wood peeled into thin sheets of required sizes as per the requirements of the Shola products.
One of the recorded domestic uses of Shola pith is in making a heat-resistant tumbler cover. One such tumbler cover is part of the Economic Botany collection at the ‘Sir Joseph Banks Centre for Economic Botany’ (SJBCEB) at Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG), Kew, London, UK. The tumbler cover was obtained by RBG from India via the Amsterdam exhibition of 1883. Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911) was then director (1865-1885) of the RBG. He was a surgeon, botanist and a traveller who visited South Africa, Antarctic, India and Nepal, to name a few.
This Shola pith has high insulating properties and is also used for making sunhats, as well as fishnets floats and life belts. It can be also be attractively carved into fine models of flowers, decorations and figurine items.(http://www.kew.org/science/eblinks/papers/hastings1989banks.pdf)
Photo: British troops wearing Sholapith helmets, Iraq, 11 June 1941
54
Due to high insulating property of very light and spongy pith, it is largely used in the manufacture of sun hats for protection against the tropical sun.
The pure white pith of Shola plants is used to adorn
the Hindu bride and bridegroom’s heads in the form of beautiful intricate designs. The grooms wear the Topor and the grooms wear Mukut. Other ornamented articles are being made for use in the marriage and other religious ceremonies, common in WB. In each and every religious and ceremonial function, the white pith is used for making different types of ornamental and decorating materials. It is also utilized as the lining to the more highly ornate ‘Tazeyas’ during Mohurrum, a Muslim festival and ‘shera’ the bridal veil of Muslims.
The pith is extensively used for making delicate decorations for Hindu idols like Durga, Saraswati, Ganesha, etc, garlands, life belts, insulating materials, cushions, hats (sola topi), during festivals in India, different types of toys, artificial flowers, ornaments (ear tops), and sometimes lining of palanquin-tops and fish baskets, etc. Fishermen use the light cork like stems to make floats for their nets as well as small rafts to stand upon while casting nets in deep water.
Exquisite models of temples, ships and a variety of other objects or art are produces from Shola wood in WB and also in Tamil Nadu and Orissa. Sometimes, thin fibres are obtained from yellowish grey bark. In Assam it is even converted into sleeping mats.
High quality of Shola wood comes form West Bengal which now-a-days is also supplemented majorly by the Shola wood imported from Bangladesh to meet shortfall in supply, if any.
In West Bengal, about 20,000 people are engaged in making Shola craft which have a demand in foreign markets.
Shola pith by virtue of its visual characteristic is currently used as ivory substitute and may be called as vegetable ivory. Few other plant species used as an ivory substitute are Phytelephas macrocarpa (12 species), Hyphaene indica, Attalea funifera, Raphia vinifera, Corypha umbracaulifera, Mauritia flexuosa and Borassus flabellifer. The cortex or cores of the plant showing a diameter of 3.5 cms (approx.) are used as a carving material. Its milky colour makes Sholapith easily mistaken for ivory, although weight and hardness are much lower than those of ivory. The material extracted from this plant is not restricted by environmental regulations.(http://www.bfn.de/fileadmin/MDB/documents/service/skript228.pdf)
2.6.2.9Medicinal use
Naturally the wetlands are rich in plant resources and traditionally, the local inhabitants have been using wetland plants against the diseases they suffer from. The importance of traditional medicine that provides health service to about 80% of world population has been realized recently (Present aspect of the uses of plants in traditional medicine, J Ethnopharmacol by Marini-Bettolo GB (1980)). Due to industrialization, urbanization, unmanaged exploitation, and also removal of plants materials for fish culture, many of the wetland medicinal plants are vanishing rapidly. Due to non-availability of medicinal plants, the use of ethno-medicine is also reducing to some extent. However, the ethno-medicinal knowledge is still available with the traditional healers that are to be codified before the knowledge is lost forever. In India,
Photos: a tumbler cover of Aeschynomene aspera in the left
in the back row
Photos: model of a rose made of Aeschynomene aspera in
the centre in the back row
55
A. aspera in the states of West Bengal, Orissa, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu A. aspera is recorded to have ethno-medicinal values.
The WB, traditionally the root portion of A. aspera L. is used to treat jaundice.
Information gathered from traditional healers in Orissa indicates (not yet validated), that the aerial part juice of A. aspera L. (solo in oriya) is given to cure cough and cold fever, and dried young shoot powder with half teaspoon powered sugar candy is given to increase the consistency of semen. (Ethno-medicinal survey of some wetland plants of South Orissa and their conservation by Anima Panda & malaya K. Misra (2008)) (http://nopr.niscair.res.in/bitstream/123456789/11507/1/IJTK%2010(2)%20296-303.pdf)
A. aspera L., (Atru - netti in Tamil)is used as herb in Siddha medicine for arthritis is used in externally as polyherbal formulation. The leaf formulation is used for treat joints swelling. (Herbs used in Siddha medicine for arthritis - A review by Eugene Wilson, G. V. Rajamanickam, Neera Vyas, A. Agarwal & G. P. Budey (2005)) (http://nopr.niscair.res.in/bitstream/123456789/1023/1/IJTK%206(4)%20(2007)%20678-686.pdf)
Fact
Siddha medicine: The Siddha medicine is a form of south
Indian Tamil traditional medicine and part of the trio
Indian medicines - ayurveda, siddha and unani. This
system of medicine was popular in ancient India. At
nearly 10,000 years old, the Siddha system of medicine
is believed to be one of the most antiquated traditional
medical systems. The system is believed to be developed
by the 18 siddhas in the south called Siddhar. They are
the ancient supernatural spiritual saints of India and the
Siddha system is believed to be handed over to the Siddhar
by the Hindu God - Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi. So
are the siddhars, the followers of Lord Shiva (Shainaites).
Siddhar’s total nos are eighteen, with agathiyar being
the first Siddhar. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddha_
medicine)
Siddha system of medicine, the heritage of the family
practice of South India, is a special, scientific, most
respectable and of high orders. Herbals, minerals and
products of animals origin are basic raw material of
the Siddha medicine system. (Herbs used in Siddha
medicine for arthritis - A review by Eugene Wilson, G. V.
Rajamanickam, Neera Vyas, A. Agarwal & G. P. Budey
(2005))
In traditional Cambodian medicine, the young leaves and flowers are consumed in salad and used topically as a poultice. The crushed young shoot and leaves are taken orally as an anti-haemorrhagic during labour.(http://www.oswaldasia.org/species/a/aesas/aesas_en.html)
2.6.2.10Agricultural use
These plants bear stem nodules in addition to root nodules induced by Rhizobium spp. for nitrogen fixation. (Structure of Shola wood: the traditional Indian art material by M. N. B. Nair and H. Y. Mohan Ram)
The potential use of A. aspera as a fast-growing nitrogen source for wet-rice fields has only recently been noted. Since the late 1980s it has been widely used as a pre-rice green mature crop on experimental stations and in extension demonstration trials. So far, farmers in South-Earth Asia only occasionally use it. (http://www.oswaldasia.org/species/a/aesas/aesas_en.html)
Fact
Nitrogen fixation: Nitrogen fixation is the natural process,
either biological or abiotic, by which nitrogen (N2) in
the atmosphere is converted into ammonia (NH3).
This process is essential for life because fixed nitrogen is
required to biosynthesize the basic building blocks of life,
e.g., nucleotides for DNA and RNA and amino acids for
proteins. Under nitrogen-limiting conditions, capable
plants form a symbiotic relationship with a host-specific
strain of bacteria known as Rhizobia. Rhizobia are soil,
Gram-negative bacteria with the unique ability to establish
a N2-fixing symbiosis on legume roots and on the stems of
some aquatic legumes. Root nodules occur on the roots of
plants (primarily Fabaceae) that associate with symbiotic
nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Their ability to fix gaseous
nitrogen makes legumes an ideal agricultural organism as
their requirement for nitrogen fertilizer is reduced.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_fixation)
Stem and Root Nodulation in Aeschynomene spp.:
Hagerup first reported stem nodulation in genus
Aeschynomene on A. aspera in 1928. Since then, stem
nodulation was also found in the following species: A.
paniculata, A. indica, A. evenia, A. filosa, A. denticulata,
A. pratensis, A. r-udis, A. scabra, and A. sensitiva. The
ability of legumes to form stem nodules, restricted to
56
only one species in Sesbania, S. rostrata, and one species
in Neptunia, N. oleracea, is much more widespread in
Aeschynomene spp. In nature, stem nodules are usually
localized on the lower parts of the stem, which have
been temporarily or permanently submerged. However,
waterlogging is not a prerequisite for the formation of stem
nodules. Nodulation on the stems occurs on predetermined
sites identified as adventitious root initials.
(Stem and Root Nodulation in Aeschynomene spp. by D.
Alazard : http://aem.asm.org/cgi/reprint/50/3/732.pdf)
2.6.2.11Edible use
A. aspera as an emergency famine food is extensive throughout Indian literature and has been revealed by the work of Datta and Banerjee (1978) in ‘Useful weeds of WB rice fields’. They investigated the WB rice fields for ‘weed’ use and found that 124 of 158 species of ‘weeds’ had important economic uses with 48 being edible. A. aspera is especially noted as famine food. The portions of the plant that is reported as edible is tender leaves as vegetable. Tender leaves as food is also reported from the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. (Agricultural Development: Present and Potential role of Edible wild plants (1981) by Louis Evan Grivetti : http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNAAJ690.
pdf)
(Traditional knowledge on wild food plants in Andhra Pradesh by K. N. Reddy, Chitranjibi Pattnaik, C. S. Reddy & V. S. Raju : http://nopr.niscair.res.in/bitstream/123456789/910/1/IJTK%206(1)%20(2007)%20223-229.pdf)
(Some promising under utilized vegetables species by Arora and Pandey (1996) : http://docsdrive.com/pdfs/ansinet/ajps/2003/719-730.pdf)
2.6.2.12For fuel use
The rejected Shola woods (mostly the Sholapith which are hard) from the Sholapith units are used as fuel food cooking in kitchen, locally in WB. This practice is very common the Sholapith cluster region.
2.6.3Socio-economic aspects of Shola Plant in West Bengal
Natural habitats of Shola plant are spread over mostly in North 24 Parganas, Barasat, Basirhat, Hashnabad, Potuakhali, Bongaon, etc. and some parts of South 24 Parganas and from Midnapur, Howrah and Hooghly districts. It grows well in sandy, loamy soils submerged regularly by fresh water. It is found that the luxuriant growth of Shola depends upon the quality of the water and grows well in eutrophicated water bodies. Locally the plants are grown in villages such as Raidighi, Kashinagar, Mathurapur, Jaynagar and Bidhansagar. The Shola collectors from the above-mentioned
Photo: Shola waste wood in use as fuel, Ratneshwarpur, WB
Photo: Sholapith waste in cowdung cakes, Bazarberia, WB
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places bring the raw materials in bundles for selling on Mondays and Fridays at Vidhanagar market, Salt Lake, Kolkata. The Shola raw materials are also sold locally in Pukuria village on every Saturday. In-fact the Pukuria haat sells all things related to Shola from tools, raw materials, semi-finished products to finished products made our of Sholapith. The sellers make bundles consisting of 10-12 stems which sell for Rs. 20 (approx.). Shola buyers from different parts of West Bengal mainly from Maheshpur, Pukuria, Gokulnagar, Ballavpur, Atpara, Kalikapur, Dhananjoypur, jagdishpur, Ramnathpur, Chaitanyapur, Ratneshwarpur of Diamond Harbour subdivision purchasing them during September to November. A truckload consisting in 1200-1400 bundles costs as low as Rs. 10000/-. About a meter long Shola stems are cut into 12-15 cm long pieces and then from each piece, the thin bark is removed and very thin white Sholapith sheets are taken out with the help of a special knife.
The thinness and polish of the Sholapith sheet depends on individual skill. The sheets (5 -10) are rolled to make 20 - 25 Shola sheet rolls and are then packed in a bundle. Each bundle costs about Rs. 200/- to Rs. 250/-. The large number of labourers are involved in producing Sholapith sheets (the basic material of Shola industry) for ready to use by the craftsmen. It can be locally bought locally from the weekly haat in Pukuria village, every Saturday.
It is estimated that a Sholapith sheet costing as low as Rs. 5/- to Rs 6/- may produce the finished decorating material, which costs about Rs. 200/- to Rs. 300/. In WB, it is estimated that near about 10,000 people are making different types of Shola products throughout the season and a hundred people take just one month to make different decorative materials from one truck load (1200-1400 bundles) of Shola. Therefore, to involve 10,000 people in Shola cluster, the raw materials needed, will be 100 trucks load of Shola (1,40,00 bundles). However, at present, the supply of the raw material is not sufficient for Shola workers of WB due to acute shortage of Shola plant. Data estimates reveal that a minimum of 4 to 5 crores rupees of foreign exchange is earned through Shola crafts yearly.
Considering the economic value of Shola craft ad large-scale degradation of natural wetlands through reclamation due to population pressures, some urgent conservation measures for protection of Shola fields in different parts of WB are required to be undertaken by the authorities. It is observed that due to constraints of habitat and excessive pisciculture practices, Shola population in WB has reduced from 60% to 15% in
Photo: Ready to use Sholapith sheets bundle, Pukuria village
Photos: The farmers and the fully grown Sholapith plants
original wetland area of WB. Since it is one of the most essential raw materials for Sholapith cluster, urgent steps are to be taken for conservation and management of native population of Shola plant.(Reference: L. K. Banerjee, S. K. Basu and D. Ghosh - Botany Survey of India : http://www.bsienvis.nic.in/publication.htm)
2.6.4Sholapith cluster players
2.6.4.1Farmers
The local farmers are engaged in the farming of Sholapith plants. The seeds are collected and used as for the next year’s farming or it is bought from the market. A few farmers have their own land or at times they take lands on rent from other farm owners. A few Sholapith unit owners cultivate their own raw material.
58
2.6.4.2Raw material, tools and chemical suppliers
The local small businessmen sell the Sholapith raw material in the local market. At times the raw material is brought from Kolkata or imported from Bangladesh. The tools, mainly knives, are made by local lohaars (blacksmiths). The adhesives for the product-making purpose are locally available or are brought from Kolkata.
2.6.4.3Craftsmen and Craftswomen
Local craftsmen/women are members of the Sholapith cluster units or they are locals from the same village or even from different villages.
The Sholapith units many a times outsource their work
to local individuals or families. The raw material is distributed and finished products collected, through a nodal member who keeps a track of the labourers. A few units employ individuals to come and work at their units. The labourers are paid on a daily wages basis or their income depends on the quantity produced. These labourers earn somewhere between Rs. 20 – Rs. 150.
A highly skilled labourer can get more than a labourer with lower skills. Most of the labourers who work from home are women who work in the time left form their daily household chores.
2.6.4.4Sholapith unit managers
Sholapith unit managers are appointed craftsmen who have experience in the Sholapith product making process and have good people skills.
Photos: Sholapith craftswomen making a Sholapith rose flower,
Mandirtala village
Photos: Sholapith craftswomen preparing Sholapith raw material,
Maheshpur village
Photos: Sholapith craftswomen, Gautam, unit manager (left
corner) and Biswanath Gayen, unit owner (right corner)
2.6.4.5Sholapith unit owners
The Sholapith units are small businesses and are part of the local Sholapith cluster, run by their owners. The units produces the Sholapith products as per the order by the exporters. The exporters give samples as guide to produce the order and sometimes the unit owners create new samples for the exporters on their own initiative. The exporters place the production orders on the basis of these samples.
The unit owners manage the resources of the unit. Sometimes owners appoint managers who keep a track of the day-to-day activities of the units. The unit owners have to manage the production, as well as deal with the local buyers or exporters from Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore, etc. The unit owners also take care of the day-to-day financials, transportation, etc.
59
2.6.4.6Local traders
Local traders or buyers of the Sholapith products are the local buyers of the Sholapith products by the Sholapith units. They buy the Sholapith products from local units and sell it to the bigger exporters in cities.
2.6.4.7Exporters
The exporters (locally known as ‘company’) sell the Sholapith products produced in Sholapith clusters to the international buyers. They procure the products from the Sholapith units on order basis and process and package it further as per the requirements of the buyers. Exporters may export only Sholapith products, but most of them export many different goods like dry flowers, food items, clothes, paper products, other crafts, etc.
The method of export includes shipping by ships or by air. Frequently, exporters upload the photos of the Sholapith products to an Internet site such as Indiamart.com, Tradeindia.com, Webindia123.com, Company websites, and other similar channels for the buyers to choose the products and give orders. A few examples of exporters are Tristarr Hotitech, Fauna International, Ramesh Flowers, etc.
2.6.4.8Buyers
The buyers or importers are based in foreign countries. They import Sholapith products from exporters from
India. The buyers are mainly from USA and China. A few examples of foreign buyers are KKC Home Accents Co. Ltd., Hongkong, Shanghai Jieyute Trade Co., Ltd., China. Many exporters from India have their offices in USA or China and import Sholapith products from India.
2.6.4.9Online traders
Online traders of Sholapith products trade on the internet. A few examples of Indian online traders who
sell Sholapith products are Indiamart.com, Tradeindia.com, Webindia123.com, Alibaba.com. Some examples of foreign traders who sell Sholapith products are Etsy.com, Kaboodle.com, made-in-china.com, etc. They fix the prices of the Sholapith products for the online buyers.
Business-to-Business and Business-to-Customer are the two different ways in which online trading happens for the Sholapith products, internationally. Indiamart.com is an example of B2B trading and Etsy.com is an example of B2C trading.
Photo: Shola flower page on ETSY, an e–commerce website for buyers and sellers of handmade products.
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2.6.4.10Customers and users
Sholapith product customers are from India and many foreign countries. Some of the countries which has a demand of Sholapith products are USA, UK, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, japan, China, Korea, Thailand, Australia and India.
USA has the biggest customer base for the Sholapith
products and they buy Sholapith products on many different occasions for purposes such as wedding decorations, in-house decorations, etc.
2.6.4.11Financial supporters and banks
The financial condition of most of the Sholapith units is precarious. This is on account of a variety of contributing factors. Primarily, the money earned from the previous seasons is used by the units to procure to procure raw materials from the market as their own expense. This means that they have no scope for saving what so ever. Loans are available neither from the exporters not form the banks. While the banks might be able to provide loans, generally it is not availed of on account of lack of proper documentation as well as low awareness on the part of the units. Additionally exorbitant bribes are sought to clear loans, if any, in the banks. Micro financing channels operating in the area
do not function transparently and the units availing of loans from them frequently find themselves paying much more than the perceived agreed repayment amounts. This erodes the credibility of MFIs in the eyes of the units. Local affluent people do offer low amount loans to the units occasionally on request on largely benevolent terms mostly on account of the credibility of the units locally.The role of government in financing these units in notably negligible.
2.6.4.12Government, institutes and association
Skill training is provided to the craftsmen by DRD, Kolkata in Maheshpur village. There is no exposure to training in business opportunities, branding, promotion and financial planning.
Design initiatives have been conspicuously absent
Photo: Sholapith Kadam decoration selling in a shop, Kolkata Photo: Sholapith topor for marriage selling in a shop, Kolkata
Photo: Shola wood bridesmaid bouquet by Bollea, USA
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from the cluster and the traditional ways of craftsmanship has prevailed for centuries. BWWA has been involved local community for the upliftment of women through their local office in South Bishnupur.
2.6.5Sholapith craft and production
Sholapith craft is the art of making various items from the Shola stem. People from all different castes and religion are associated with it in the Sholapith cluster of Mandirbazar block. Sholapith is much superior in looks compared to its competing materials such as paper, cloth thermocol in terms of texture, lustre and sponginess. Traditional stories related to Shola indicate its heavenly origins. Hence items manufactured from Shola are used on the auspicious occasion, and people decorate their houses and temples with Shola items on the occasion of marriage ceremony, religious functions and other festivals.
The raw material of Shola is prepared as per the specifications to produce the Sholapith products. The outer brown skin is removed to reveal the inner soft white portion of the stem (white pith) and then the inner portion is fragmented into different shapes and reinforced by colouring as required. These portions are then worked into creation of the flowers, decorations and other designs by skilled craftsmen of the units.
The use of the Shola products can be classified into two categories - the first being he religious and auspicious functions related and the other being decorative and beauty related.
This craft uses no complicated tools, only knives of different size and shapes, thread and needle. Earlier paints made from natural sources (i.e. herbal paints) were used and different shades of red and black were used, but now-a-days artificial paints are also used and more colours are tried in addition to the traditional colours. Though all members of the family help in making the crafts, yet it is the master craftsmen who take charge of the most intricate works.
The advancement of plastic technology, paper, cloth and thermocol as substitutes materials to Shola material is threatening the existence of this craft.
Now-a-days, decorative items (locally known as “Kadam Phool” or “Mali Phool” which is used to welcome the good-fortune) are made for local market, and the Topors used in the marriage ceremonies are still in production in huge demand. Yet, for better returns on investment, the majority of the Sholapith production done in the Sholapith cluster is focused on making export oriented products, and mainly caters to the exporters in Kolkata and Chennai.
2.6.5.1Sholapith products for export
The Sholapith cluster comprising of twenty units in the Mandirbazar block makes products, which are targeted to export, although, a variety products are also made for the local market.
This report focuses on the products made for export purposes. Exporters further provide finish, branding and packaging to the Sholapith products received from
the units to ensure that they are able to cater effectively to the demands of the international buyers.
Some of the Sholapith products made by the cluster units in Mandirbazar block are listed below:
Sholapith flowers Sholapith ballsSholapith sticksSholapith decorations
Below, is the list of Sholapith products available in the global market:
Sholapith flowersSholapith ballSholapith stickSholapith potpourriSholapith bouquetsSholapith wreathLighted Sholapith flowerSholapith flower fragrancesOther Sholapith decorative items
2.6.5.2Sholapith product making
The Sholapith products are made as per the order from the exporters. The design of the product and its quantity is defined by the exporter. The complete order is produced at the cluster’s main unit (primary unit) and is also distributed to the labourers via satellite units (secondary units) in and around Mandirbazar block, based on the demand and needs of the primary units.
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the raw materials
provdived by the spu are distributed at the ssu by the
local manager to the craftsmen/women who work from their home (stu) and produces the final products. the
raw materials are produced by the local farmers and can be
bought from the local market.
SHOLAPITH PRIMARY UNIT
SHOLAPITH SECONDARY UNIT
SHOLAPITH TERTIARY UNIT
SHOLAPITH EXPORTER UNIT
SHOLAPITH BUYER UNIT
SHOLAPITH RETAILER
SHOLAPITH PRODUCT CUSTOMERThe
raw materials provided by the spu are
converted into final products by the ssu. the exporter may
distribute the same order to more than
one ssu.
The raw materials
provided by the spu are converted into final products
by the ssu. the exporter may distribute the same order
to more than one ssu.
The spu produces sholapith products on
the basis (approved samples made by spu) of the production orders by the exporters. the exporter may distribute the same order
to more than one spu.
ssu localmanager
ssu localmanager
stustu
the foreign buyers places order to the export-ers and receive the final products
on the basis of approved samples (made by spu) supplied by the
exporters.
the buyers receives
the order and sup-plies the sholapith
products to the re-tailers, both online
and shops.exporter
buyer
retailer
spu owner & craftsmen
customer
many times the sholapith
products in its semi-finished form is directly passed the
ssu for completion.
the buyers collects the information form the market & directly from customer and supplies the shol-
apith products for the same.
the retailer sells the shol-apith products to the customers and generate a
demand from buyers.
stu
stu
stu stu stu
stu
stustu
stu
stu
stu
stu
stu
stu
stu
stu stustu
stu
stu
stu
stu
Photo: ‘Butterfly model’ of the Sholapith cluster along
with exporter, buyer, retailer and customer.
63
The Sholapith primary unit (SPU): The SPU is the main unit and is run by the unit’s owner. The SPUs engages a few labourers directly for work. Everyday the labourers on an average work for seven to eight hours. At some units Sunday is a holiday. The work starts at 8 a.m. (approx.) in the morning and continues till 12 noon with a break in between. From 12 noon till 3 p.m. in the afternoon, the labourers take a break for lunch and rest for 2 to 3 hours at their home. The work resumes at 3 p.m. (approx.) and continues till 7 p.m. (approx.). The labourers earn salary on a daily basis or they earn for every piece of item they produce. The labourers earn Rs. 125 (approx.) on an average per day. In the case of high production order, the labourers work more and therefore earn more.
The complete task from preparation of raw material to making final product is done at the main unit. Sometimes, a part of the production is outsourced
to the secondary units. In some cases raw materials are provided to the secondary units and the labourers engaged with the secondary units either complete the production or produce the semi-finished items. These are subsequently completed or assembled at the primary unit when returned. In other cases, the semi finished items are given to the labourers for final production or assembly. The delivery of raw materials and the finished items is managed by the unit owner.
The main unit does the packaging of the final produced items and the management of its delivery to the exporters.
The Sholapith secondary unit (SSU): The SSU is the nodal agent between the primary unit and the labourers, who are also considered as the Sholapith tertiary units. The owner of the SPU appoints a local manager to run the SSUs. The manager receives the raw materials or the semi-
finished products and distributes it to the labourers locally. On completion, the finished goods are collected and returned to the main unit. The manager keeps an account such as, date, the number of items produced, labour charge per piece and the product completion date. Separate accounts are maintained for every labourer. The unit managers earn a monthly salary or Rs 250 (approx.) for managing the unit. They also work on the production and earn on every piece produced.
The labourers or the Sholapith tertiary unit (STU): The labourers work directly at the main unit or they are engaged with the SSUs and in the latter case they work from home. Everyday they visit the SSUs and collect the raw material and submit the finished items. Most of the labourers who are engaged with the SSUs are women and they work for 4 to 5 hours daily after completing their household chores. The labourers earn between Rs 20 to Rs. 150 everyday on the basis of number of pieces produced.
Photo: A primary unit of Kalidas Nasker, Bazarberia village Photo: A secondary unit of Biswanath Gayen, Mandirtala village Photo: A tertiary unit of Jayanta Gayen, Matilal village
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2.6.5.2.1Raw material used
The main raw material used in the Sholapith cluster is Shola wood. The Shola wood is bought from the local market.
Sholapith - stickSholapith - sheet (14 cms to 18 cms length / 12.5 cms height)Bamboo sticksCoconut stickA large variety of natural seedsAluminium wireSteel wireMaize (corn) husk leavesPaper glue tapePaperThread - nylon (tyre thread)
Thread - cottonRubber bandsRibbonRingCottonAdhesive - Synthetic rubber adhesive, GrippoAdhesive - Polyurethane Adhesive, StikoColoursCloth: organza, cotton, net, burlap, etc.
2.6.5.2.2Tools used
The tools used are simplistic in design and easily available in the local market in Mandirbazar at an affordable price. A few of the tools widely used by all the Sholapith units are as following:Knife (with pointed metal handle) - for cutting, peeling, slicing, sheet making,
Knife with a wooden handleKnife with a plastic handleNeedle: for making garlands, for rolling rose petals top edgeScissorsBowl or tumbler: for colouring and dying SholapithString - plasticMeasuring tapePlastic scaleHandmade measuring tool made of SholawoodStone / Wood and sand: Wooden bat / stone block is used for sharpening knives with the help of sandFlat wooden bed: for making Shola skin ropeWire cutter
2.6.5.2.3Machines used
Blow moulding machine: for making plastic balls
Photo: Sholapith craft workplace at Kalidas Nasker’s unit,
Bazarberia village
Photo: Sujit Halder is slicing the Shola stick with a knife to make
Shola chips for Sholapith fan flower, Gukulnagar village
Photo: Raw material prepared for Sholapith rajnigandha flower
stick at Debu Gayens’s unit, Makimpur village
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Wire cutting machine
2.6.5.2.4Workplace and ergonomics
Workplace can either be the physical location of the SPU, the SSU or the STU/labourers. This induces a variable in terms of work place conditions. Typically the PPUs are better equipped, and have better facilities such as electricity, more work space, etc.
Most SSUs are non working unit and only the distribution node for the work available with them. Yet the handful of SSUs which have facilities working in the as well, do have facilities comparable to the SPUs. The workspace at the end of labourers home are typically not as good or well off, lack electricity, does not have enough space inside. Hence they are forced to work out in the open and face hardship such as working during hot summer weather under the sun,
facing inclement weather during the rainy season, etc.The workplace being so variable the ergonomics can not be consistent. Yet, it is true most of workers work sitting on the floor regardless of the work place being the SPU, the SSU or the labourers own home. There is no chair, no back rest or any thing of the sort available while they are working. Remarkably the workers face little or no posture related issues or health problems. Workflow does not require the workers to move while working as everything required for production for production is available within comfortable reach. The work environment is pretty safe as no complicated tools or machines are used for production.
2.6.5.2.5Processes used for making Sholapith products
The processes used at the cluster unit are typically very simplistic and do not cause much hardships to
the workers. This is mostly on account of the fact that the material used (Sholapith) lends itself very easily to be moulded in any way to fit the designs available or required to be produced. Additionally, the designs themselves are not too complicated and are easy to produce. The simple work tools also contribute to the ease of the entire working experience.
The basic processes used for making various Sholapith products are enlisted below.
Cuttings Skinning Shola stickPeeling Shola stickSplitting: used to split the Shola wood for making rope ball. The stick is split into 6 pieces for making ropes. Rolling: Rolling the Shola pieces on hard stone flat bed to make ropes.SlicingFoldingTyingStuffingStickingInserting aluminium/steel wire (at Shubhankar unit)PastingDyingDrying
The finished Sholapith products are packed at the SPUs and are delivered to the exporters.
2.6.5.2.6Processes used at the exporters units
The exporters add value to the Sholapith products
Photo: Debu Gayen working in the veranda (mud floor) of his
house (SPU) in Makhimpur village
Photo: A craftswomen making a Sholapith button flower at Debu
Gayen’s house (SPU) in Makhimpur village
66
received from the Sholapith cluster suppliers by making use of the following processes in order to obtain quality, standards and specifications consistent with the needs and demands of the buyers.
Quality check and merchandisingManufacturingStorageGradingBleachingPaintingColouringAssemblyPerfumingTaggingPackagingTransport
2.6.5.3End use application of Sholapith products
The products made in Sholapith cluster, Mandirbazar block is largely for export market. There are various occasions when the customers buy Sholapith products. The application can be as simple as placing a Sholapith flower stick bunch pot for in house decoration or as challenging as using the Sholapith flowers and decorations to replace its closest competitor, the fresh flowers. On occasions of marriage the wedding planners use Sholapith flowers and decorations in a big way. A few of the applications of the Sholapith flowers, sticks, bouquets, etc. are as following:
For home: living, bath, etcDaily floral needsUnique giftwaresFragrancesAccessoriesFestivals (Indian)Festivals (Foreign)
Photo: Sholapith chips flower ball by Decofleur, Netherlands
Photo: Sholapith flower fragrance diffuser by Solutions, USA
Photo: Sholapith beldrum flower bag by Sweetscents, Australia
Photo: Sholapith aromatic potpourri and bunch of flowers by Fast
Flowers, India
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AnniversaryBirthdayCongratulationsGet well soonLove and romanceWeddingNew babyThanks givingChristmasNew YearValentines dayMother’s daySympathy designs
2.6.6Sholapith market: competition scenarioSholapith products are used by consumers globally much more than the corresponding use in India. US, France, Netherlands, Australia, Korea, Germany,
Canada, Japan, and China are a few countries where maximum usage of Sholapith products has been reported.
2.6.6.1Competition: alternate material products
Alternate materials used:Fresh flowersFabricPlasticPaperRibbon (cotton/silk/satin)CottonCorn hush leavesOther materials2.7.6.2Competition: alternate market
On the basis of attributes such as product quality, price, delivery, packaging, brand and availability, the competitors for the Indian Sholapith products can be listed as follows:Made in USAMade in UKMade in EuropeMade in AustraliaMade in GermanyMade in JapanMade in ThailandMade in ChinaMade in IndiaMade in Bangladesh
2.6.7Sholapith product pricing
At every level from raw material to the end use of Sholapith product margins are built into the price of the product. At its very raw level of the plant it is bought at a price as low at Rs. 5 per Shola stick. This Shola stick can be used by the labourer to produce five to eight Sholapith flowers on an average (other products can be similarly compared). The Sholapith units sells it to the exporter at an average price of Rs. 2 per piece which includes labour charges, transportation, colouring, wastage, etc. The same flower depending on the end use can go for as much as Rs 500 for a well branded Sholapith product, internationally.
2.6.8Sholapith product branding
Photo: Plastic (PVC) lily fragrance flower (5 perfume flowers) by
Guoqianggift, China
Photo: Ribbon Rose Wedding Bouquet by Idodesignerweddings,
USA
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Sholapith products are branded at two levels. At first level it is branded at the exporters end and at the second level it is branded at the buyers end or the retailers end.
2.6.9Sholapith products: recycle and reuse
The waste produced from the Sholapith craft production is very common in the cluster area. The waste is use as fuel or small pieces of the Sholapith is mixed with dung cakes. The rejected Sholapith items are reused to make new produced if the material is found to be in good condition.
2.6.10Findings & recommendations
Sholapith cluster from production to custom-er is a result of a brilliant human network. The raw materials produced by the farmers is crafted into beautiful products by local crafts-men and craftswomen to cater to the foreign demand for lifestyle products and local de-mand for religious and ceremonial demand. The study of Sholapith craft from raw mate-rial production to manufacturing of Sholapith products for the foreign buyers revealed a set of findings which if taken care of will certain-ly boost the Sholapith business at a system level and remove the waste from it.
The following are some of the findings and recommendations for Sholapith cluster from production to customer:
SHOLA PLANTFINDINGS- The Shola plant used as a raw material in the Sholapith craft is the nuclei of its com-plete journey from farm to use in foreign countries and locally.
- The natural destruction of wetlands and the deforestation is adversely affecting the natural vegetation of Sholapith plants in and around the cluster region.
- A majority of the Shola wood sold in the lo-cal market comes from outside the region and as a result it is expensive for the local Shol-apith units.
- The local urbanization in the region is dis-couraging for the locals to remain engaged in Shola plant cultivation, instead they are taking up other businesses.
- Many studies from past done by scientists and researches have shown promising find-ings about the plants edible, medicinal and agricultural use.
- A huge production of Shola plant available locally does not yield a good quality Sholapith (softness and width of the pith) for use in the craft.
- The Shola plant is valuable for the local economy and the products made form it hold a high commercial value in the local and for-eign market.
- In the past no scientific research has been done to improve the quality of the plant in terms of the Sholapiths’ thickness and its softness, to help the units to produce more and of better quality of Sholapith products.
RECOMMENDATION- Shola plant research is a catalyst for future growth of the Sholapith craft and the cluster.
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DISTRIBUTION
ECOLOGY
SHOLAPITH PRODUCTSAPPLICATION:FOREIGN MARKET
ROLE PLAYERS
SHOLAPITH CRAFT: COMPETITIONS
SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASPECTS
CULTIVATION & GROWTH
TRADITIONAL ART MATERIALSHOLAPITH PRODUCTS:RECYCLE & REUSE
SHOLAPITH BUSI-NESS NETWORK
SHOLAPITH PRODUCTSAPPLICATION:LOCAL MARKET
SHOLAPITH CRAFT: DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY
SHOLAPITH CRAFT & ITS PRODUCTION
ABOUTSHOLA PLANT
SHOLAPITH CLUSTERFROM PRODUCTIONTO CUSTOMER
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
HUSBANDRY
BIOLOGICAL CONTROLCOMMERCIAL USE
MEDICINAL USEAGRICULTURAL USE
PACKAGING
EDIBLE USE FUEL USE
RAW MATERIAL SUPPLIERS
TOOL SUPPLIERS
FINANCIAL SUP-PORTERS & BANKS
ONLINE BLOGGERS
BUYERS
EXPORTERS
SHOLAPITH UNIT OWNERS
SHOLAPITH UNIT MANAGERS
CHEMICAL SUPPLIERS
CRAFTSMEN &CRAFTSWOMEN
LOCAL TRADERS
ONLINE GROUPS &COMMUNITIES
GOVERNMENT
INSTITUTIONS
NGOS & ASSOCIATIONS
WORKPLACE & ERGONOMICS MACHINES
PRODUCTS FOR LOCAL MARKET
PRODUCTS FOR EXPORT MARKET
RAW MATERIALS
TOOLS
SHOLAPITH UNITS
PROCESSES ATLOCAL UNITS
PROCESSES ATEXPORTERS UNITS
LOCAL UNITS END
EXPORTERS ENDBUYERS END
RETAILERS END
SHOLAPITH CRAFT: BRAND-ING & COMMUNICATION
PROMOTION
EXHIBITIONS & FAIRS
CHEMICALS
FARMERS KNIFE
BOWL /TUBLER
ADHESIVES
STONE BLOCK
WOODEN BLOCK
COLOURS
PAINTS
WOODEN BOARD
NEEDLEMEASURING TAPE
SHOLA WOODBAMBOO STICKS
COCONUT LEAF STICKS
PALM LEAVES
MAIZE LEAVES
ALUMINIUM WIRE
STEEL WIRE
PLASTIC BALL BLOW
MOULDING MACHINE
WIRE CUTTING MACHINE
PAPER
PAPER GLUE TAPE
THREAD: NYLON (TYRE) THREAD
THREAD: COTTONRUBBER BAND
ADHESIVE
COLOURS
CLOTH
BEADS:GLASS / WOODEN
PLASTIC SCALE
STU: SHOLAPITH
TERTIARY UNIT
SPU: SHOLAPITH
PRIMARY UNIT
SSU:SHOLAPITH
SECONDARY UNIT
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- Set up a research facility under the CFC for the Shola plant committed to generating awareness of environmentally sustainable applications of Shola wood through research and education.
- Encourage and facilitate the cluster to take initiative to focus of Sholapith plant cultiva-tion collectively. The aim is to cut down cost of the raw material and help achieve Shola raw material sustainability in the region.
DESIGN & TECHNOLOGYFINDINGS- The current practice of design for Sholapith products by the units and the craftsmen is limited to the synergy between their hand and mind.
- The processes and tools are traditional outdated and limited to cater to set products again and again which is entirely dictated by the exporters.
RECOMMENDATION- Provide access for Sholapith units and craftsmen to databases of product profiles from target markets, media resources or con-nect service providers providing information on product demand trends.
- Facilitate the unit members and the cratfs-men of outbound missions to develop an understanding of product profiles, trends and
requirements.
- Engage designers, technologists, associa-tions such as BWWA, NID, management institutes and entrepreneurship development institutes to develop new products and busi-ness together with the units and the crafts-men.
- Include design and technology in the curric-ulum at all the primary and secondary schools in the region with focus on vocational train-ing: learning by doing. The focus on students should be on involving students in thinking, writing, drawing and sketching and build in knowledge of materials, tools and processes as well as craft skills.
- Setting up a common design and technology facility under CFC with help of Ministry of MSMEs, state & central government and NID.
- Exchange of design and technology ideas can be initiated through workshops and other idea exchange programmes with indian and international craftsmen, designers and tech-nologists. WORKPLACE & ERGONOMICSFINDINGS- The workplaces at the units are cluttered and unorganized. Due to lack of enough space the units keep the raw materials, semi finished goods and the final products at the same
place. This leaves a very little active area for working. - The workplace lacks proper sunlight dur-ing the daytime and due to unavailability of electricity it is difficult for the craftsmen to carry out the detail works. In rainy season it is impossible to work in open as the Sholapith material gets spoilt in water. As a result
- The raw materials have to be always kept in dry condition. The roof of the units are made up of bamboo and rice straw roof and water leaks through it in rainy seasons. This spoils the working area and may spoil the raw mate-rial.
- The craftsmen work for long hours while sitting on floor. They do not have any back-
Photo: Craftsman working at Kalidas’ unit with not enough light,
no proper ventilation and for long hours in wrong posture
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rest. This results in pain and discomfort while working for long hours.
RECOMMENDATION- Engage experts from design and architecture background to develop the common work-place such as CFC.
- Ideal work spaces have to be designed and work spaces to be optimized to minimize human effort and increase productive in less time.
- Common machines such as plastic ball moulding machines, dying facility, etc. can be introduced at Common Facility Centre.
- Introduce sustainable sources of electric-ity supply such as solar and wind powered electricity generation in the Common Facility Centre toe help the units and the craftsmen to work in bad light conditions.
RAW MATERIALSFINDINGS- The units buy raw materials such as Shola sticks and adhesives separately as a result it is always expensive for them instead if they buy in bulk together.
- The Shola sticks is not consistent in quality such as softer and thicker pith.
- There is no proper way to store Shola wood
in the units. The Shola woods are kept in the ceiling or kept in open spaces covered with plastic sheets. As a result Shola wood gets spoilt are not good to use.
RECOMMENDATION- A sourcing facility under the CFC should be set up to secure the raw material supply for the units for entire year. The raw materials if bought in bulk for the cluster, would be less expensive becocause of economy of scale.
- Finance facility under CFC for production of raw material in the local region with assis-tance from the local government and financial institutions.
- Communication and promotion facility un-der CFC should be set up.
MACHINESFINDINGS- There are no machines used in the Shol-apith cluster, except the plastic blow mould-ing machines to produce plastic balls which are used for making Sholapith decorative balls.
RECOMMENDATION- Set up Common Facility Centres and in-stall common machines such as plastic ball moulding machine and wire cutting ma-chines used in the cluster.
- Design and develop new machines to assist the mass production of existing and new in-novative Sholapith products. This will bring down the cost of the production and speed it up as well.
Photo: Shola wood stock kept in open space
Photo: Knife with a sharp pointed end without handle cover at
Debu Gayen’s unit
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Developing new machines is a threat to em-ployment of thousands of craftsmen in the cluster region but if the market size can be in-creased, it is possible to retain the craftsmen.
TOOLSFINDINGS
- Almost from the time when Sholapith craft started in the region there has been no design improvement in the tools used to make Shol-apith products.
- The tools especially the knives have big sharp blades and mostly pointed handles with no wooden or plastic handles.
- The tools are seen lying around in open in the workplaces and which is not safe for the members if they are unaware of the same. It is a matter of concern since the workplaces or units are mostly part of craftsmen house and any member of the family especially children might get hurt.
RECOMMENDATION- The tool design facility under the CFC shoule be set up to design the tools to make it safer for the craftsmen as they are big and sharp in form which is not safe for the crafts-men themselves and the family members as the workplaces are part of craftsmen houses.
- The tools have to be designed as well to speed up the processes and add quality to the work.
PRODUCTS FOR LOCAL MARKETFINDINGS- The available products for the local market is traditional and does not cater to the new trends for ceremonial, decorative and other
lifestyle products.
- Because of the high cost and lack of innova-tion in design most of the existing products for local market have become out dated which people use occasionally during marriages, festivals, decorations for good luck factor.
- The designs does not reflect the current trend as most of the traditional designs are made by the craftsmen whose designs are inspired from environment and day to day life activity.
- There is no product diversification.
RECOMMENDATION- There is ample scope for redesigning the products under CFC for local and national markets. The markets at the national level other than local villages and Kolkata have never been explored.
- The existing traditional products can be made more contemporary and relevantand according to the latest trend with the help of Indian and International designers.
PRODUCTS FOR EXPORT MARKETFINDINGS- Designs are replica of what is already avail-able in the export market. The designs are given by the exporters and the units and the craftsmen lack innovation in terms of new
Photo: Jayant Mondal using a sharp knife to make Sholapith
kadam flower (above) & Jayant slowing his thumb with cut marks.
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products design and development.
- The latest lifestyle trend in foreign mar-kets is not at all considered while developing new samples. The units do not have enough funds, time and expertise to carry out re-search and development for new product design and development.
- The units receive their regular production orders from the exporters in cities like Kolka-ta, Chennai and Delhi and have no clue about the buyers and the final users.
- The units and the craftsmen do not have any way forward due to lack of time, money and expertise to explore new markets and oppor-tunity for new products by themselves.
RECOMMENDATION- Focus on new product developments, its ap-plications and design for new markets.
- Improvisation in Sholapith craft technology through R&D activities.
- A Common Facility Centre can be set up with modern technology to connect to the for-eign buyers and customers for closer insights to design and develop new products.
- Conduct continuous researches in terms of consumer trends, market trends and competi-tion in the local and international market.
- Apart from decorative and lifestyle products, there is a need to focus on more functional products considering the Shola pith material properties as there are lighter, flexible and have good insulation property.
SHOLAPITH UNITS: SPUs, SSUs & STUsFINDINGS- The Sholapith units are totally dependent on the exporters for their business. Since the units do not have any exposure to the interna-tional market and their product needs.
- Every Sholapith unit produces the same products and there is no product differentia-tion or USP of these units.
- Due to limited number of exporters, the competition between the local Sholapith units is rising to grab the same orders from the exporters.
- The Sholapith units do not get advance money with the production orders from the exporters. As a result the SPUs, SSUs and STUs are not able to buy sufficient raw ma-terials and so they are not able to take up enough orders, every time.
- The STUs totally depend on the SPUs for their income since the STUs do not have any other source of income.
- On an average fifty STUs are engaged with
every SPU as a result every order is distribut-ed equally by the SPUs to their STUs leading to a very low divided income by STUs.
- The products produced by the units are fur-ther processed, packaged and branded by the exporters. As a result the units do not earn any credit for their creations in the Indian and International markets.
RECOMMENDATION- A financial facility operating under the Com-mon Facility Centre (CFC) should be set up which arranges to buy raw material (Shola plant) in bulk from the suppliers by negotiat-ing well with them on account of long-term relationship and economies of scale. Mecha-nisms should be devised to provide this raw material on loan to the units and the costs should be recovered by the CFC after the completion of the sale-transaction, preferably in the export market.
- The finance facility of the CFC should also encourage financial education of the unit owners so as to be able to leverage the CFC support in a wholesome and healthy manner.
PROCESSES AT LOCAL UNITSFINDINGS- Every product moves from SPU to SSU to STU before it gets completed as the raw material is prepared at one unit, the detailing is done at the other and finally the assembly
74
is done at the another unit. The movement consumes extra time and effort for the same amount of work if done at one place
- The process of dying is not consistent as it is done manually.
- For packing the Sholapith products the units buy second hand single walled corrugated boxes cheap from the local market as they do not have enough budget to buy fresh new boxes. Above that the boxes are tied up by thin jute strings or by rubber bands. As a result the box gets damaged during the transporta-tion as they are stacked one over the other.
- The adhesives and most of the Shola wood comes from Kolkata and are expensive. Every unit buy Shola raw material and adhesives separately. These can be bought at a lower price if the units combine their requirements
and buy these in bulk.
RECOMMENDATION- The processes have be streamlined and a quality should be incorporated decrease rejec-tions by the exporters.
- The process to be more efficient, speedy, and to better quality in case the units enter the export market on their own.
- Setting up of Common facility Centre is important to carry out certain processes such as use of machines, dying or Sholapith mate-rials. New and effective packaging techniques have to be established to reduce the products damage during transportation.
- The CFC will be of advantage for the entire cluster since the above processes are expen-sive in nature, not required all the time by the
units and may require machines which uses continuous electricity supply.
- The sharing of these machines by the units of the cluster through Common Facility Centre would reduce their expenses and give equal access to new technologies.
ROLE PLAYERS: FARMERSFINDINGS- Many of the farmers do not have their own lands to grow Sholapith products. They take the land on rent from the land owners. In the cluster region the farmers grow in small capacities in their small pieces of land or on lands taken on rent and there is no concept of collective farming to minimize cost and effort and increase productivity.
RECOMMENDATION- The farmers have to should be encouraged and as a result may choose to do collective farming and that which would provide more produce, reduce effort, reduce expenses and lead to sharing of better cultivation processes and technology use.
ROLE PLAYERS: SHOLAPITH UNIT OWNERSFINDINGS- The Sholapith cluster units engages crafts-men and craftswomen in large numbers sometimes close to hundreds and as a result they are not able to share their orders in enough quantity with them.
Photo: The delicate Sholapith rose flowers being stuffed in a single
walled corrugated box without any wall support structure
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- The unit owners always have difficulty to buy raw materials in time as they do not get advance money along with the production order from exporters.
- The unit owners wishes to get into the international business but they lack the basic knowledge about the international business. Non of the Sholapith units have Importer Ex-porter Code number (IED no.) which is must to venture an international business. The units do not have an appropriate identity of their own needed to start their own business.
- The units lack variety in their product range. They do not have the desire and ability for product differentiation and increase the over-all product innovation lever of the cluster.
- The units do not dictate the prices of their products and its mainly set by the exporters and as a result they earn very less profit for the time and effort they put in the production.
- The unit owners and the craftsmen do not have any information about what happens a the exporters end with the products they pro-duce at their units. They are unaware of the final finishing, assembly, branding and the packaging processes at the exporters end.
- The unit owners have no exposure to inter-national market and lack any international connection which is needed do design and
develop more contextual products for various occasions, lifestyles and different markets across the globe.
- The units owners and the craftsmen do not have any source to learn about the interna-tional Sholapith products needs and lifestyle trends (aesthetics, styles, occasions, etc.) of the target customers and design and develop the new Sholapith products accordingly. Overall they do not practice product innova-tion in tune with the final customers of their products.
RECOMMENDATION- Cooperation and understanding between the cluster units is to be established to deal with outside exporters as a result the units can be more commanding in pricing of products.
- The transportation can be shared by the cluster units if the final products by them are being dispatched to the same exporters at the same time.
- The cluster can be more effective and can save cost if they act together and buy raw materials in bulk. The common warehouses which are designed to store raw materials safely can be shared by the units.
- Together share the Common Facility Centre and increase their expertise to avail the facili-ties provided by these centres. The centres
can be effective in ways such as conducting researches common for all and setting ma-chines which can be shared by all. It can also be used as nodal point for the cluster and the outside experts such as designers, researches, business mentors, financial institutions to share, design and develop new products, plan the businesses and avail common facilities
- Facilitate a better practice of research and development to keep the cluster in tune wi the trends for around the world market. The proposed ‘Hourglass model’ helps to see the Sholapith craft system in a very simplistic way
Photo: ‘Hourglass model’ of producers and customers interface
Farmers, material suppliers
Cluster units,craftsmen
Exporters
Buyers
Retailers, showrooms, online sellers
Customers, event organizers
Insights
Products & services
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and how build interaction between the cus-tomers and producers to innovate.
ROLE PLAYERS: EXPORTERSFINDINGS- The exporters do not involve the local Shol-apith units in their international business. They just give production orders against the approved samples provided by them or the samples submitted by the cluster units.
- The exporters set and at times dictate the prices of the products.
- The exporters are very strict about delivery on time of the final production. If the units fail to meet the delivery time a certain amount is deducted from the final payments depend-ing on the delay by number of days.
- In case the products get damaged during transportation, the exporters do not receive the damaged pieces and consequently an amount is deducted from the final payments depending on the number of pieces damaged.
- The exporters sell the Sholapith products made by the cluster units at super premium prices in the foreign markets as their own.
- The exporters do not give any credit or acknowledge any to the cluster units and its craftsmen in international markets and do not involve the members of the cluster units in
any exhibition or craft fairs in India or foreign counties.
RECOMMENDATION- The CFC should empower the units by negotiating on behalf of the units with the exporters. In due course, the CFC should en-able direct footprint for the units in the export market, removing the reliance on exporters. This could be done by setting up an Export facility within the CFC which will procure all relevant licenses required to export the Shola products.
ROLE PLAYERS: BUYERS & RETAILERSFINDINGS- The buyers are in business with the export-ers and have no connection with the cluster units and the craftsmen who are the real cre-ators of the beautiful Sholapith products.
- Further the buyers and the retailers sell the Sholapith products at a very high premium prices to the international customers.
RECOMMENDATION- The export unit of the CFC should be armed to negotiate with all buyers, retailers and ex-porters from a position of strength.
ROLE PLAYERS: BLOGS & ONLINE COMMUNITIESFINDINGS - The cluster and the craftsmen have engaged with the craft and producing beautiful hand-
crafted Sholapith products for the interna-tional buyers since decades but not a single mention is found in internet.
RECOMMENDATION- The CFC should create an ecommerce portal for these units and also create awareness about their art through the online medium by use of blogs and other social media channels.
ROLE PLAYERS: FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINDINGS- The cluster units have tried to avail loans from the local banks but have failed as the banks do not entertain their application due to lack of proper papers.
RECOMMENDATION- A financial facility operating under the Com-mon Facility Centre (CFC) should be set up which arranges to buy raw material (Shola plant) in bulk from the suppliers by negotiat-
Photo: The online shop ‘Attract’ with it’s Sholapith products
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ing well with them on account of long-term relationship and economies of scale. Mecha-nisms should be devised to provide this raw material on loan to the units and the costs should be recovered by the CFC after the completion of the sale-transaction, preferably in the export market.
ROLE PLAYERS:GOVERNMENTFINDINGS- The government has not shown much inter-est in the cluster in the past in strengthening its innovation capacity and make the cluster sustainable.
RECOMMENDATION- The government should facilitate the setting of the CFC at the earliest.
ROLE PLAYERS:INSTITUTIONSFINDINGS- In the past non of the institutes from the education, design, research, financial, legal, social development, etc. background have shown any interest in the cluster develop-ment.
RECOMMENDATION- Engage the research, design, technology and business institutions to bring in technology improvvement and innovation for the socio-business benefit of the cluster.
SHOLAPITH PRODUCTS COMPETITIONs
FINDINGS- The Sholapith are facing tough competition from those made in alternate materials such as plastics, cloth and paper.
- The Mandirbazar block is among many produc-ers of Sholapith products across the globe such as those made in Thailand, China, Bangladesh, Japan, etc. and faces competition in terms of quality and variety.
RECOMMENDATION- Re-skilling and skill diversification should be undertaken to ensure that the alternative materi-als could be used by the units in their craft in case Shola goes out of favour in the international markets. This should be undertaken by the CFC.
SHOLAPITH BRANDING & COMMUNICATIONFINDINGS- The cluster lacks visual identity as there are exporters between the cluster units and the for-eign buyers. A strategic plan is required to bring the cluster units in direct contact with the end customers or the buyers.
- There is no proper documentation or catalogue of the Sholapith products that are made in the cluster.
RECOMMENDATION- The cluster needs to brand itself in the eye of the modern business approach in terms of cre-ative it’s identity. The unique identity will high-
light the cluster units as original producers of the Sholapith products and help establish them in the global market.
- A creative agency should be engaged to create identity for the cluster and the units. Preferably a creative advertising consultant should be involved to design and develop an attractive branding which may reflect the type of business activity the cluster intends to fol-low.
SHOLAPITH FAIRS & EXHIBITIONSFINDINGS- Non of the cluster units in the past have taken part in any of the national or interna-tional craft fair or exhibition.
RECOMMENDATION- The CFC should facilitate the participation of the unit members in various national and international fairs and exhibitions for better exposure.
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THE TWENTYSHOLAPITH UNITS,
MANDIRBAZAR BLOCK
3.0
80
3.1 The Sholapith cluster units: introduction
Photo: Sholapith cluster units, Mandirbazar block, Diamond Harbour subdivision, South 24 Parganas district, WB
To comprehend fully how clusters operate, it is very essential to understand the detailed workings of the individual units. In this section, twenty Sholapith cluster units have been studied and sketched in detail. A common thread of work-pattern runs through these units and the first unit (Arjun Paik) has been covered in more detail as a representative unit for all others. In covering the subsequent units, most unique and noteworthy points have been noted.
The 20 Sholapith cluster units from the Mandirbazar block region are as following:
Photos (Right page):Unit 1: Arjun Paik, RatneshwarpurUnit 2: Basudeb Halder, MaheshpurUnit 3: Bishradeb Halder, BazarberiaUnit 4: Biswanath Gayen, MaheshpurUnit 5: Chinibus Mistry, BazarberiaUnit 6: Debashish Sardar, GokulnagarUnit 7: Debu Gayan, MakhimpurUnit 8: Jayanta Gayen, PukuriaUnit 9: Kalidas Naskar, BazarberiaUnit 10: Kalipada Mondal, GokulnagarUnit 11: Pradip Sarader, Gokulnagar
Unit 12: Prashant Kumar Halder, MatilalUnit 13: Sanath Halder, MaheshpurUnit 14: Satibrata Halder, Bazarberia Unit 15: Satyaranjan Halder, BazarberiaUnit 16: Subhankar Halder, MaheshpurUnit 17: Sudaib Purkait, Gokulnagar Unit 18: Sushanta Gayan, PukuriaUnit 19: Sushanta Halder, MatilalUnit 20: Uttam Halder, Bazarberia
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Photo: Arjun Paik Photo: Basudeb Halder Photo: Bishradeb Halder Photo: Biswanath Gayen Photo: Chinibus Mistry
Photo: Debashish Sarder Photo: Debu Gayen Photo: Jayanta Gayen Photo: Kalidas Nasker Photo: Kalipada Mondal
Photo: Subhankar Halder Photo: Sudaib Purkait Photo: Sushanta Gayen Photo: Sushanta Halder Photo: Uttam Halder
Photo: Pradip Sarder Photo: Prashanta Kumar Halder Photo: Sanath Halder Photo: Satibrata Halder Photo: Satyaranjan Halder
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3.2.1Unit 1: Arjun Paik, Ratneshwarpur
Arjun Paik, Proprietor, APM ExportsVill.: Ratneshwarpur,P.O.: Bazarberia,P.S.: Mandirbazar block,District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Age: 25 yrsQualification: Class 12th passIn business since: 14 years
Arjun lives with his wife, daughter, father and mother. Arjun and his family belong to Pondro Khatriyo caste, which is a Scheduled caste in India.
Arjun’s father Kartik Paik started the company some 15 years back focusing on the products for the export market. Before he started his unit, he used to work in Bihar for a chemical factory. After that he moved to Kolkata where he started working with VAC Exim Pvt. Ltd., a company exporting Sholapith flowers.
Kartik started the present company all because of his deep interest in Sholapith and its products. The Sholapith business was started in Ratneshwarpur, which is also the birthplace of kartik. It is 60 kms form
Kolkata.
Kartik when returned to his village Ratneshwarpur, R. P. Tarway & Co., Giridhi an exporter from Jharkhand who is now is now based in Tuticorin contacted him to help them source out natural seeds and products. They offered good money for the job. And thus Kartik got engaged with the Dry seeds and Sholapith flowers business. (Insert photo of the dry seeds and products)
Since then Kartik has been involved with Sholapith business. He started trading dry seeds and natural products made from dry leaves and dry seeds. He initially started with dry Aamrah seeds, Pinecone, etc. The natural products are sourced from Jharkhand, Shimla, and Orissa.
Arjun’s unit makes variety of products. The materials used are Sholapith, Palm and original Natural Seeds. Arjun’s unit is very well equipped to make products out of Sholapith and Natural materials (seeds, leaves), as per the order from the exporters. One such order that they got was to supply 1 lakh pieces of Arjun ball.
The samples for these orders are first made at Arjun’s unit and then they are showed to the exporter (known as ‘company’ locally) for approval. On approval the unit gets the order. The Arjun and his father and other master craftsmen at the unit make the samples. The samples are solely made using their own mind. The
Photo: Arjun with his family
Photo: Aamrah seed
3.2 The twenty units of Sholapith cluster
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samples are then sent to the exporters in Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Rajkot to approval from the exporters. These days they also use Internet to send the photos of the new samples developed by them. The exporters on receiving the samples from Arjun, shows it to their buyers and on approval from the buyers, the exporters give order to Arjun’s unit for the production. Once Arjun’s unit gets an order, the sample is shown to the labourers (the craftsmen) to help them understand the product design and the process involved. Arjun
himself teaches the labourers to how to make a new product, as needed. Most of Arjun’s labourers are 10-12 kms (from Arjun’s home) away in different villages. The reason why Arjun’s does not stress on labourers to be close to his house or main unit is because of, the product design and order confidentiality. He does not want the competitors (other suppliers) in the nearby locality to know about his orders and the products being developed at his unit. The other reason being, 100% of Arjun’s labourers are women. Therefore it’s not possible for the women to come to Arjun’s unit and work. Most of the women labourers work form home, as and when they get time form their daily household activities.
Arjun’s unit gives our work to labourers on contract. The raw materials are weighed or counted and supplied to the labourers. The labourers are given a certain amount for every piece they make. For example a labour is given Rs. 500 as labour charge for making 1000 Arjun flowers, means 50 paisa per piece. In a day one women labour will be able to make 50 to 100 such flowers, in case she does this work for the entire day leaving aside most of her household activities. If she does it from morning to evening (entire day) and manages to make 100 such pieces, she on an average gets Rs. 50 as labour charge in a day. Arjun tries his best to give minimum as much work to his labourers, so that they can get minimum of Rs. 50 a day. The women labourers always have to do that extra effort to earn that money, since she has to do all the household work from cooking, cleaning, taking care of the cattle, going to farms, taking care of children, etc. And, in the rainy season the women of the house spend time in the setting the farmland. So, in rainy season they
hardly get much time to make Sholapith products and as a result they loose their daily income. Almost all labourers of Arjun’s unit have their own farmland and cattle. In case of any emergency or need Arjun make sure that he takes care of the labourer. He gives them advance for the work, well in time.
The computer at Arjun’s unit has helped him to deal with the exporters very efficiently. It saves his time, money and the effort of traveling to cities to meet exporters for sample approval. www.apmexports.com is a dedicated website by Arjun’s unit and it has a international hosting. In a year, Arjun in partnership with one of his friend (from Lakshmikantpur) aims to export his products directly to the buyers. He already has an export license and an office on rent (Rs. 1000/month) in Kolkata. Now, Arjun plans to focus on establishing business directly with foreign buyers.Arjun is his team is capable of making all kind of Sholapith and natural seeds & leaves products. His
Photo: Kartik Paik Making Sholapith Kali ball
Photo: Sholapith Kali ball in its final form made by Kartik Paik
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unit can develop anywhere between 1000-1200 varieties of these products. All samples will be different from each other. And, he defines his products unique selling proposition as, these products are made by hand and he does not use any machine.
The tools used by Arjun and team for making Sholapith products are set of knives, pair of scissors, needles, thread (nylon tyre thread) etc. The tools are sourced out locally or are bought from markets such as Burrabazar and Kumortuli in Kolkata.
Arjun buys knives from the local lohaars (blacksmiths). The blade size if 2.5 inches/14 inches. The cost of one knife ranges between Rs. 100 to Rs. 150 and a pair of scissors cost Rs. 35 to Rs. 50 (approx.). The knives are given a particular shape (saan) to make it suitable for holding and cutting. The metal used is steel, similar to that used to make kaurath (handsaw). The knives come in different sizes and are of different weights. More the weight of the knife, the better it is for cutting and do fine work. The knives lasts for 4 to 5 years. The shape of the knife is designed to cut, peel and slice. The handle, which is pointed and nail-like is of 5 inches (approx.) length. It is used to remove the hard part or nodes from the Shola wood pieces and also to insert in the mud floor at an angle of 45° to 65° which helps in cutting the Shola pieces and in similar actions.
The nylon tyre thread is strong and is similar to the one used in tyre manufacturing. Arjun buys 10 kgs in loose at the rate of Rs. 100 per kilogram of nylon thread. Sometime he buys a bag of 25 kgs of nylon thread in at a time at the rate of Rs. 80 per kilogram of nylon thread. These are used to pull and tie the flowers
in the Sholapith flower making process.
The pricing of the Sholapith products is a very important part of Arjun’s entire business. Arjun considering the raw material cost (raw material and other materials such as adhesive, paper, etc.), labour cost, packaging, wastage cost, rejection cost, transportation cost and his profit margin, sets the prices of the Sholapith and natural seeds products. This is how Arjun is able to give a price quote for the products along with the sample to the exporters. The exporters makes a bargain but Arjun makes sure he still is able to make his profit from the deal.
Every product made by Arjun is tagged at his unit before it is packed and delivered to the exporter. He prints his tag whenever needed with the help of a computer and a printer.
When inquired from Arjun about his one of the biggest order that he got, he said he sent a big order in a 40 feet container. The order was worth Rs. 5 lakhs and the advance was 50% of the total order amount. The time given for the project was 3 months. The product mix was a variety of products ranging from Sholapith flower, Palm flower, Natural seed flower made from Pinecone seeds, Aamrah seeds, June items (for making door mat, wall mat, handmade wall bouquet and other decorative products), sabaigo (for making mats) sourced out from Orissa. The container contained almost 500 carton boxes. Each box measured 20 inches/22 inches. Arjun said that he had to spend Rs. 4 lakhs for raw material (Sholapith, adhesive, thread, paper, wires, sticks, etc.), labour charge, carton packs for packaging, loading and unloading the
products, container charge, etc. till the product reaches the dock. In the end, Arjun managed to save Rs. 1 lakh across 3 months till the project got over.
Today Arjun has managed to establish his unit to deliver good quality products. He has got training for Sholapith business form his father. His father is a master craftsmen of Sholapith and other natural seeds products. Arjun has never been to any training program or has been to any exhibition or fairs. He says he never got an offer from anybody to display his work and products.
Arjun does not grow Shola plant. He always buys if from other farmers. He informed that these farmers grow the plants in their farms and when the plants grow to sufficient height and width, the plants are cut, dried and ready as the raw material. Arjun’s unit buys the ready raw material directly from them or from the local market. Usually they buy the raw material around the time of Puja (Durga puja) during the month of October - November, every year. This one time buy serves their raw material requirement for the entire year. In one go they generally buy Rs. 10000 to Rs. 15,000 worth of Shola sticks. They buy the raw material directly from the farmers. As soon as the Shola plant fully grows, Arjun and his team makes a deal with the farmers. They fix a price for the entire Shola plant farm and pays Rs. 15000 (approx.) per 3 bighas (1 acre) of land. The price of the raw material depends on the quality of the Shola sticks in terms its width, hardness and length. Then, the Shola plants are cut and dried in close care by Arjun and his team. The raw materials are stocked in home and other places taken on rent by Arjun. The Shola sticks are totally dry
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at the time they buy it and as a result the sticks do not get spoiled by insects of fungus and remain in good quality for the entire year when kept in dry condition.
Arjun owns 3 small godowns (warehouse or room) in the regions where he stores his Sholapith raw materials. The Shola stock is kept covered and dried in the godown to be used for the entire one year.
The entire business is taken care by Arjun. He is involved at every stage from getting order to the delivery of products. He handles the sampling, exporters dealing, operations, etc. His is equipped with a personal computer at his home from where he keep s track of his orders and connect to his existing and potential exporters & buyers.
Arjun’s wife, his father Kartik and mother support him in Sholapith business. Kartik is an early riser. Every morning he gets up at 4: 30 a.m. and starts his daily routine. To keep him fit he goes for a morning walk, everyday.
Arjun’s family has their own private land where they produce Dhaan (rice). Kartik manages the farming. One year’s produce of Dhaan is more than sufficient for the family’s consumption for the entire year. Apart from Dhaan they also cultivate vegetables like Bhindi (lady finger), karela (Bittergourd),Tamatar (Tomato), Saag (Spinach), etc. The main meal comprises of rice, daal, roti, vegetables, goat meat, eggs, fruits and fish. Everyday two meals are prepared, one at around 11 a.m. and the other in the evening around 8 p.m. Plus they have morning ready-made breakfast. Milk and eggs are available at home since, the family has their own cow
and chicken. The main fuel for cooking is rice straw (bichaili), agricultural waste and waste wood the farm. The rice straw produced in a year runs for the entire year to serve many different purposes for every household in the region. It is used as fuel, food for cattle, to build the roof of the house. Locally the families do not need fuel such as cooking gas or kerosene oil. In Arjun’s kitchen, Shola wood (hard Sholapith) was seen being used as fuel for cooking. These woods are products rejects from the unit.
The family takes care of the best care of their health, and whenever needed they visit the doctors for any medical consultation. Kartik Paik suffers from heart disease. Before he settled down in Ratneshwarpur village in Mandirbazar block, he lived and worked in a chemical factory in Bihar. He links his heart disease to the gaseous fumes that used be get generated in the chemical factory. Kartik spends almost Rs. 1200 to Rs. 1300 on his medicines. Hi visits Jaynagar every 15 days to meet his doctor for treatment. Jaynagar is at a distance of 10 kms from the Mandirbazar block region. Other members of the family go to doctors at Diamond Harbour or to Jaynagar for their medical facilities. There is also a child specialist in Bishnupur village where Arjun takes his child for treatment whenever required.
Arjun has recently bought a computer system for Rs 25,000 and taken a BSNL Internet connection. Arjun has hired a computer teacher for his computer training. The teacher is Arjun friend and he is a schoolteacher and imparts computer training after his school timing. Arjun has become well versed
with Microsoft word, excel and browsing and e-mails on Internet. The Internet charge is Rs. 800 per month. Arjun’s daughter Moumita, age 4 years, goes to Nivedita Siksha Sadan, a private school. She has already started learning english and Bengali in her school. She studies in lower K.G. and the monthly fee is Rs. 200. The school is only till class 4th. Arjun plans to get her admitted in government school after she finishes her class 4th.
Arjun has a mud house, which has a living room, a small kitchen, a room for cattle. Arjun has accommodated his computer in one corner in his cattle room. The house does not have a bathroom or a toilet. The family members goes to their farm for the toilet facility. For bathing, they go to the nearby pokhars (ponds). Even the cooking utensils and the cloths are washed in the same pokhars.
Some of the common festivals which Arjun and his family celebrates are Diwali, Durga puja, Kaali puja and Holi. Every year they celebrate Arjun’s daughter birthday and invite all the children from the community in the celebration. Arjun and his family are very well connected with the community.
The road, electricity and water infrastructure around Arjun’s home is very marginal. There is a great scarcity of electricity in the region. A lot of unit work depends on electricity such as running computer, running fan and bulbs, drying of Sholapith flowers after they are dyed, etc. Every month electricity bill is Rs. 500 (Approx.). Arjun and his father are against television. They say they will loose time watching television and as a result their work will get affected. Arjun and his
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family members is great supporter of TMC political party, since they have promised to build a great infrastructure and bring in all the facilities whatever is required in region.
Arjun has tried many times from banks to get loan for his business, but has been successful. Only once Kartik had got a loan successfully for an amount of Rs. 4000 for farming. The money was spent for buying fertilizer. Recently Arjun has tried many times for loan from the banks. The banks reject his loan application on the pretext of incomplete documents. This is one thing, which he really complains about. But, again he wishes to apply for a loan, for a minimum amount of Rs. 5 lakhs for his export business venture.
Currently, Arjun makes a profit of Rs. 15000 to Rs. 20,000 per month, from his business. Most of the part of this profit goes in household expenditure. Arjun and his father stresses that they need financial help to keep their business running and grow. Arjun wants to establish an export house so that his unit can do a better business and make a better profit. The profit in exporting directly to International buyers is comparatively very high in comparison to that earned from catering to exporter in India.
3.2.2Unit 2: Basudeb Halder, Maheshpur
Basudeb Halder, Proprietor, Halder Dry FlowerVill.: Maheshpur,
P.O.: Gopalnagar, P.S.: Mandirbazar,District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Age: 35 yrsQualification: Bachelors of Commerce (B.com) passIn business since: 10 years
Basudeb lives with his wife and two children. He belongs to Scheduled caste.
Basudab is engagement with the Sholapith and other Natural (leaves and seeds) products business for the export market. A very small quantity is also produced for the local market as per the occasion and the need. During festivals he makes Sholapith decorations for his home.
Basudab’s Sholapith work is spread out in various villages such as Bishnupur, Mandirbazar apart from his home at Maheshpur. To keep his work in time, everyday he wakes up at 5:30 a.m. and after his daily morning routine, his Sholapith work starts at around 9 a.m.. Every evening he visits his labourers in Bishnupur and Mandirbazar and delivers the raw materials and collects the finished goods. He has in total 16 labourers, 10 in Bishnupur and 6 in Mandirbazar for manufacturing his products. Basudeb is an early riser and he wakes up at 5:30, everyday. He starts preparing for the days work since the work at his unit starts early morning at 7 a.m.
Working hours for labourers at Basudeb’s unit:7 a.m. to 9 a.m.10 a.m. to 11 a.m.2.30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m./5:30 p.m.
Basudeb himself, works for 4 to 5 hours everyday and
Photo: Basudeb with his family
Photo: Basudeb with Suparna Halder
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the labourers work for 8 to 10 hours everyday.Daily wage per labour = Rs. 150 (approx.)
About Basudeb’s labourer: Suparna Halder(Insert photo of Basudeb’s labourer/working/home/with finished products)Suparna has been into the Sholapith business since last 12 years. He lives with her husband and a son who is 5.5 years old. She earns Rs. 50 to Rs. 100 everyday. For example for assembling 100 pieces of Sholapith rose flower in a day she would earn Rs. 50, at the rate of 50 paisa per piece (insert photo of the flower) and by making 15 bundle of Sholapith sheets she earns about Rs. 75 per bundle in a day. Her husband is also in the same business and works as a labourer for the bugger suppliers, the units. Both Suparna and her husband manages to earn Rs. 100 each everyday. At times they do not get any work for a month or two months. Their monthly expense is about Rs. 2000 to Rs. 3000 per month. Generally they are not able to make any savings from their work. Whatever they earn is spent at the same time.
Suparna with her husband lives in a bamboo house with one room and a kitchen. They have electricity in their house and it is equipped with a light bulb and a fan.
About Basudeb’s labourer: Pooja Jalani & Anju SaraderPooja is working with Basudeb and is in the Sholapith business since last 1 year. Her father is a driver for a private vehicle in Kolkata and mother is a trainer for children in a nearby swimming club.
Anju also works as a labourer to Basudeb. She is
working since last 3 years.
Both. Pooja and Anju earns about Rs. 20 to Rs. 40 per day.
Basudeb’s expresses that he has a lot of orders for Sholapith products from exporters but, he is unable to fulfill it due to lack of money to buy raw materials. The exporters do not promise any advance with their orders. Basudab gets his orders form exporters in Delhi and Kolkata.
The highlight products made by Basudeb’s unit are Sholapith rose, Sholapith sunflower, Sholapith mangolia (check the spelling), Sholapith prada, Sholapith kali ball, Sholapith sticks such as rajnigandha stick, natural palm leaf flowers, etc. In total Basudab has a range of 200 items that he offers to his exporters. The raw materials used are Sholapith, crape paper, cotton thread, nylon tyre thread, plaster
of paris, bamboo stick, palm stick, palm leaf, steel wire, aluminium wire, etc. All the raw materials for the products are bought from haat (local market), every Saturday. The haat starts at 4 am in the morning. On an average he buys raw materials for Rs. 10,000 everyday Saturday. He buys Sholapith rolls for Rs. 10 (approx.)
The tools used at the unit are knives, pair of scissors, measuring tape which Basudeb buys from the local market.
He sells products which costs anywhere between Rs. 1.50 to Rs. 8. For example, he sells Sholapith fan stick at Rs. 5 in which he makes a profit of Rs, 1.50. Rs. 3.50 is used in raw materials, labour charge and transportation charge. So, an order for 10,000 pieces of Sholapith fan stick, he makes a profit of Rs. 15000. One order that he recently completed was of Sholapith rajni stick. He had an offer of 5000 pieces for Rs. 40,000 from an exporter in Delhi. He received an advance of 50% for the order. Every piece costed him Rs. 7 and he was able to sell it for Rs. 8 per piece, making a profit of Rs. 1 on every piece. Therefore he made a profit of Rs. 5000 at the completion of the order. The transportation cost of the order was paid by the exporter.
At times single flower or stick is made involving multiple labourers at the same unit or different units.
All the products made by Basudeb’s unit are handmade. Any new design is solely his mindwork. Sometimes he takes references from photos or surroundings to develop new designs of Sholapith
Photo: Basudeb making a palm leaf flower
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flowers.Few years back, Basudeb took part in ‘Hast-shilp mela’ (handicraft fair) in Kolkata where he displayed his Sholapith and natural (leaves and seeds) products.
Basudeb maintains his finances very effectively. He has all his account maintained for all the orders since last 10 years. He has never applied for any loan or any other kind of financial assistance. Monthly profit is not fixed. Basudeb’s makes a profit of Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 30,000 per month. It also happens that he sometimes he can make loss. Once he lost Rs. 20,000, due to product damage during product delivery to the exporter. When enquired, the exporter said that the products got damaged during transportation and could not be used, so it was rejected. Basudeb trust his exporters since he get orders from them, so he does not question in such cases. This is a big risk for the suppliers.
Basudeb has never got any training from any NGO, Association, Design institute or Government. He has developed his craft skills on his own.
Politically, Basudeb is inclined towards TMC party. Basubed says that TMC is a good party and they have promised to do a lot of welfare for their region.
Basudeb and his family has a house which has a room with attached kitchen and a small passage for keeping raw materials and bicycle. They don’t have any farm of their own. So they have to buy every food item form the local market. He on an average spends Rs. 4000 to Rs. 5000 on for every month for food, electricity, phone charges, children education, etc. For drinking water
the family depends on tubewell water and for every other purpose they use the pokhar water. The house is equipped with a television.
Basubed’s both sons are studying in near by school in Gopalnagar. The elder son studies in Class 2nd and Basudeb is glad that his son is studying english along with other subjects. He also mentions with that his elder son is good at drawing.
Health wise the family is doing good. Minimum Rs 400 to Rs. 500 per month is spent on medical treatment, if and when needed. Basudeb in near future, if business goes well, he wishes to own a laptop. He believes it is going to help in his business very effectively and, can be in touch with his exporters and also get to find his direct buyers. He explains that sending photos of the samples for approval, receiving orders and every other communication with his exporters will be easy.
3.2.3Unit 3: Bishradeb Halder, Bazarberia
Bishradeb Halder, Proprietor, Satyaranjan HalderVill.: Bazarberia,P.O.: South Bishnupur,P.S.: Mandirbazar,District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Age: 38 yrsQualification: Class 8th pass
In business since: 12 yearsBishradeb Halder lives with his wife, four daughters, father and mother. The three elder daughters study in school. Bishradeb does his Sholapith business very closely with his elder brother Satyaranjan Halder. Before starting his Sholapith business he worked with a company in Kolkata, which used to make vacuum pumps for trains. The family has their own two bighas of farmland and is used for rice, vegetables and moong daal cultivation. They belong to Taposili caste, which is a Scheduled caste in India. Bishradeb has engaged 126 (approx.) labourers in Raghunathpur, Dehrampur, Jagdishpur and Keshtodippur. Raghunathpur is the main unit.
There are about 48 labourers who are engaged with that unit. He uses the room owned by his elder brother Satyaranjan in Raghunathpur and it is the nodal centre of his business. All the labourers engaged at the units
Photo: Bishradeb with his family. Bishradeb wife is working in the
background in low light.
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are women. Labourers earn Rs 30 to Rs. 40 per day. Bishradeb maintains a regular account of work done and payments of all his labourers. He also maintains account of each and every order from the exporters such as the date or delivery, challan number, item name, quantity of item delivered, quatity accepted, rate of each product and the total payments received for production of each item.
Some of the Sholapith products made are:
Sholapith log ballSholapith rope ballSholapith guli ballSholapith chips ballSholapith cabbage ballMoss ball (Moss provided by exporter and they source it from Assam)Khrish BallBabri Dori ball 10 cmSholapith Rose & leaf stick
Sholapith chicken flower stick Rs. 700 / 1000 piecesSholapith chilli petal stick Rs. 2000 / 1000 piecesSholapith fan stick (8 fans) Rs. 2400 / 1000 piecesSholapith cabbage flower stick Rs. 700 / 1000 piecesSholapith sunflower stick (one flower)Sholapith chilli & kadam stick (five kadam stick)Sholapith fan & zinia stick (five zinia flower)Sholapith fan & arjun seed stick Sholapith tulip & aakondo kudi stickSholapith rose & leaf stickSholapith bud bunch & leaf stickSholapith titul leaf stickSholapith bud & leaf stickSholapith zinia & leaf stickSholapith kadam, bud and shola leaf stickSholapith zinia, bud & leaf stickSholapith sunflower stick (three sunflowers)Ball stick bunchArjun seed & leaf stick (seed sourced our from Orissa)
One of the order that he recently received was to produce Sholapith fan sticks. For every 1000 pieces of sticks he was being paid Rs. 2400 from the exporter. After spending on raw material, transportation charges and the labour charge (65 paisa per piece), Satyaranjan was able to save Rs. 200 on every 1000 pieces.
The profit from the Sholapith business is Rs. 5000 per month.
All the products produced by Bishradeb’s unit are handmade. Bishradeb says that handmade items requires a very high skill and a very good speed to meet the orders, or other wise they sometimes run in losses. There is a huge chance of rejection in the final
delivery. The Sholapith products are so delicate that the box carton packaging at times is not able to keep the products safe on delivery. And, when it reaches he exporters there is a high chance of product damage, which leads to payments cuts which ultimately affects the profit margins.
The house is a two-room mud house. Bishradeb shares the kitchen with his elder brother Satyaranjan. The house is not equipped with electricity and in this case dhibris (kerosene lamps) is used to produce light while cooking, Sholapith work, studying or any other purpose. For drinking water they depend on a common hand pump in the community and for any other water needs, the family use a privately owned pokhar.
Bishradeb has never taken any loan or any kind of financial assistance from any bank or any micro finance company. He has not taken any design or business training and has never taken part in exhibition or craft fairs. Financially he manages to get good orders and for which he has never taken any loan from any bank.
3.2.4Unit 4: Biswanath Gayen, Maheshpur
Biswanath Gayen, Proprietor, Maya Rani Gayen SolasilpalayaVill.: Maheshpur,P.O.: South Bishnupur,P.S.: Mandirbazar,District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Photo: Bishradeb with his creation, Sholapith sunflower.
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Age: 27 yrsQualification: Class 10th passIn business since: 9 years
Biswanath lives with his sister, mother and father. One of his elder sisters is married and lives in another village. The family belongs to Taposili caste, which is a Scheduled caste in India. He says people belonging to this caste has been working with Sholapith craft since 200 years (approx.)
Biswanath learnt the Sholapith craft and its business from his father Vijay Krishna Gayen, age 65 years. His father has been engaged with Sholapith work since last 30 years (approx.). Earlier his father used to make products for local market and around 10 years back he started taking orders for the export business. Later, Biswanath joined the business. Now, his father does not work with Sholapith craft but guide Biswanath in
his business. His sister and mother also help him in the sampling and production. The family has some farmland, which is used for rice cultivation.
Bishwanath works for two exporters from Kolkata. He is always occupied with orders from them the orders are always in good quantity. New samples of Sholapith products are developed by Biswanath by taking references from photos or from nature. Sometimes he develops them all from his mind. From one sample, from that he makes 4 to 5 variations and out of which there are great chances that one of them get selected by the exporters. He develops first samples and presents it to the exporters for approval. The exporters further ask for second set of samples of about 500 to 1000 pieces and after receiving it give the final order. Sometime they instantly gives order for production on presentation of first set of samples.
Biswanath buys the Sholapith raw material from the local market, which 2 to 3 years back he used to buy from Vidhan Nagar market in Kolkata. Now he always buys good quality of Shola sticks, which are thick and soft, and buys it in bulk for Rs. 7,000 for a truck full of Shola sticks. The shola sticks come in bundles of 6 to 10 sticks at the rate of Rs. 15 to Rs. 20.
There are about 120 women labourers working with Sholapith craft in different villages across Mandirbazar block. Biswanath owns three units or locally these units are known as factories. One of the three units is the main or the primary unit and the other two are extensions of the main unit also known as secondary unit. Everyday Biswanath visits these units on his
motorcycle.The main unit or the primary unit is in Diamond Harbour, which is 20 kms (approx.) away from his house in Maheshpur village. The monthly rent of the primary unit is Rs. 4000, since it is on the main road connecting Diamond Harbour and South Bishnupur on the way to Kolkata and the unit is a solid concrete building, spacious, facilitated with electricity, and it has a toilet facility for the labourers. At the primay unit, there are about 20 labourers in the unit. Biswanath has appointed his friend Gautam as the manager of the unit. All labourers at the unit are women who earn between Rs. 1000 to Rs. 3000, every month. The difference in labourer’s salary is due to the different kind of work they carry out, involving Sholapith sheet bundling, cutting, drawing to produce the final flowers, etc. Mainly, each labourer’s salary depends on the number of products they produce. At the primary unit, the raw material is prepared, the finished products are made and they are packed for final delivery. The products once completed are kept in sunlight before it is packed for delivery, as a result of which the strength and the quality of the product increases and the product becomes more fresh, as described by Biswanath. The unit start at 8 a.m. every day and runs till 5 p.m. in the evening. The unit is closed on Sundays. Biswanath gives the Sholapith waste produced from the unit, away to some labourers who reuse these materials for new product making.
Unuma Moira - Sholapith labourer at Biswanath’s unit, Diamond Harbour
Unuma has been working at Biswanath’s unit since last 4 years. She works from 10 a.m. till 5 p.m.,
Photo: Biswanath Gayen with his family
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everyday. She takes her lunch break at 1 p.m. One of the recent products that she worked on was Sholapith artichoke bud. The raw material for the Sholapith artichoke bud (Sholapith artichoke bud scales), was produced by labourers at different unit. She converts the bundles of Sholapith artichoke bud scales into beautiful Sholapith flowers.
The primary unit runs in sync with the secondary units and it is a nodal point for Biswanath’s local business network, which caters to secondary units in the surrounding villages in Diamond Harbour. The raw materials for the products are taken from the primary unit to the secondary units by Gautam and distributed to the labourers and the finished goods are collected from there and brought to the main unit. Local managers, who keep an account of the labourers and their work, manage these secondary units.
The first, secondary unit in Mandirtala village, which is a one room setup, engages about hundred labourers and the rent of the unit is Rs. 1000. Bishwanath has appointed one of his friends Jhuma, to manage the Sholapith work and individual labourer’s account at the unit. The unit has almost 70 labourers from Mandirtala village. Jhuma maintains the record of names of the labourers and on which date, how much raw materials were supplied to the labourers and the number of items produced by the labourers. Everyday she spends 2 to 3 hours managing the unit related work. Jhuma earns a monthly salary of Rs 250 for the business management at the secondary unit and she also does Sholapith work for which she earns Rs. 600 (approx.). In total, every month she earns Rs. 850 (approx.) Everyday at 1 pm (approx.) all the labourers gather at the unit to deliver the finished products and collect raw materials for next days work. Some labourers produce final products (insert picture ex. rose from the petals) from the semi-finished products and some produces the semi-finished products (insert photo ex. Sholapith artichoke scales white) from the raw material provided to them by the unit. At times the labourers get both kind of production work from the unit. Sometimes, achieving a target of 50 to 60 pieces of Sholapith product per day is very tough for the labourers, since they do not get much free time from their household work.
Vibha Bhandari - Sholapith labourer working for Biswanath’s unit, Mandirtala Vibha has been working for Biswanath’s unit since 6 years and is 45 years old. Vibha lives with her husband, her son and his family in a one-room house. The
family owns 1 bigha of farmland, which is used for vegetable cultivation and the produce is consumed by the family and the excess is sold in the local market. She lives very close to Bishwanath’s secondary unit.
Photo: Jhuma is seen counting the rose flowers received from the
labourers.
Photo: Vibha is making a Sholapith flower sitting in the veranda
of her house.
Photo: Vibha is making a Sholapith rose flower
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Everyday she collects raw material form the unit and delivers the finished products. She works form her home whenever she gets free time after completing her household work. She says she does not make any new designs of Sholapith products, instead she produces products for whatever sample she gets from Biswanath’s unit. One of the product that she recently produced was Sholapith rose flower. Everyday she made about 50 flowers (approx.) a day and earned Rs. 25 (approx.) at the rate of 50 paisa per flower and monthly she earned Rs. 800 (approx.). She gets Sholapith work from the units for almost all 12 months in a year.
The second secondary unit is headed by local manager Kanchan Mondal. The rent for this unit, which is one room made up of bamboo walls and rice straw roof and the rent is Rs. 300 per month. Jeevananda Mandal owns the room and his family is also working for Biswanath. Jeevananda along with his family earns
Rs. 1000 (approx.) every month from the room rent and the Sholapith production work. There are 50 (approx.) labourers who are engaged with this unit. Labourers earn between Rs 600 and Rs. 800, every month. The labourers work for 3 to 4 hours every day after finishing their household work. They work from home and everyday come to their unit to submit the finished products and collect the raw materials. One of the recent productions are the scales for the Sholapith artichoke bud, which will be finally assembled at the primary unit. The labourers earned 50 paisa per bundle of scales. For example one of the labourers Sawanti Mali made about 30 such bundles and earned Rs. 15 everyday. During the visit to the units, Biswanath carries out a regular quality check of the products and guides the labourers about how to improve their skills and make products as per the samples provided. If, there is any mismatch in the quality or any kind of irregularity in the design of the production is found out, the complete production is returned to the labourer and they requested to bring it back as per the correct design and maintaining the quality. Biswanath regularly, guides his labourers, with tips for improving the product quality.
Bishwanath is a social entrepreneur and he has built his business with a superb ‘Human network’.
Once a week, Biswanath delivers the finished Sholapith products to his exporters. He hires a TATA truck (Ace brand) for the delivery.Biswanath’s primary unit at Diamond Harbour unit along with secondary units produces almost 30 to 35 different varieties of Sholapith products. A few of the products made at Biswanath’s unit are:
Sholapith artichoke bud ball Rs 10 / Rs 9.50 (insert photo from Artichoke fruit and Sholapith artichoke)Sholapith tip ball Rs. 5 / 4.80Sholapith cone ball Rs. 4.5 / 4.2Sholapith round step ball (8 cms) Rs. 3.5 /Sholapith bouquet Rs. 80 / (moti grass, bamboo spring, Sholapith flowers, wire and bamboo stick)Sholapith long bouquet Rs. 100 / (moti grass, bamboo spring, Sholapith flowers, wire and bamboo stick)Sholapith new lotus Rs. 8.5 / Sholapith new Belli Rs. 10 /Sholapith wreath bouquet Rs. 200 /Sholapith artichoke bud Rs. 10 / 9.5Sholapith flower bunch bouquet Rs. Sholapith berry ball Rs. Sholapith aanta ball Rs. Sholapith busy rope ball Rs. Sholapith rose flowerSholapith chips flower stickBenti ball Rs. 5.5 / 5.3
The total profit from the Sholapith business at the end of every month is Rs. 8,000 (approx.) Biswanath is able to save Rs 5,000 (approx.) after doing the entire household expenses.
The house has three living room, a room for stocks of Shola sticks and vegetables, a temple room, kitchen, a toilet. Apart from this, the house also has a separate room on the first floor for a huge stock of Shola sticks and a part of the ground floor is used for finished Sholapith products. The house does not have electricity.
Biswanath has a motorcycle, which he bought for Rs. 50,000 and it was a gift from his elder sister. The
Photo: Biswanath Gayen with his labourers at Mandirtala
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motorcycle is of a great help for him to commute freely from his home to units. It saves him a lot of time.
Biswanath aims to develop his exporter expertise and wishes if in some time near future he can start his own export house. He has till date not taken part in any exhibition or craft fair. He has never got any loan from any bank, inspite of trying many times.
The main hurdle, which is a big hindrance to his business growth, is his low financial capital. He needs a strong a financial back up regularly, to buy raw materials and run his unit efficiently. Next, he wants to learn the business tricks to become a successful exporter and do business with international buyers. And thirdly, he wants to learn to operate computer and eventually own a computer system to help him maintain records of his business and do efficient business dealing with his exporters.
3.2.5Unit 5: Chinibus Mistry, Bazarberia
Chinibus Mistry, Proprietor, Maa Tripura Shola FlowersVill.: Bazarberia,P.O.: South Bishnupur,P.S.: Mandirbazar,District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Age: 27 yrsQualification: Class 2nd pass
In business since: 9 years
Chinibus Mistry lives with his wife, one son, one daughter and mother. His son studies in Class 2nd in a government school. The family does not have their own farmland so he takes farmland on lease form the land owners and pays Rs. 1,000 per year and mainly cultivates rice for consumption at home. They belong to Pondro Khatriyo caste, which is a Scheduled caste in India.
Chinibus worked with Sholapith products exporters in Delhi before he started his own unit. When he started his business, he used to give out coloured Sholapith product samples in shops, Badabazar area, Kolkata. On approval from the shopkeepers, Chinibus used to get production orders. Since, last two months, he has managed get orders form local suppliers and is planning to get order from an exporter in Kolkata. When he gets his order, he and his wife does a part
of the production and he gets the major part of the production done, from his labourers. In case the order involves new products, Chinibus teaches his labourers techniques to develop the products.
Few of the products which Chinibus produces are as following
Sholapith charkha flowerSholapith flower 1Sholapith Lily flower - 3 leafSholapith flower kudiSholapith kathal kudiSholapith skin lilySholapith Skin Zinia flowerSholapith Zinia flower - one colour / two colour (Aliflaila) 2 cms, 3 cmsSholapith BelkudiSholapith potpotiSholapith Mallika flowerSholapith sunflower - one / two / three colour (Aliflaila) - 10 cmsSholapith pankha flowerSholapith belli flower - 3 cms, 4 cms, 8 cmsSholapith Half Kadam flowerSholapith rose flowerSholapith flower (do phool - firoza)Sholapith flower number 13Sholapith sandesh flowerSholapith aakondo budSholapith aakondo bud - naturalSholapith tara flowerSholapith chili flowerSholapith chili flower stickSholapith Kali ball
Photo: Chinibus Misty with his family
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Sholapith cabbage ballSholapith crape ballSholapith log ballSholapith rope ball
Sholapith tape ballSholapith aakondo kudi and kathal flower stickSholapith aakondo big kudi stickSholapith chili stickSholapith fan stickSholapith kadam, chili and kudi stickSholapith kali stick Sholapith kudi stickSholapith lily stickSholapith patpati stickSholapith shell stickSholapith skin lily stickCloth flowers
* flowers made in two or three colours are called Aliflaila Chinibus has taken a room for Rs 150 on rent in Titulberia village and engages 20 (approx.) labourers. He earns Rs. 3000 per month from his Sholapith production business.
One of the recent orders that Chinibus received was to produce Sholapith fan stick at the rate of Rs. 2 per stick. The order was open ended and there was no limitation on the production and the exporter was ready to buy as many sticks he can produce in a month. On an average he managed to produce only 2000 sticks. He says he had the capacity to produce minimum of 10,000 pieces per week, but because he did not have money to buy raw material he could only 2000 pieces. He was able to make a profit of Rs. 200 by producing a small amount of 2000 pieces at the rate of 10 paisa per stick.
Every month, Chinibus earns Rs. 1,500 to Rs. 2,500 form his entire Sholapith business. He says he can earn much more if he has more money to buy more
Photo: Sholapith kinnon kudi by Chinibus Mistry Photo: Chinibus with his son at his workplace
Photo: Sholapith zinia flower (two colour) by Chinibus Mistry Photo: Chinibas’s house. Deshbandhu Nasker, BWWA team
member is seen sitting at his house.`
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raw materials and engage more labourers to increase his Sholapith product’s production.
Chinibus has never received any kind of formal business, design or management training from government of private company, which can help him run his business better.
Chinibus lives in a mud house, which has two living rooms and an open kitchen. The house does not have electricity or water supply. The family depends on the natural ponds for their daily water needs and hand water pump for drinking water.
3.2.6Unit 6: Debashish Sardar, Gokulnagar
Debashish Sarader, Proprietor, Maa Kali Shola SupplyVill.: Gokulnagar,P.O.: Gokulnagar, P.S.: Mandirbazar,District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Age: 30 yrsQualification: Class 10th passIn business since: 12 yearsDebashish lives in a joint family with his wife, two sons, his brothers & their families and mother & father. His family has four bighas of farmland and he belongs to Pondro Khatriyo caste, which is a Scheduled caste in India.
Debashish has two units apart from his main unit at his house. About twenty labourers work at his unit at home, which is also his main unit. He has his secondary units in Rajapur, Raghunathpur and Dharampur. At the Rajapur unit Debashish owns
the unit whish is a three-room workplace. One of the room has a plastic blow moulding machine and has a capacity to produce 1500 plastic balls. Bapla is the main operator since last four years. At the Dehrampur unit, he has appointed Pinki Purkait as the local manager.
Photo: Debashishs SSU at Rajapur village
Photo: Blow moulding machine at Debashish’s Rajapurs unit Photo: Sholapith candy stick made at Debashish’s Rajapurs unit
Photo: Labourers making Shola log bunch stick at Rajapur unit
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The house which is also Debashishs’ SSU is owned by Pinky and his family.
Pinki Purkait : Local manager at Debashish’s secondary unit, Dehrampur.
Debashish’s one of the SSU is owned by Pinki Purkait’s family. She also manages the unit for Debashish and she has engaged 10 labourers from the local village. The labourers work from their home and every evening at 4 p.m. the labourers come to the SSU to deliver the finished Sholapith products and receive the raw materials for new set of production. If he products are not up to the mark as per the specifications, the products are returned to the labourers with inputs to better the products. Debashish teaches Pinki and the labourers how to make new items. Labourers avoid the items if they are too complicated or if find the rate to be really low as the rates are generally set by the Sudeb. Pinki earns Rs.
1000 per month for the work at the unit. Some of the Sholapith products produced made by Debashish’s unit are as following:
Sholapith rose flowerSholapith belli flowerSholapith hexa rose stickSholapith log bunch stickSholapith candy flower stickSholapith lily flower stickSholapith five chatka stickSholapith drum stickSholapith pineapple candle stickShola wood rose stickSholapith chips appleMaize leaf candle stick
One of the latest project which Debashish got was to make 50,000 pieces of Sholapith belli flower for Rs, 1,00,000. He managed to make a profit of 10,000 at the rate of 20 paisa per piece.
Debashish earns profit of Rs. 5000 to Rs. 10,000 every month from his Sholapith business.
Debashish and his brothers have a two storied brick house. Right in the courtyard he has his main unit where 15 to 20 labourers work everyday.
Debashish has never applied for loan from any bank or any government institution. A few years back he took part on one of the handicraft exhibition in Science city, Kolkata, which was organised by the Govt. of WB.Photo: Pinki counting the finished products given by the labourers
Photo: Pinki Purkait, manager at SSU, Dehrampur village Photo: maize leaf candle stick made at Debashish’s Rajapurs unit
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3.2.7Unit 7: Debu Gayan, Makhimpur
Debu Gayen, Proprietor, Debu Gayen Sola SilpalayVill.: Makimpur,P.O.: South Bishnupur,P.S.: Mandirbazar,District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Age: 42 yrsQualification: Class 4th passIn business since: 15 years
Debu Gayen lives with his wife, two daughters, brothers and his mother. The younger daughter is studying in Class 5th. The elder daughter stopped her studies, since Debu could not afford to educate both the daughters. All four brothers has their own Sholapith business. At home every member of the family know the Sholapith work and help Debu in production whenever there is an order. Debu belong to Pondro caste, which is a Scheduled caste in India. He has no farmland or any cattle of his own and totally he and his family depends on the Sholapith business.
Debu has been engaged in Sholapith products business since last 15 years. Before he started his Sholapith unit, he used to work in farmland owned by other people in the village. He has about 4 to 5 exporters that he gets order from. His uncle who is involved in the Sholapith business and lives close by, share some of his order with him. To get direct orders Debu has to regularly develop new samples, 4 to 5 pieces for each item and
take it to his exporters in Kolkata. He attaches a rate for every product, which he calculates considering his expenses for the product and his marginal profit. If the exporter likes the samples, they forward the same to the buyers in foreign countries. If the exporters get orders from the buyers, the same is passed to Debu. To get the final order Debu again travels to Kolkata to get the purchase order for the order. From submitting the samples till getting orders, it can take 10 to 30 days for the final order. A few times, if he is lucky, he gets a spontaneous order. There is a regular price bargain for the products between Debu and the exporters. Debu sometime get orders from local suppliers (bigger units) who in turn supply the materials to the exporters.
Debu distributes his order to his labourers in near by villages. His main unit is at his house where four to five labourers work everyday. Other units are in close by village. At one of villages there are 20 labourers and in another village he has about 30 labourers. For
example, Dedu has taken a room on rent in Jaynagar and from there he distributes the Sholapith raw materials, adhesives, threads etc. to his labourers living locally in that village. When the labourers complete their work, Debu collects the finished goods, from them. He has his labourers in villages such as Jayanagar and Samiti Maidan (near Mathurapur station) and the number of labourers is 14 and 16 respectively. At both the places Debu has appointed a local manager who maintains an account of every labour and his work. For example, in Jaynagar, Debu has taken a small room on rent form Kalidas Vaidhya and has appointed him to maintain all the accounts of the local labourers, supply them raw materials on time and collect the finished goods from them. This model is convenient for Debu since, he has to deal with his local managers instead of dealing with the entire set of labourers at different locations. Debu pays Rs. 1500 to Kalidas for the room that he has taken on rent and for the management of the business in Jaynagar
Photo: Debu Gayen and his family Photo: Labourers making button flower at Debu house.
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village. 4 to 5 times a week, Debu visits his local managers (nodal factories) to keep production running. Debu owns a bicycle which helps him move between different locations faster and cost effectively.
Dealing with exporters is a big challenge for Debu. The profit margin earned from the orders is very low. Earlier Debu and many such unit owners used to get their payments on time or maximum after one month from the delivery date. These days the payments have become nightmare as sometimes Debu gets his payments 2.5 months to 3 months from the time of final delivery of finished goods. And if there is any delay, damage of products or variation in design (size, form, etc.), exporters make sure that they deduct a good amount of money from the payments. Debu is always under pressure, since had to spend a high amount of money on purchase of raw materials, labour charges, etc. without getting any advance from the exporters. The situation is very much in pressure.
Some of the products developed by Debu are:Name (Rate) (Size) (Rate for the company)
Sholapith beauty rose flowerSholapith button flowerSholapith chinese java flower Rs. 1.80 (6 cm) (Rs. 2 on tag for exporter)Sholapith chips flower Rs. 2 (6 cm)Sholapith Gandhraj flowerSholapith Genda flowerSholapith lily (pink) flowerSholapith magnolia flower Rs. 2 (6 cm) (Rs. 2.50 on tag for exporter)Sholapith rajnigandha flower
Sholapith skin beauty rose Rs. 1.60 (6 cm) (Rs. 1.70 on tag for exporter)Sholapith skin lily Rs. 2 (Rs. 2.70 on tag for exporter)Sholapith skin lotus flower Rs. 2.50Sholapith zinia flower
Sholapith crape ball Rs. 1.60 (6 cm)Sholapith skin crape ball Rs. 7.50 (10 cm)Sholapith log ballSholapith skin crape ball - whiteSholapith skin rope ball Rs. 2 (6 cm)
Photo: Sholapith rajnigandha stick
Photo: Sholapith china java flower made by Debu Gayen
Photo: Debu Gayen making a Sholapith rajnigandha stick
Photo: Sholapith button flower made at Debu Gayens’ unit
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Sholapith skin tip ball Rs. 1.60 (6 cm) (Rs. 2 on tag for exporter)Sholapith tube ball Rs. 1.60 (6 cm) (Rs. 2.20 on tag for exporter)Sholapith chatka ball Rs. 1.60 (6 cm) (Rs. 2.20 on tag for exporter)Sholapith white tip ball Rs. 1.20 (4 cm) (Rs. 1.40 on tag for exporter)Sholapith benti ball Rs. 1.60 (6 cm) (Rs. 2.40 on tag for exporter)Sholapith skin guli ball Rs. 1.60 (6 cm) (Rs. 2.20 on tag for exporter)Sholapith rekha ball Rs. 1.60 (6 cm) (Rs. 2 on tag for exporter)Sholapith ring ball Rs. 2 (6 cm) (Rs. 2.40 on tag for exporter)Sholapith white crape ball Rs. 1.80 (6 cm) (Rs. 2 on tag for exporter)Sholapith guli ball
Sholapith rose (pink/yellow) flower (with maize leaves) stick (bamboo) Rs. 10Sholapith skin jhudi stickSholapith skin rajnigandha stick Rs. 2Sholapith chips dahlia stick Rs. 8Sholapith poppy stick Rs. 8Babul rope (dori) ball Rs. 4.50Corn skin ball Rs. 2 (4 cm)Maize leaf stick Rs. 1.5
* 4 cm, 6 cm, 8 cm, 10 cm, 12 cm are the sizes of the plastic ball.
Due to increase in prices of Sholapith raw material, the adhesives and the increasing competition, it is getting tough to secure the orders form the exporters. High quality Sholapith sticks costs between Rs 20 to Rs 60 per bundle containing 20 to 30 sticks. There is no fixed number of sticks in a bundle. The price of the
Sholapith sticks bundle, totally depends on the quality of the sticks. The softer and higher the width, the expensive the Shola stick. At the same time low quality for Sholapith stick bundles containing 15 to 20 sticks can be bought at a rate, as low as Rs. 6 to Rs. 10.
Adhesive costs between Rs. 80 per kg to Rs. 100 per kg. Stiko brand of adhesive, which is readily available and widely used by the Sholapith units costs Rs. 500 for 5 kgs.
STIKO (Polyurethene adhesive): 100 per kg. Available in 5 kgs.WG wood adhesive (Polysynthetic resin adhesive): 80 per kg. Available in 50 kg.
Every month Debu earns a profit of Rs. 5,000 (approx.) from his Sholapith business. After expenses such as household expenses and his daughter’s education, Debu is left with no savings at the end of the month. On one occasion in past, Debu got an opportunity was for training craftsmen in Dinajpur, WB. He received Rs 30,000 for a period of 6 months as a trainer.
Debu is early riser and wakes up every day at 5 a.m. After getting fresh and having his breakfast, at about 7 a.m. he starts the Sholapith work. By 12 noon he takes a break for his bath and lunch and rests for one to two hours. He resumes his work again at 3 p.m. and continues till 5 p.m. (approx.). After the days work, he goes out to the market, meet his friends and relaxes himself. Debu has a bicycle which helps him daily in to travel long distance locally on account of his work.
Debu lives in a joint family. Debu & family, mother and
Photo: A packed Sholapith skin tip ball with information about
the product written on a tag is ready to be sent to an exporter
Photo: A variety of Shola balls (rope ball, skin ball, reverse skin
ball, log ball, maize leaf colour ball) made at Debu Gayen’s unit
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one of his brothers share the house. Other two brothers live separately. Debu’s house does not have electricity & water supple and do not have toilet room. The house has a joint kitchen for the families. Debu has planned to never buy a television as he thinks, his family will start spending too much of time with television and they will get distracted from the Sholapith business.
Debu has never taken part in any craft fair or exhibition, nor he has ever got any help from the government, associations, NGO or any institute in his Sholapith business. Earlier when he had tried for a loan from a bank, his application was rejected and no sufficient reason was explained to him.
3.2.8Unit 8: Jayanta Gayen, Pukuria
Jayanta Gayen, Proprietor, Radha Krishna Sola Products (confirm)
Vill.: Pukuria, P.O.: South Bishnupur,P.S.: Mandirbazar,District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Age: 33 yrsQualification: Class 6th passIn business since: 16 years
Jayanta lives with his wife, two daughters and one son. Jayanta lives in a joint family with his four brothers and they all have their own Sholapith business. Jayanta has learnt the Sholapith craft skills and the business from his elder brothers. Shubhankar and his family belong to Taposili caste, which is a Scheduled caste in India. The stock lasts for 3 months (approx.).
Jayanta has 1 bigha of farmland, which is jointly owned by him and his other three brothers where they grow dhaan and daal.
Jayanta’s exporters are based in Kolkata (name of the exporter) Jayanta goes to Kolkata every week to meet his exporters and procure orders. He takes his samples of new designs and some regular designs to get the approval from the exporters. Exporters on the other hand send the samples to their buyers for approval. On approval from the buyers for particular sample, Jayanta gets his orders from the exporters.
Jayanta operates from his home, which is his main unit. He develops new samples and do an small amount of production order from his home, and
he gets major portion of his work done from his labourers. He has engaged almost 20 labourers in Motilal village and another 25 labourers in Gondaberia village. His labourers work at least for 4 to 5 hours everyday from their home after completing their households activities. Most of the labourers are women. They do not receive any advance for their work.
Labourers in Motilal are majorly involved in Sholapith rope ball and other Sholapith products and those in Gondaberia are involved in Palm leaf products.
Some of the products which are produced by Jayanta’s unit are:Sholapith zinia flowerSholapith belly flowerSholapith rose flowerSholapith dahlia flower
Photo: Debu Gayen riding his bicycle on his way to his SSU Photo: Jayanta Gayen with his family
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Sholapith charkhi flowerSholapith gardenia flowerSholapith sunflowerSholapith rope ball
Sholapith marine rose flowerSholapith Australian rose flowerSholapith Thai rose flowerPalm artichoke of various sizes and coloursPalm sunflower, Khel kadam ball, etc.
Lot of new designs that are developed using palm leaf are basically the ones that are already being made in Sholapith material. The new designs do not involve any kind of sketching or modelling in alternate material. They are made directly with actual material in real proportions. On a average Jayanta develops 2 to 3 new samples.
Basumati Halder: Jayanta’s labourer
Basumati has been working in the Sholapith business since last 10 years. There are three members in her family - her daughter Aaruti Halder, her husband and herself. Basumati and Aaruti together, works as
labourers for the bigger units like that of Jayanta. Every month she along with her daughter are able to earn Rs. 300 to Rs. 500 for the Sholapith work. They have a two-room 35 years old mud house. The house also has a kitchen and a toilet. They plan to build a shed for their cattle.
Jayanta buys Sholapith raw material in bundles, which contains 7-8 Shola sticks, at the rate of Rs. 18 to Rs. 20 per bundle. In the market the length of the available
Photo: Shola rope balls made by Aaruti Halder
Photo: Aaruti Halder making Shola dori (rope) ball Photo: Products made by Jayantas’ unit
Photo: Basumati Halder and her family
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Shola stick ranges between 55 cms to 100 cms. Most of Sholapith raw material that are bought from the local market or from Kolkata is imported from Bangladesh. The raw materials, which come from Bangladesh, are soft, good to work with and highly preferred by the craftsmen. The tools used by Jayanta and his labourers are scissors, knives (choras), flat wooden bed.
One of the recent order that Jayanta received from his exporter in Kolkata was for 20,000 pieces of Sholapith rope (dori) ball for Rs. 60,000 at the rate of Rs. 3 per piece. There was no advance given for this order by the exporter. The order was distributed among Jayanta’s 20 labourers who work from their home. Labourer as per their convenience makes 100 to 200 pieces of these balls. Every Sholapith rope ball involves two labourer and a plastic ball supplier. The Sholapith benti (Sholapith split stick) is made by one labourer. And another labourer rolls the Sholapith split stick on a wooden bed to make a dori (rope) from it. He also sticks the Shola dori on the plastic ball using adhesive. Labourers earn Rs. 40 for making 100 pieces as labour charge at the rate of 40 paisa per piece. This means Rs. 8000 is spent as the labour charge for making 20,000 pieces. Rs. 10,000 was spent on Sholapith raw material, Rs, 10,000 for 20,000 plastic balls, Rs. 8,000 for the adhesive. Rs. 10,000 is spent on the packaging material and max. 200 carton boxes (30 cms/45 cms each) at the rate of Rs. 50 per box. Rs. 1000 was spent on adhesive tape. Rs. 6,000 (approx.) was spent on the transportation charges. The exporter gave the money 20 to 25 days after the work was completed. At the end of the order Jayanta earned a total of Rs. 5,000 as profit.
Jayanta maintains all his account for every order that he gets. Once he took a loan of Rs. 8,000 from AFC Foundation an associate of BWWA, a micro-finance company from Kolkata. At the end of 46 weeks he had to pay back Rs. 9,200.
Jayanta makes a monthly profit of Rs. 1000 to Rs. 2000 from the Sholapith work. After making all his household expenses, he is hardly left with any money at the end of the month.
He has never got any chance to take part in the craft fairs.
Jayanta lives in joint family with his brothers and parents. His house is well equipped with electricity and drinking water. For all the medical facilities they go to South Bishnupur village. Jayanta has a bicycle which he uses to go to his labourers to deliver raw materials
and collect the finished Sholapith products.
3.2.9Unit 9: Kalidas Naskar, Bazarberia
Kalidas Nasker, Proprietor, Kalidas NaskerVill.: Bazarberia,P.O.: South Bishnupur,P.S.: Mandirbazar, District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Age: 27 yrsQualification: Class 10th passIn business since: 7 years
Kalidas Nasker lives with his wife, daughter, brother, mother and father. Kalidas has been in Sholapith business since last seven years and before that he and his father was engaged with Sholapith business for local market and Kolkata. Kalidas work for exporters in Kolkata and Tuticorin. The family owns five bighas of farmland and they belong to Taposili caste, which is a Scheduled caste in India.
Kalidas produces all kinds of Sholapith products except the God and goddess idols. He develops his own Sholapith product samples and presents it to exporters for approval. The exporters pass the samples to the buyers for further approval. This takes minimum of 15 to 20 days for the order to get approved. On approval for production orders, Kalidas engages his
Photo: Jayanta Gayen is carrying split shola sticks on his bicycle
to his labourers
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own labourers and few smaller suppliers to meet the production target. He provides raw materials to his labourers for the production of the Sholapith products. When the orders are too big and he does not have enough money to buy raw materials, he manages to get the money as loan with an annual interest of 8% to 10% from a few local people. In case he has orders of the size that he and his labourers are not able to meet the target in time, he passes on the part of the order to the small suppliers. He does not provide the raw material to these suppliers. At the end of production, he simply collects the finished products from his labourers and the suppliers, does the packaging and delivers it to the exporters in Kolkata and Tuticorin. On the receipt of the payment from the exporters, he distributes the money to the labourers and the local suppliers. Payment from the exporters gets delayed, by about a month or more. Kalidas say, the exporters never give any advance money with the production orders, which is big hindrance for him to fulfill the
orders in time.
Kalidas’s unit is in South Bishnupur village apart from main unit at his house. There are thirty labourers who work from home in South Bishnupur village who are
mainly women. They work for 4 to 5 hours everyday after finishing daily after finishing their household chores. The main unit is attached to Kalidas’s house in right at the entrance. At the main unit at Kalidas’s house there are about eight to ten labourers ex. Ajay,
Photo: Kalidas is making Sholapith lotus flower at his unit Photo: Sholapith flower stick made at Kalidas’ unit
Photo: Ajay at Kalidas’ unit
Photo: Sholapith belli charkhi flower made at Kalidas’ unit
Photo: Vijay making Sholapith product at Kalidas’ unit
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Vikas and Sanath Halder. The labourers at the unit work for 7 to 8 hours everyday and they earn Rs 150 (approx.). The two labourers Ajay & Vikas have been working for Kalidas since last 5 years. Ajay, age 22 years is Class 8th pass and Vikas is Class 9th. Sanath Halder who works at kalidas Naskar’ unit has his own
small unit which he run from his home. He is engaged mainly with Sholapith products for the local market and for Kolkata.
A few of the Sholapith products produced at Kalidas’s unit are:
Sholapith beauty rose flowerSholapith lotus flowerSholapith skin rose flowerSholapith sunflowerSholapith zinia flower 8 cms (4 cms Sholapith roll is used), 10 cms (5 cms Sholapith roll is used)Sholapith rose flowerSholapith belli flower
Sometimes exporters order for raw materials for Sholapith products along with the regular order of finished Sholapith products.
One of the recent Sholapith production order that he got was for ten thousand pieces of Sholapith beauty rose for Rs. 55,000. He managed to make a profit of Rs. 5,000 after making all the expenses such as raw material and labour charge.
Every month kalidas makes a profit of Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 20,000 (approx.). In some months such as rainy seasons the production goes down due to availability of labourers and hence the unit’s income is adversely affected.
Kalidas has a brick and concrete house. The house has a work place at the entrance, a store to keep raw material and finished goods, a kitchen, two living rooms, and an open courtyard. The house is not equipped with electricity supply or drinking water. They depend on a community hand water pump for drinking water and their private pokhar for the every other water household needs.
Kalidas has applied for Prime Ministers’ Rozgar
Photo: Sanath Halder making at Kalidas’ unit
Photo: Sanath at work place at his house
Photo: Sholapith kadam flower decorations
Photo: Sanath drawing Sholapith to make Kadam flower
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Yojana (PMRY) and had received Rs. 2,00,000 for his business. After that he again tried to avail loan from local banks but has been unsuccessful. He has never taken part in craft fair or any exhibition.
3.2.10Unit 10: Kalipada Mondal, Gokulnagar
Kalipada Mondal, Proprietor, Baba Loknath Dry FlowerVill.: Gokulnagar,P.O.: South Bishnupur,P.S.: Mandirbazar, District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Age: 40 yrsQualification: Class 3rd passIn business since: 15 years Kalipada lives with his wife, daughters and mother. He is supported in his business by relatives and friends such as Sujit Halder, Ram Prasad Halder and Jayanta Mondal who live in close network in the same area of Gokulnagar. He has no farmland. He belongs to Pondro Khatriyo caste, which is a Scheduled caste in India.Kalipada does his Sholapith business with exporters and few shops in Kolkata, Delhi and Kerala. Most of the production is made as per the designs given by the exporters.
Kalidas works from his two units. One of the units is in Chaitanyapur village where he gets his raw materials prepared for final production. Here he has engaged
most of the families who work for his unit.
Some of the products that are produced at his unit are as following:
Sholapith aliflaila kadam flowerSholapith belli flower 3 cms, 6 cms, 8 cms, 10 cmsSholapith carnis flowerSholapith carnis new flowerSholapith fan flower
Photo: Kalipada Mondal with Ram Prasad Mondal
Photo: Sholapith charkhi belli flower made by Kalipada Mondal
Photo: Shola flowers by Kalipada Mondal’ unit
Photo: Kadam deco made by Jayanta Mondal
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Sholapith jaba stickSholapith kadam flowerSholapith lokhi (lakshmi puja)Sholapith lily flowerSholapith lily stick
Sholapith patol flowerSholapith poppy flowerSholapith Shankh flowerSholapith shankha stickSholapith skin chips lily stick
Sholapith skin lotus flowerSholapith skin zinia flowerSholapith belli flower stick Sholapith belli flower & corn leaf stickSholapith belli flower, bud and leaf stickSholapith kudi flower & wire spring stickSholapith lata ball, corn leaf and shola skin rajani bud stickSholapith lily and fan stickSholapith lily flower (with coconut stick) ting ting stickSholapith poppy stickSholapith rajnigandha flower stick
The Sholapith flower can made in sizes from 1 cm to 20 cms and can be dyed in any colour.
Every month, Kalipada earns Rs. 12,000 to Rs. 20,000 (approx.) There is a huge variation in the monthly income on account of the seasons such as rainy season where the availability goes down. Kalipada lives in a pakka house (brick house) which has two rooms, one kitchen, one bedroom and one bathroom. Kalidas has applied for Prime Ministers’ Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) and had received Rs. 2,00,000 for his business. After that he again tried to avail loan from local banks but has been unsuccessful. He has never taken part in craft fair or any exhibition.
3.2.11Unit 11: Pradip Sarader, Gokulnagar
Pradip Sarader, Proprietor, Maa Durga HandicraftsVill.: Gokulnagar,
Photo: Sujit Halder with Chinibus Mondal
Photo: The house of Kalipada Mondal
Photo: Jayanta Mondal making Sholapith deco Kadam hangings
Photo: Sampa Maiti, Kalpladass’ labourer making Shola sticks
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P.O.: South Bishnupur,P.S.: Mandirbazar,District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Age: 26 yrsQualification: Class 8th passIn business since: 2 years
Pradip lives with his father, mother, sister and two brothers. One of his brother works in Sholapith business in Kerala and another brother works in Kolkata. Pradip is educated till class 8th. He left his studies because he could not afford the money to continue his studies. He is only versed with Bengali language. Before starting his own Sholapith business, he worked with a Sholapith product’s exporter in Kolkata and back home he was engaged in cultivation. He has 2 bighas of land. Pradip belong to Pondro caste, which is a Scheduled caste in India. People from Pondro caste in the region are engaged in Sholapith craft as well as in cultivation.
Pradip develops new samples by himself and travels to Kolkata to present it to the potential exporters. A few new designs are developed by his friend Bhaskar Halder and they both share the new samples. Bhaskar develops new samples by himself and at times he gets ideas from catalogues and nature. All new designs are developed directly using the Sholapith material. If the exporters like the samples, they give order for the production. On confirmation, Pradip gets a purchase order, which has information such as the name of the product, quantity and delivery time. At, times he
receives orders from the local suppliers who in-turn get their orders from the exporters. The Sholapith stick items take more time than the flowers or the ball items. All the products are handmade and no machine is used. The Shola sticks and Shola rolls are available during the entire year and can be bought from Pukuria haat. Some farmers grow Shola plants every year in and around Ishwaripur near Diamond harbour about 10 kms from Gokulnagar. These farmers have their own farms or they work in farms owned by others. The farmers pay rent to the owners of these farms. They sow the seeds in the month of June and by September or October the plants grow fully in size,when they are cut , dried and sold in the local market such as Pukuria haat on Saturdays. Shola sticks in large quantities are bought from market close dumdum airport, in Kolkata. Most of the Sholapith, which sells in Kolkata, comes in large quantity from Bangladesh.
A bundle of 5 to 10 Shola sticks is available in the haat, at Rs. 10 to Rs. 20 depending on its quality. A softer and thick Shola sticks are expensive. Other raw materials such as steel wires, bamboo stick, paper can also be bought from the haat.
The main tools used at the unit are knife, pair of scissor, measuring tape, etc. Some knife have attached wooden handle or some are thin and pointed handle. The pointed handles of the knives are used to remove the hard nodes from the Shola sticks. Using the pointed handles helps save the sharpness of the blade of the knife. The knives costs Rs. 150 (approx.) and the scissors Rs. 50 (approx.).
Most of the labourers who work for Pradip are from Laxmikantpur village.
Some of the products made at Pradip’s unit are:
Sholapith kachurmukhi stickSholapith Belli flower stickSholapith skin Jhudi flower stickSholapith Lily bud stickSholapith dhaneshish stickSholapith skin lily flower stickSholapith lanka kali stickSholapith flat pine stickShola jhudi stickSholapith poppy stickSholapith fan stick
One of the recent order which Pradip got was for 10,000 pieces of Sholapith Lily bud flower stick for a total amount of Rs. 1,00,000 at the rate of Rs. 10 per
Photo: Pradip Sarder (third from left, back row) with friends
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piece. No advance money was given by the exporter with the order. To complete the order in time, the best model is to share the work, which works like a cooperative model in the case. Pradip distributed the order to his local managers who then transferred the production to their labourers. In this case, Pradip distributed it to 5 (approx.) managers and each one of these managers distributed it to their 10 (approx.) labourers. Pradip gave advance of Rs. 500 to every local manager to buy and supply raw materials to their labourers and collect the finished items and deliver it to Pradip. On an average, each local manager had the responsibility to get 2000 pieces made form their labourers. Every piece of the order went through at least 5 different labourers, contributing their share of work to complete it. The different works included raw material preparation, lily bud production from the raw material, fitting of three lily bud to a steel wire, covering the naked steel wire with crape paper and final assembly. The steel wires were cut by another labourer. All the labourers work from their home.
The main expenses incurred on buying raw material, labour charge, local transportation to the exporters. At the end of the completion of the order Pradip made a descent profit in-between Rs 8000 to Rs. 10,000 local manager made in-between Rs. 1800 to Rs. 2000 (approx.) and the labourers made in-between Rs. 800 to Rs. 1000 as per the number of items produced.
The responsibility with the local managers is the highest as they have to deal with a large number of labourer. The supply of raw material and collection of finished goods everyday, keeping the quality of the product and the time constraint is the focus of this
mechanism at the local level.
There is no fixed profit for Pradip from his Sholapith business. He earns between Rs. 5000 to Rs. 15,000 every month. Some months he goes into loss due to rejection or delay in order delivery. Incase the order or a part of it is rejected, the exporters return the products, Pradip and his team of labourers reuses it for some other order. The parts, which can be used are separated out and other parts which may be glued or creased are considered waste and disposed. Delay in deliver of the products is another big risky affair, which the units face. In the midst of tight deadlines by the exporters, there is very positive chance that the orders get late and units are bound to loose part of their profit. In such cases, either the entire order is rejected or a part of the amount if detected from the final payment.
Everyday Pradip works for 4 to 5 hours. If there is too much workload, he works for 8 to 10 hours. Everyday he gets up at 7 a.m. (approx.). He works for 3 to 4 hours in the morning and 4-5 hours after noon. A good rest for 1 to 2 hours after lunch at around 1 p.m. is his routine, everyday. Everyday or whenever required, he meets his labourers, supplies the raw material and collects the finished products and keeps an account of the progress.
Pradip’s has a brick house with four rooms and it is equipped with electricity and a water hand pump near by. The house also has a very spacious kitchen and a verandah where he works on his Sholapith orders. He owns a television and everyday spends 2 to 3 hours watching programmes and he mostly watches Bengali movies.
Pradip has not taken part in any craft fair or exhibition and got any training for the Sholapith craft or its business, till date. In the regard, there has been help from central & the state government or the local panchayats.
3.2.12Unit 12: Prashant Kumar Halder, Matilal
Prashanta Kumar Halder, Proprietor, Prashant Kumar halderVill.: Matilal, P.O.: Degberia,P.S.: Mandirbazar,District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Age: 35 yrsQualification: Bachelors of Arts (B.A.) passIn business since: 15 years
Prashanta lives with his wife and a son. Prashanta and his family belong to Pondro caste, which is a Scheduled caste in India. Prashanta started Sholapith business along with his elder brother, Sushanta. Prashanta has 2 bighas of farmland jointly owned by his elder brother Sushanta, and the farm is mainly used for rice cultivation. The rice from the farm lasts only for 7-8 months.
Prashanta has a very limited business network. He has not done any business with any exporter, instead he focusses on the local suppliers (Keshav Kumar) who
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supply the Sholapith products to exporters. One of the local supplier from whom Prashanta gets order, is form Bazarberia village within Mandirbazar block. Prashanta gets some production order from his elder brother.
Prashanta admits that working with local regional suppliers is not a profit business. Instead, working with exporters is a great deal and profitable.
Prashanta gives out his order to labourers in near by villages. He has 40 labourers across the Bishnupur village, Srirampur village, Matilal village and Siddeshwarpur village near Mathurapur station.
Prashanta explains that a new design take about 1 year to get developed. By one year he means that during one year the unit members continuously improve the products and make it better and better. As a result of this new ideas are discovered and thus new design samples are made. It can be called as a natural design
process, which is more organic and more evolutionary in nature.
One of the order of Sholapith products that Prashanta got from a local supplier was of Sholapith Chips dahlia flower. He got an order of 5,000 pieces for Rs. 15,000 at the rate of Rs. 3 per piece. Prashanta completed the order in 20 days. At he completion of the order, Orashanta made a profit of Rs. 1200 (approx.)
One of the original sample of Sholapith Chips lotus flower is developed by Prashanta. Prashanta has a concrete house built in 2008 and now it has electricity. The house has three rooms on the ground floor. One room is for the Sholapith raw material and products. He has a separate kitchen. The other two rooms belong to the two brothers Prashanta and Sushanta. The house has an attached toilet and an open aangan (courtyard). For drinking water, the family
depends on the tube well and for other needs like washing clothes, washing utensils and bathing they use the pokhar water.
Prashanta’s monthly income is Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 8,000 (approx.). Prashanta plans to apply for a loan from PMRY. He says if he get some financial assistance or loan, his business will grow. He can buy more raw materials with that extra money. He will be able to take bigger orders and make better profits. Prashanta has never taken part in any craft fair or exhibition.
3.2.13Unit 13: Sanath Halder, Maheshpur
Sanath Halder, Proprietor, Ma Kali Hand Works InstitutionVill.: Maheshpur,P.O.: South Bishnupur,
Photo: Sholapith chips dahlia made by Prashant Halder Photo: Sholapith gardenia ball in making by Prashant Halder Photo: Sholapith Gardenia ball made by Prashant Halder
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P.S.: Mandirbazar,District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Age: 27 yrsQualification: Class 7th passIn business since: 9 years
Sanath lives with his sister, two brothers & his family, mother and father. Sanath and his brother work together in the Sholapith business. Sanath says he has been working with Sholapith craft since his childhood and he is also working as a trainer at a Sholapith craft training centre. The family belongs to Taposili caste, which is a Scheduled caste in India. The family owns 2 bighas of farmland, which is used for rice cultivation and growing vegetables for family consumption. All the three brothers works together in the Sholapith business.
Sanath is a master craftsman and produces almost all items of Sholapith products such as flowers, balls, sticks, wreaths, bouquets, models (ships, temples, etc.), jewellery for Gods and Goddesses, landscape sceneries and religious decoration items for export and Indian market. Sanath’s Sholapith ship model sells for Rs. 5,000 (approx.). If there is a request for new products from companies in different cities, he travels to those businesses, stays there and develops the products for them. All the new designs are developed entirely by him and sometimes he takes references from photos, nature and catalogues. Sanath mostly sets even the Sholapith products prices. He does not keep any financial account of his orders because he says, it is of
no use once the order is completed, as he explains.
Sanath has almost 100 labourers to support his business. The labourers are in Maheshpur and a few close by villages. All the Sholapith products made at the unit is handmade and Sanath’s unit uses no machine. The Sholapith raw materials are bought from the local market in Pukuria village. He buys the Sholapith sticks once a year. At one time, he buys Sholapith raw materials for Rs. 20,000 (approx.)
Some of the products that Sanath has developed are Sholapith Kali ballSholapith Gulab stick Sholapith Lily stickand many more.
One of the recent orders, which Sanath procured, was to make 50,000 pieces of Sholapith Kali ball for an amount of Rs. 50,000 at the rate of Rs. 1 per piece.
His labourers did the complete production. The total expense to produce 50,000 pieces was Rs. 40,000 and he managed to save Rs. 10,000.
DRD (Jila parishad), Kolkata has set up a Sholapith design and production training centre in a primary school in Maheshpur village. The ground floor is used as classes for the students and the 1st floor is the main Sholapith training centre, which is a big hall. The building does not have any electricity supply. Currently, Sanath is the head trainer at the school since last 6 years and before him his elder brother has been training since last 15 years. The training starts after the school hours and the centre runs for 5 days per week. The training period is 6 months. Sanath earns Rs. 6,000 every month for the training services. Everyday the training is imparted in two sessions. First session starts at 10 a.m. and runs till 1 p.m. After a break for 30 minutes the second shift of training runs from 1:30 till 5 p.m. Sanath develops Sholapith products and
Photo: Sanath Halder with his family Photo: Sholapith ship model made by Sanath Halder
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shows the trainees, how it is made and teaches the techniques to achieve it. Individual attention is given to all the trainees and everyday there is something new to learn at the centre. There are about 50 trainees in each session and all of them are women. It is a good way of training as it develops the communal bonding among the locals and everybody gets a chance to learn from each other. At times Sanath engages a few of the trainees for his own production work.
All the expense for the raw material and other necessary arrangement for the training is provided by DRD and is locally arranged by Sanath.
The main hurdle in the Sholapith business, which Sanath describes, is his poor financial backup to make his business grow. He says, he can manage a greater Sholapith business and give the better salary to his labourers, if he has more money to buy more raw materials, which will help him pitch for more
production orders. The weak financial background is a very common issue among all the Sholapith units across Mandirbazar block.
Sanath has taken part in some craft exhibitions. Sanath participated and displayed his products in an exhibition in Shantiniketan, which takes place every year.
Sanath lives in joint family. The house is pakka and is made of brick and concrete with three living rooms, one toilet and well equipped with electricity and television. There are two kitchens, one open and the other one is closed. The open kitchen is used in summer season.
3.2.14Unit 14: Satibrata Halder, Bazarberia
Satibrata Halder,
Proprietor, Maa Tara EnterpriseVill.: Bazarberia,P.O.: South Bishnupur,P.S.: Mandirbazar block,District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Age: 32 yrsQualification: Homeopathy (DMS) DoctorIn business since: 12 years
Satibrata halder lives with his wife, two daughters, father and mother. Satibrata has three brothers and they all live close by. He has his own farmland and is used for rice, vegetables and moong daal cultivation. They belong to Taposili caste, which is a Scheduled caste in India.
Satibrata is a professional Homeopathy doctor but he has fully switched over to his Sholapith business. Due to his busy schedule in his business he does not get time to run his clinic. He has settled his Sholapith Business and can produce any Sholapith and natural leaf & seeds item as per the order. He supplies the Sholapith products to exporters in Kolkata, Delhi Tuticorin and Mumbai. All different kind of flowers, balls and sticks are produced at his unit. Satibrata has engaged above 100 labourers. His labourers work directly with for his orders as well as he has engaged local suppliers of finished Sholapith products from near by villages. Most of the labourers are permanent and a few labourers are engaged as and when the workload increases in case of very big orders. He has his labourers in Midnapur, Baraipur, Aamtala and also gets some of the production from Orissa.Photo: Sanath Halder training the craftswomen of Maheshpur
Photo: An open kitchen in Sanath’s house
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Some of the products produced by his unit are:
Sholapith rose flowerSholapith beauty rose flower
Sholapith bouquet Mini arjunSholapith belli flowerSholapith sunflowerSholapith lily flower
Sholapith genda flowerSholapith rose ballPalm belliBead work
Every month he earns a profit of Rs. 45,000 from his Sholapith business. He has not taken any design or business training and has never taken part in exhibition or craft fairs. Financially he manages to get good orders and for which he has never taken any loan from any bank.
Satibrata lives with his family and parents in a well build brick house with four living rooms, one temple room, kitchen, toilet and a bathroom. The family owns a pokhar, which is right next to their house. They get drinking water from a hand water pump close to their house.
3.2.15Unit 15: Satyaranjan Halder, Bazarberia
Satyaranjan Halder, Proprietor, Satyaranjan HalderVill.: Bazarberia,P.O.: South Bishnupur,P.S.: Mandirbazar,District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Age: 45 yrsQualification: Class 8th passIn business since: 15 years
Satyaranjan Halder lives with his wife, one daughter,
Photo: Products made by Satibrata Halder’s unit Photo: Palm leaf belli flower in making at Satibrata’s unit
Photo: Sholapith kadam flower by Satibrata’s unit Photo: Palm leaf belli flower by Satibrata’s unit
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one son, father and mother. His both son and daughter are studying in senior secondary government school. Satibrata runs his Sholapith unit along with his younger brother Bhishradeb Halder. Before starting his Sholapith business he worked with a vacuum manufacturing company in Kolkata. While working in Kolkata, Satyaranjan contacted a company in Kolkata, which used to make Gods and Goddesses and the Sholapith decorations to get some production order. Thus he started making decorations for Gods and Goddesses in Sholapith material. Later, he came in contact with a few exporters in Kolkata when he really got into the Sholapith products business for the export-oriented market. The family has their six bighas of farmland and is used for rice, vegetables and moong daal cultivation. They belong to Taposili caste, which is a Scheduled caste in India.
Satyaranjan has engaged 126 labourers from Raghunathpur, Behrampur, Jagdishpur and Krishnadebpur. Raghunathpur is the main unit. Satyaranjan in Raghunathpur owns the room and it is the nodal centre of his business. There are about 48 labourers who are engaged with that unit. All the labourers engaged at the units are women. Labourers earn Rs 30 to Rs. 40 per day. Satyaranjan maintains a regular account of work done and payments of all his labourers. He also maintains account of each and every order from the exporters such as the date or delivery, challan number, item name, quantity of item delivered, quatity accepted, rate of each product and the total payments received for production of each item.
Some of the Sholapith products made are:
Sholapith log ballSholapith rope ballSholapith guli ballSholapith chips ballSholapith cabbage ballMoss ball (Moss provided by exporter and they source it from Assam)Khrish BallBabri Dori ball 10 cmSholapith Rose & leaf stickSholapith chicken flower stick Rs. 700 / 1000 piecesSholapith chilli petal stick Rs. 2000 / 1000 piecesSholapith fan stick (8 fans) Rs. 2400 / 1000 piecesSholapith cabbage flower stick Rs. 700 / 1000 piecesSholapith sunflower stick (one flower)Sholapith chilli & kadam stick (five kadam stick)Sholapith fan & zinia stick (five zinia flower)Sholapith fan & arjun seed stick Sholapith tulip & aakondo kudi stickSholapith rose & leaf stick
Sholapith bud & leaf stickSholapith titul leaf stickSholapith bud & leaf stickSholapith zinia & leaf stickSholapith kadam, bud and shola leaf stickSholapith zinia, bud & leaf stickSholapith sunflower stick (three sunflowers)Ball stick bunchArjun seed stick (seed sourced our from Orissa)
One of the order that he recently received was to produce Sholapith fan sticks. For every 1000 pieces of sticks he was being paid Rs. 2400 from the exporter. After spending on raw material, transportation charges and the labour charge (65 paisa per piece), Satyaranjan was able to save Rs. 200 on every 1000 pieces.
The profit from the Sholapith business is Rs. 5000 per month. All the products produced by Satyaranjan’s unit are handmade. Satyaranjan says that handmade items requires a very high skill and a very good speed to meet the orders, or other wise they sometimes run in losses. There is a huge chance of rejection in the final delivery. The Sholapith products are so delicate that the box carton packaging at times is not able to keep the products safe on delivery. And, when it reaches he exporters there is a high chance of product damage, which leads to payments cuts which ultimately affects the profit margins.
The house is a two-room mud house. Satyaranjan shares kitchen with his younger brother Bishradeb. The house is not equipped with electricity and in this case dhibris (kerosene lamps) is used to produce light
Photo: Products made by Satyaranjan Halder unit
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while cooking, Sholapith work, studying or any other purpose. For drinking water they depend on a common hand pump in the community and for any other water needs, the family use a privately owned pokhar.
Satyaranjan has never taken any loan or any kind of financial assistance from any bank or any micro finance company. He has not taken any design or business training and has never taken part in exhibition or craft fairs. Financially he manages to get good orders and for which he has never taken any loan from any bank.
3.2.16Unit 16: Subhankar Halder, Maheshpur
Subhankar Halder, Proprietor: Subhankar Halder Vill.: Maheshpur, P.O.: Gopalnagar,P.S.: Mandirbazar block,District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Age: 40 yrsQualification: Bachelors of Arts (B.A.) passIn business since: 15 years
Shubhankar lives with his wife Meena and a son Sayan. Sayan is 8 years old and studies in Class 3rd in a nearby school. Shubhankar and his family belong to Pondro caste, which is a Scheduled caste in India.
Shubhankar owns 2 bighas of farmland where he grows daal, dhaan, etc. He involves labour to do the farming.
The unit was started by Shubhankar’s father. At home there is room which is used as a work place where 5 labourers can sit and work. Not all work happens at this workplace. A major portion of work is outsourced from about 10 labourers living in Maheshpur and Gopalnagar village. Another 25 labourers from a distant village supports Shubhankar business.
Shubhankar says that his unit makes all kind of Sholapith products and decorations. Some of the products made by Subhankar’s unit are:
Sholapith Pana flowerSholapith Mangolia flowerSholapith Lily flowerSholapith Kundari flowerSholapith Belly flowerSholapith Jui flowerSholapith Lotus flowerSholapith Rose flower,Sholapith Cabbage ballSholapith Tip ballSholapith Lata balland a variety of Sholapith stick items.
The rates of all the Sholapith products are generally fixed by Shubhankar.
All new design at the unit is entirely Shubhankar’s idea. The samples of the new designs are shown to the exporters for approval. After the approval Shubhaknar
gets his order and many a times he gets an advance to the tune of 50% with the order.
Shubhankar out-sources a part of his order work to his labourers outside his workplace at his house. For example he out-sources the production of Chili (with aluminium wire inserts), kind of flower used in Sholapith Chili stick. For every 1000 pieces of such flower, the labourer earns Rs. 25 and if the labourer makes 3000 Chili pieces in 2 days, then she earns Rs. 75 for the work.
One of the order which the unit received from an exporter in Kolkata was to make 20,000 pieces of Sholapith Pana flower for Rs. 80,000, at the rate of Rs. 4 per piece. A team of 4 labour was able to make 2,000 pieces (approx.) everyday. The cost of raw material and the labour charges was Rs 3 per piece. From the entire order Shubhankar was able to make a profit of Rs. 20,000. Recently, Shubhankar also received an
Photo: Subhankar Halder with his family
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order to make 20,000 pieces of Sholapith Lily flower. The order was worth Rs. 60,000 at the rate of Rs. 3 per flower. The making cost including the raw material cost, labour charge for one Lily flower was Rs. 2. At the end, Shubhankar was able to make a profit of Rs, 20,000 (approx.).
The raw materials for the unit are bought locally. The raw materials are bought in form of Shola sticks, Sholapith sheets or Sholapith rolls. Each roll costs Rs. 10. 25 such rolls are tied in a bundle and are available at the local market. Few materials such as adhesive (Grippo, a Pidilite company product) is brought form Kolkata.
The work at the unit runs for almost 9 to 10 hours everyday. The work starts at 7 a.m. everyday. Everyday at the unit takes their first break at 10 a.m. and spend time to refresh himself by watching television and
takes his meal in-between. The work resumes at 10:30 a.m. and goes on till 12 at noon. Then everybody at the unit takes a break for bath and food and rest till 2:30 p.m. Then the work again resumes at goes on till 6 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. in the evening.
Shubhankar’s assigns the work to his 5 labourers everyday at the unit at his home. For example one labourer cuts the Sholapith sheet to appropriate sizes. Another labourer gives shape to the flower petals and the rest contributes in the flower assembly and final production. Shubhankar himself takes a closer look at the quality and does the works that involves the detailing and intricate designs. Labours at Shubhankar’s unit earn between Rs. 100 to Rs. 150 every day. In case of big orders and which has to be completed in short time, labourers work extra time to cover these orders where they can earn anywhere upto Rs. 250.
Shubhankar’ monthly profit from his business is Rs. 15,000 (approx.). Shubhankar has never applied for any loan. Money saved after doing all the household expenses, it is put back into the business. Till date, Shubhankar has not got any financial assistance form any bank, government or private company or association.
Shubhankar and his wife manage the unit. Shubhankar’s wife learnt the Sholapith work after she got married and come to Shubhankar’s house. On an average Shubhankar himself works for 7 to 8 hours in his unit, everyday. Shubhankar is a early riser and wakes up at 5:30 everyday. To keep him fit, he does yoga vyayam (breathing exercise) and other exercises
Photo: Sholapith pana flower in making by Subhankar Halder
Photo: The labourer coming to Subhankar’s unit to give the
finished Sholapith products
Photo: Packages of finished Sholapith products stacked by
labourers at Subhankar’s unit
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every morning.
Shubhankar house is concrete built and has two rooms, a workplace, a kitchen with a chimney, toilet room and the house is well equipped with television and electricity. He lives in a joint family setup. Shubhankar’s brother lives with his family lives in the same house. Shubhankar’s household monthly expense including food, electricity, medical facility, phone charges, etc. is Rs. 5,000 (approx.)
Shubhankar supports CPM party. This stand is very different form almost all his Sholapith cluster mates. He believes that CPM is doing a good job and people are happy under it governance, at least they have been successful in running the government since last 30 years. He is all happy in his village and prefers his village life in comparison to the city life.
3.2.17Unit 17: Sudaib Purkait, Gokulnagar
Sudeb Purkait, Proprietor, Sudeb Purkait Dry FlowerVill.: Gokulnagar,P.O.: South Bishnupur, P.S.: Mandirbazar,District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Age: 28 yrsQualification: Class 9th passIn business since: 25 years
Sudeb lives with his daughter, grandson, wife and his father. He makes a variety of Sholapith products but mainly focusses on Sholapith stick items.
He supplies to exporters Delhi and Kolkata. In Delhi he has a relative who buys his product who supplies the products to local dry flower markets. In Kolkata also he supplies to local dry flowers markets. At times he gets order from local Sholapith units. A few times some exporters visited him at his house and had given him orders for Sholapith products.
Some of the products made at his unit are:
Sholapith rajnigandha naal stickSholapith rajnigandha flower and naal stick (35 cms)Sholapith skin lily flower stick (18 cms)Sholapith pine (white) stick
Sholapith skin kadam (half) stickSholapith rajnigandha stickSholapith poppy with paper leaves stickSholapith skin daisy flower stickSholapith poppy (blossom) stick
Photo: Subhankar’s two-storied house in Maheshpur Photo: Sudeb Purkait with his family
Photo: Sudeb showing the Sholapith products made at his unit
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Sholapith berry stickSholapith skin belly flower stickSholapith chips dahlia flower stickSholapith flower 1 stickSholapith roomal pine flower stick
One of the recent order which Sudeb got was of Sholapith berry stick for Rs. 1,00,000. He made a profit of Rs. 10,000 from the order after spending Rs. 90,000 on raw material, on labour charge and transportation charges. Another order which recently he completed was to produce 1000 pieces of Sholapith rajnigandha stick for Rs. 8,000.
Sudeb and his family lives in a kaccha house (mud and bamboo house) which has two living rooms, a kitchen and a store room.
The main hurdle in his Sholapith business, which he faces is that he is unable to buy raw material whenever
he manages to get new orders. As a result he misses on the opportunity to fulfill the order. He applied for loan but he was not successful.
3.2.18Unit 18: Sushanta Gayan, Pukuria
Sushanta Gayen, Proprietor, Radha Krishna Sola ProductsVill.: Pukuria,P.O.: South Bishnupur,P.S.: Mandirbazar,District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Age: 35 yrsQualification: Class 8th passIn business since: 16 years
Sushanta lives with his wife, a son, a daughter and
mother and father. Sushanta’s father Duryodhan Gayen was instrumental in teaching Sushanta the Sholapith craft and its business. Sushanta does the Sholapith business along with his younger brother, Prashanta. Sushanta has 1 bigha of farmland, and the farm is mainly used for rice cultivation. The rice from the farm lasts only for 7 to 8 months. Sushanta belong to Pondro Khatriyo caste, which is a Scheduled caste in India.
Sushanta is well versed with the Sholapith business with the exporters.
Some of the Sholapith products made at Sushanta’s unit are:
Sholapith sunflowerSholapith bakuliaSholapith bellSholapith ZiniaSholapith paper ballSholapith rose ballSholapith aakandh kudiyaSholapith rose bunch stickSholapith rose flowerSholapith beldumSholapith jhadu stickSholapith peacock stickThe new samples are made by Sushanta and he takes it to the exporters in Kolkata. On receiving orders he distributes it to the labourers for the production. Sushanta’s wife supports hips in his business. She can speak both Bengali and Hindi.
Sushanta has engaged 60 labourers for his business.
Photo: Sudeb Purkait’s workplace unit at his house Photo: Sudeb Purkait working on Sholapith craft at his unit
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He buys raw material when as per the order, whenever needed. He has his main unit very near to his house and it is on the main road. Some 5-6 labourers work at his unit for 8 hours daily. Rest of labourers who are from other villages like Mandirbazar, Maheshpur, Baansberia, and most of these labourers are women. When the order come Sushanta and his team at unit in Pukuria prepares the raw materials, which are semi-finished materials and it is distributed to the labourers at all different locations. The process of peeling, slicing, cutting, shaping, sticking, assembly and all different phases of a product generally involves many labourers, each doing different processes. The products move form one labour to another for its next phases of making. All these labourers work from their home. At home labourers do not have a fixed timing for the production work. They work whenever they get time in-between their daily household work. Some of the tools used are knives, pair of scissors and measuring scale.
One of the exporter from Kolkata visited Sushanta’s unit discussed with him about the business. Recently the exporter gave an order of 20,000 pieces of Sholapith sunflower for a total of Rs. 1,00,000 at the rate of Rs. 5 per piece. The project’s time-line was one month. There was no advance money given for the order. To complete such a big order Sushanta had to distribute this order to his labourers. Every flower was made using labourers doing their part. Labourers were involved to peel the stick to make sheets, cut the sheets into petals, make and dye the inner core of the flower, assembling the core and the petals to make the final product. For the final assembly Rs. 300 was paid for every 1000 pieces at the rate of Rs. 30 paisa per piece, as labour charge, which means Rs. 6,000 for 20,000 pieces. The transportation charges were paid by Sushanta. At the completion of the order Sushanta made Rs. 5,000 as his profit.There are times when Sushanta’s unit gets orders and there are days when they don’t get any order. Single
orders can run up to one month to 3 months. The competition in the region is high and the exporters are very particular about the prices. It is not easy to make a good profit every month. On an average every month Sushanta earns profit of about Rs. 4000 to Rs. 5000
Photo: Sushanta Gayen with all the members in the joint family Photo: Sushanta Gayen with a few of his Sholapith products Photo: Sholapith belli and zinia flowers
Photo: Sholapith beldum flower made by Sushanta Gayen
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from his Sholapith business. And, after all the monthly expenses he manages to save a very small amount, which is about Rs. 800 to 1,200 (approx.). Sushanta is really living on edge of his entire business.
During his entire business, Sushanta has never got any help form any government or association, non-profit organization (NGO) or any institute. He has managed his business entirely by himself and the exporters who give him order, regularly. Now, he is entirely depended on the exporters and wishes, if can someday send his products directly to the international buyers.
House comprises of five living rooms and the rooms, one each for the four brother & their family and one for the parents. The house is well equipped with electricity, hand pump for drinking water, etc. Sushanta and his other three brothers together have a big house, considering the four families who live together. All the four families have separate kitchens, even Sushanta’s
father and mother have a separate kitchen. Sushanta’s kitchen is big enough to stock the Sholapith products. The house also has an aangan (open courtyard), separate toilet and a temple room. Sushanta and his brother together own a pokhar.
For any medical facility, Sushanta and his family go Mathurapur or Diamond harbour, since there is not hospital or medical facility in his village.
3.2.19Unit 19: Sushanta Halder
Sushanta Halder, Proprietor, Halder Shola SupplierVill.: Matilal, P.O.: Degberia,P.S.: Mandirbazar,District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Age: 42 yrsQualification: Class 10th (Madhyamik) passIn business since: 15 years
Sushanta lives with his wife, a son and a daughter. They belong to Pondro caste, which is a Scheduled caste in India. Sushanta has two bighas of farmland jointly owned by his younger brother Prashanta, and the farm is mainly used for rice cultivation.
Sushanta’s main unit is in Matilal village. Other units are in Mandirbazar village and Mallikpur village. There are 200 to 300 labourers who work for Sushanta’s unit.
Most of them are women and work form their home.
Sholapith rope ball, Sholapith cabbage ball, Sholapith chips ball, Sholapith gardenia ball, variety of Sholapith flower sticks, Sholapith belly flower, etc are few among a long list of Sholapith products that are produced at Sushanta’s unit.
Sushanta makes new design of the sample by himself. He makes between 5 to 10 pieces of every design and takes it to the exporter for approval. He travels all he way to Kolkata in train to meet the exporters. On approval the exporters gives order for production at he same time or they take 10 to 20 days to give order. He has learned to create new Sholapith products, and it has happened since he has been working for almost 15 years. The everyday work with Sholapith has given him many new ideas, which he converts into samples. The new designs are totally based on Sholapith. The property of the material guides the new samples. The new designs can be considered to be a result of in-built creative synergy between Sholapith and the craftsman. The better the craftsman’s material understanding, better the design.
Every year Sushanta buys his Shola wood stock during the month of October and November and keeps it at the unit in Matilal. One truck full (TATA 407 model) Sholapith wood costs him Rs 50,000 to Rs. 60,000. These materials come from places like Bunga, Silampur, Howrah, etc. Whenever he needs more, he buys it from the Saturday market, locally.
The Sholapith raw materials or the semi finished material for the Sholapith products are produced by 4
Photo: Stock of Shola sticks fitted under the roof
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to 5 labourers (local villagers) at the Matilal unit and then it is supplied to other local labourers who work from their home. These labourers finish the product at their home and bring it back to the main unit. It’s like a ‘work from home’ working system. The system is very helpful for the craftswomen since its not possible for them to come to the unit everyday. Instead they work form home whenever they get time after they finish their everyday household work. The unit is the nodal centre for all the labourers to pick up raw or semi-finished Sholapith material and bring back the finished products.
Sushanta’s labourers at the Matilal unit work for 8 hours (approx.) everyday. The work starts at 7 a.m. and continues till 11:30 a.m., then the labourers take a lunch break. The work resumes at 2 p.m. (approx.) and goes on till 5:30 p.m. (approx.). Again after a break for 1 hour, the work again resumes and can go till 8:30 p.m. in the evening. Rest is important for the labourers and
they regular breaks and a long lunch break. Labourers bring their lunch with them or go home for lunch and rest. Sushanta provides snacks to his unit labourers in the evening, everyday.
Labourers at the main unit in Matilal earns Rs 100 everyday and the labourers who work from home earns on the basis of the number of pieces they produce. Sanath Halder, one of the labourer at Matilal unit earns Rs. 2,800 to Rs. 3,000 per month. Pintu Halder is rickshaw-wala who works for Sushanta and helps him in transportation of materials between his units in the local region.
The main tools used at Sushanta’s unit are knives, which he bought for Rs. 150 from the local market. These knives are made by local blacksmiths (lohar or kamars in Bengali). Other materials such as adhesives are bought from the local suppliers who bring it form Kolkata.
One of the recent production order which Sushanta received was for 15,000 pieces of Sholapith Gardenia ball for an amount of Rs. 75,000 from an exporter in Kolkata. The order was to make the balls in blue, green and purple colour. The raw material was dyed at Sushanta’s main unit in Matilal. The size of the ball was fixed to 6 cm diameter, which costs 55 paisa per ball. Other costs included Rs. 2 for raw material, Rs. 1 for labour charge, 50 paisa for adhesive and 55 paisa for packaging & transportation. The exporter did pay for the final transportation. At the completion of the order, Sushanta makes a profit of 40 paisa (approx.) per Sholapith gardenia ball. On complete of the order he made Rs. 6000 (approx.). The order was completed
in 1 month.
Sushanta regularly gets a repeat order, when the production is of good quality and in on time.
On an average, Sushanta makes earns a profit of Rs. 8,000 to Rs, 10,000 per month. In some months, he does not get any income when there is no order.
Sushanta has a concrete house, which he built in 2008 and before that he and his brother had a mud house. The house is equipped with electricity and facilities like television and computer system. His house has three rooms on the ground floor. One room is for the Sholapith raw material and products. The other two rooms belong to the two brothers Sushanta and Prashanta. He has a separate kitchen. The house has an attached toilet and an open aangan (courtyard). For drinking water, the family depends on the tube well and for other needs like washing clothes, washing
Photo: Sushanta Halder with his children Photo: Pintu Halder, rickshaw wala works for Sushanta’s unit
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utensils and bathing they use the pokhar water.
Sushanta has never taken part in any craft fair or exhibition and he has never taken any loan or any kind of financial assistance from government, any bank or any association. He says if he get some financial assistance or loan, his business will grow and he can buy more raw materials with that extra money get more production orders.
Sushanta accepts that language is a big issue, if he wishes to contact any buyer directly outside India. He also needs to learn the export market and the rules and regulations of export.
3.2.20Unit 20: Uttam Halder, Bazarberia
Uttam Halder, Proprietor, Maa Kaali Mata Dry Flowers
Vill.: Bazarberia,P.O.: South Bishnupur, P.S.: Mandirbazar,District: South 24 Parganas W.B., India
Age: 28 yrsQualification: Class 9th passIn business since: 4 years
Uttam Halder lives with his wife, two brothers, father and mother. Uttam works along with his elder brother Gautam Halder in the Sholapith business. Their wives are highly skilled in Sholapith craft and help them in their business with sampling and production. His elder most brother works with a company in Kolkata.
He belongs to Pondro caste, which is a Scheduled caste in India. Uttam and his brother together own three bighas of farmland. The farm is used for rice cultivation and they also have land where they grow vegetables and fruits and the families uses the entire produce. The families also have cattle.Uttam has studies till class 9th after which he stopped his studies. When inquired, why did he left his studies, he replied, ‘Kya karenge padh ke’ (What will I do with studies). He said, after studies he will have to work in the Sholapith business, so there was no reason to continue studies.
The exporter that Uttam and brother work with is in Kolkata. They have enough order from this one company and as a reason they do not approach any new exporter. Uttam develops the new samples by his own and take sit to exporters in Kolkata to get it approved for the production orders. Payments from exporters are not regular and in time. After delivery of finished products by Uttam, the exporters at times take 2-3 months to make the payments.Uttam has all his labourers in Bazarberia village. To get new orders is a tough job for Uttam, since the
Photo: Sholapith gardenia ball made at Sushanta’s unit Photo: Sushanta is making a Sholapith zebra ball
Photo: A Sholapith zebra ball made by Sushanta
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exporters are not regular in giving advance. Mostly they do not give any advance and in that case it is very difficult for Uttam to fulfill the order since he does not have initial money to even buy raw materials.
All the products made by Uttam and brother are all handmade products. No machine used in making samples or production. Except the plastic ball that is outsourced from it made by blow moulding machine locally by other units.
Sholapith Cone ball: 4 cms, 6 cms, 10 cms sizes / skin / white / dyed in many coloursSholapith Rose flower: 4 cms, 6 cms, 10 cms sizesSholapith Beauty rose flower: 4 cms, 6 cms, 10 cms sizesSholapith Sunflower: 4 cms, 6 cms, 10 cms sizes SholapithSholapith Kadam flower
Sholapith Genda flower
Every month Uttam earns Rs. 2,000 (approx.) as profit from his Sholapith business. The money is utilized for his household consumption and for his family expenses. He is not able to do any savings after his monthly expenses.
Uttam works for 9-10 hours a day. He is a early riser and every morning he wake sup at 6 a.m. He works in the morning from 7 a.m. to 12 a.m., then eats his lunch, takes rest and resumes his work at 2:30 till 6 p.m. In the evening he starts his work by 7 p.m. and works till 10 p.m. after which he eats his dinner and sleep by midnight.
Uttam lives with his brother and they live in a joint family. The house has two living rooms for two brothers, a temple room, store for rice, kitchen, a toilet
room and the house has an open courtyard. The living room is also used to store the Shola sticks stock.Uttam’s village has a government school but it does not have a hospital. There is a local in Pukuria village where they go for medical consultation and all the serious medical facilities they have to go to places like Nayarhaat, Mathurapur. For minor body pain, fever, etc. they manage themselves with remedies at home.
Uttam and his brother have never got any training for their business from any government, associations, NGOs or any institute. He has never taken local or never got any financial assistance form. They have developed all the skills for the Sholapith craft by working from for other local units in the region and learning form them. He has never taken part on any craft exhibition or fairs to showcase his products and generate business for his unit.
Photo: Uttam Halder with his family
Photo: Sholapith balls made at Uttam’s unit
Photo: Sholapith flower made by Uttam Halder
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Photo: Sholapith rose flower making by Uttam Halder (1) Photo: Sholapith rose flower making by Uttam Halder (2)
Photo: Sholapith rose flower making by Uttam Halder (3) Photo: Sholapith rose flower made by Uttam Halder
3.3Findings
The twenty Sholapith cluster units of Man-dirbazar block is close knit community and is the backbone to thousands of families en-gaged with Sholapith craft. Since a few de-cades the cluster has progressed from produc-ing products for local market to reaching the international customers through a few export-ers form Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore, etc. The need assessment survey took a dive into the issues and emerging opportunities to evolve the cluster to a solid product and busi-ness innovation by engaging its stakeholders to work together for the same.
A few findings and the recommendations from the survey of the units are mentioned below:
FINDINGS- The cluster units are mainly producing the similar Sholapith products such as Sholapith flowers, Sholapith flower sticks and Sholapith decorative balls.
- The designs are reproduction of the same Sholapith products designs year on year which is totally dictated by the exporters. The clusters units lack their own innovation.
- The products made by the cluster units are
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ARJUN PAIK
THE TWENTY SHOLAPITH CLUS-TER UNITS OFMANDIRBAZAR BLOCK
EDUCATION QUALIFICATION
HOUSE & FACILITIES
BASUDEB HALDER
BISHRADEB HALDER
SANATH HALDER
SATYARANJAN HALDER
SATIBRATA HALDER
SUDEB PURKAIT
PRASHANT KUMAR HALDER
PRADIP SARDER
KALIPADA MONDALKALIDAS NASKER
JAYANTA GAYEN
DEBU GAYEN
DEBASHISH SARDER
CHINIBUS MISTRY
SHUBHANKAR HALDER
SUSHANTA GAYEN
SUSHANTA HALDER
UTTAM HALDER
MONTHLY INCOME
FAMILYFARMLAND & OTHER OCCUPATION
BUSINESS APPROACHLOANS
CRAFT FAIRS & EXHIBITIONS
PRODUCTS
in tough competition with those coming form China, Thailand, Japan, Bangladesh, USA, Australia, etc. and lack in quality and product differentiation. The designs lack the facility,expertise and funds to get to know about the current international markets trends. The latest lifestyle trends and evolving needs of these products are not at all consid-ered at the unit level.
- The clusters regional infrastructure is not
at all supportive to the Sholapith business. The facilities such as electricity supply, fresh drinking water supply, internet services, transportation is not optimum for the busi-ness to grow. Due to lack of enough electricity supply the units for short seven to eight hours and are unable to complete orders in time.
- The main raw material i.e. Shola wood for the units is expensive to buy since they do not have ready money and the exporters do not
pay advance money at the time of production orders.
- The units have never been able to get finan-cial assistance from local banks or govern-ment in the past on account of unavailability of appropriate documents.
- The tools and the machines are outdated and lack sophistication to handle quality and speedy production.
- The products quality if not of utmost impor-tance since the units focusses on meeting de-livery deadlines and maximizing the profits.Even the packaging of the Sholapith products and transportation is not at all suitable for the delicate Sholapith products which gener-ally get damaged by the time they reach the exporters godowns.
- The cluster lack its brand value since the exporters takes all the limelight in the inter-national markets and portray the Sholapith product as created by them.
- The units inspite of working since a few decades lack any knowledge about the proce-dures and guidelines about the direct export procedures as recently they have shown inter-est to cater to the foreign buyers by them-selves.
- The units face a low profit due to exploita-
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tion by the exporters and at the same time increasing raw material prices further reduces their profit margins.- The cluster inspite of being involved in the craft since last many decades has never seen any intervention by the governments, financial institutions, social organizations or research and design institutes. As a result the craft has remained traditional and at the mercy of exporters.
- The craftsmen have never undergone any formal training assisted by governments of institutes. Due to lack of exposure crafts-men have been practicing same processes for many decades.
- No documented research on the Shola wood have been carried out to increase its produc-tivity or no experts have been involved to develop new products catering to functional need along with decorative and lifestyle needs.
- The craftsmen have suffered by lack of knowledge about proper postures and ergo-nomic issues while working. They sit for long hours which causes health issues and affects the work.
- The craftsmen have never participated in trade fairs at local, state, national and interna-tional level.
- The unit members and the craftsmen have hardly completed primary education. The literacy rate is quite low among the families involved in the craft as a result of insufficient household income as well as inefficient edu-cational systems in government schools. The craftsmen and the unit owners know only Bengali language and can hardly speak hindi or english.
- The unit owners on an average earn Rs. 5000 to Rs. 10,000 per month and the crafts-men on an average earn Rs. 2000 to Rs. 2500 per month Such a low earning make it difficult for the members of the cluster to support their business as well as household expenses.
- The unit owners and the craftsmen do not have proper living conditions. The houses are made up of bamboo, mud and rice straw with no facilities such as electricity supply, enough workplace, sufficient living room for all the members and the houses do not even have toilets.
- The steady urbanization in the region is pushing the inflation high in terms of expen-sive food, clothing, every items.
RECOMMENDATION- Units need to be educated and trained in the intricacies of export. CFC should take this ini-tiatiative and also help facilitate direct contact
between the units and end buyers.
- CFC must procure export licenses on behalf of the units.
- CFC must set up an e-commerce portal to showcase and directly sell the units’ products online.
- CFC must also undertake to educate the units on design innovation so as to better and diversify their offerings.
- Additionally, food-related needs and medical needs of individual unit members have to be taken care of. The central and state govern-ment must take an initiative on this front.
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VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS OF
SHOLAPITH CLUSTER
4.0
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4.1 Sholapith cluster: Value Chain AnalysisMandirbazar’s Sholapith cluster is known throughout the Sholapith business in India. A number of exporters have engaged thousands of Sholapith craftsmen who together meet the national as well as international Sholapith products demand. The capacity of all the stakeholders of this industry to turn that advantage into a larger and growing market share is constrained by a number of factors. The value chain components of the Sholapith cluster includes description of the Sholapith products market, the business enabling environment in Mandirbazar block and the market actors in the core value chain and supporting markets.
There has to be a synergy between the demand - supply - demand to make the Sholapith cluster evolve and be sustainable.
4.1.1Demand market channels
- Large retailers: largest retailers world wide are the largest channels of Sholapith products. - Importers and distributors which sells both to the large importers, retailers and independent retainers
- Independent retailers with small local and regional chains of stores- Direct to consumers through websites- Direct to consumers through tourism
4.1.2Sholapith business enabling environment
All is not well and the Sholapith business environment in Mandirbazar region does not favour new growths because the people involved lack confidence to get new business. The financial strength needed to buy the raw material for the production. The banks does not support the loans to the craftsmen for the Sholapith business.
4.1.3The Sholapith value chain role players
The functions of market actors in the value chain include
1. Raw material supply2. Preparation for Sholapith product development: Cutting, peeling, stacking, rolling, colouring, shaping (ex. Sholapith petals for flowers).3. Final shaping, assembly finishing work, tagging and packaging
4. Delivery to exporters: The final packaged Sholapith products are delivered to the exporters in Kolkata and Chennai and other cities.5. Financial services: The include Commercial banks Micro lending institutions Informal local money lenders All the Sholapith cluster members interviewed stated non availability of loans or high interest rates as the primary reason they cannot plan to grow their business, promisingly.
6. Transportation and delivery services of Sholapith products
The Value chain Sholapith business actors include- Farmers- Raw material, tools and chemical suppliers- Craftsmen and craftswomen- Sholapith unit owners- Local traders- Exporters- Buyers- Online traders- Bloggers- Customers and users
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- Financial supporters and banks- Government, institutes and association- NGOs- Designers, researchers, trend analysts
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4.2 Sholapith cluster: FindingsThis section presents the principal findings of the analysis, in particular, the priority constraints and opportunities for increasing the competitiveness of the Sholapith handicraft cluster. The section first reviews the process used to prioritize constraints and opportunities and then discusses them in order.
The WB Government has lacked a clear vision and plan for developing the Sholapith craft industry, including an articulated (though perhaps an implicit one existed) strategy for positioning Sholapith craft’s industry competitively in the global marketplace. Part of what is needed is a better understanding of the constraints and opportunities of the industry, the outlines of what a competitive strategy might look like, and some practical strategies to move the industry forward in this challenging environment.
4.2.1The NAS discovered the need for real progress regarding the introduction of designs, production techniques, market opportunities, and sources of inputs. There is also an urgent need for:
1. a strategy or plan for the development of
the Sholapith craft industry2. a competitiveness strategy that positions the Sholapith craft in the global marketplace
3. a commercial strategy for local upgradation
4. sustainable, supportive buyers, exporters and retailers, online traders that meet the needs of the industry
5. improved vertical and horizontal linkages between the Sholapith cluster units, that reduce transaction costs and improve economies
Prominent constraints and opportunities were identified through interviews with Sholapith value chain stakeholders.
4.2.2The following are a complete list of value chain constraints noted through the course of interviews with market actors of the value chain.
1. Lack of access to product design services and market information for new product development
2. Lack capacity to identify and link with
Sholapith buyers
3. Lack of access to regular and affordable raw materials
4. Lack access to productivity enhancing techniques & equipment
5. Lack access to production financingcraft units
6. Little know-how of exporting channels and contacts
7. Lack of proper education, health, local governance and political environment
8. Poor infrastructure: electricity, communications, roads
9. Lack capacity to promote/market products
10. Lack access to sufficiently large workspace
11. Lack access to financing for non-production costs
12. Lack of craft events, branding and promotion
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4.2.3The following are a complete list of value chain opportunities noted through the course of interviews with market actors of the value chain.
1. Opportunity for benevolent financial intermediaries 2. Opportunity for designer/producers to provide design services to craft factories and workshops
3. Entrepreneurial opportunity for every individual in the Sholapith cluster area
4. Opportunity for training the units for certain to the needs to the global market directly and having export exposure and know-how.
5. Opportunity for branding, promotion through exhibitions and use of internet technology.
The constraints or opportunities are based on the potential for a resolved constraint or realized opportunity to:
1. increase the competitiveness of the overall Sholapith cluster sector in terms of market actors’ increased efficiencies, differentiation of products and penetration of new markets;
and
2. benefit Sholapith craft producers, including labourers of Sholapith units, in terms of increased income, employment and opportunities for upgrading
The highest priority constraints and opportunities were those that strongly responded to both criteria. These are described below in detail.
4.2.4Constraints and opportunities
1. The need for agents and buyers2. Access to product development services and market information3. Access to regular and affordable raw materials and other inputs4. Access to financing5. Enabling environment constraints
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RECOMMENDATIONS5.0
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5.1 Sholapith cluster: Highlight recommendations
The author believes that the Sholapith craft plays a valuable role in building a local economic sustainability and a contemporary local society in Mandirbazar block. A stronger and a sturdier cluster model will help the environmental, social, cultural & physical well-being of the Sholapith cluster to evolve.
The proposed model of the stakeholders and the CFC formulation and its implementation
will help the cluster in many different ways such as increase quality & productivity of the cluster units, pilot the product & service innovation, boost its competitiveness, trigger new business developments and establish a socio-business balance of the cluster itself. The performance of one stakeholder is related to the performance of other stakeholders and the overall competitiveness of the cluster will establish demand of Sholapith products.
The ‘Progressive CFC model’ of Sholapith cluster attempts to bring in synergy between the close stakeholders of the cluster help build demand and supply for the Sholapith products. DCS scheme for MSMEs as a tool for business & design strategy will be a boon for the Sholapith cluster’s long term sustainability.
Following the NAS of the Sholapith cluster units and the other role players the researcher proposes a set of possible next steps. The two highest priorities are to support the nascent initiative taken by the Sholapith units members towards improving access to timely information on product development and design; and assessing the feasibility of expanding the commercial buyers / exporters / agent function.
The following are the highlight recommendations:
1. New product development and design on the basis of market needs and trends study might lead to better remuneration for same efforts by the Sholapith clusters and its members.
2. Synergize supplier and purchasing logic by establishment of viable and commercial Sholapith craft agents (buyers, exporters and retailers)
Buyers & retailers
Banks & MFIs
Traders, suppliers &
exporters
Institutes (NID, IIT, EDI, etc.)
Sholapith units &
craftsmen
As-socaitions (BWWA,
SEWA, etc.)
- a resource- collectivity
- synergy- sharing
- common good- socio-business
sustainability
New business
development initiatives Sholapith
craft R&DLocal
infrastructure support
Com-munity
development initiatives
Loans & grant support
Com-puter training
centre
Rawmaterial security
Design innovation &
training
Common Facility Centre (CFC)for Sholapith
cluster
Local &
central gov-ernment
DCS for MSMEs
Customers of Sholapith products
Sholaipth cluster community
Photo: Model of the stakeholders of Sholapith cluster and the proposed Common Facility Center
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3. Intervention in the financial domain for the units for procuring raw materials or other business related expenses will yield freeing up of capital for growth both business as well as personal. This may be achieved through the MSMEs financial assistance which might be applicable for these specific units or it could also be achieved more transparent microfinancing initiatives.
4. Establish a longer-term cooperation between the education and training sector and the Sholapith cluster members to unleash the native creativity with requisite confidence which education and exposure brings along with it.
Photo: Progressive CFC ‘Diamond model’ of Sholapith cluster
5. Introduce design thinking and practising in secondary education & community life
a. Create an industry and government sponsored training and education board to develop the appropriate infrastructure for identifying and meeting training and educational needs fro the Sholapith cluster.
b. Form a regional and global team of educators to collaborate on Sholapith educational activities, including trend sensing, needs assessment on continuous basis.
c. Devise low-burden approaches for gathering and disseminating accurate market, occupational skills & educational and training data to the educational community.
d. Jointly explore the implications of education and training for small, specialized niche occupations typical of Sholapith cluster.
6. Aim to turn local talent into productive skills and jobs in tune with the advancing diverse needs of the Sholapith cluster, locally, nationally and internationally
a. Campaigning for a more diverse skill sets (processing, production, marketing, branding, trading, etc.) and raising the ambition of the local entrepreneurs and general population
b. Ensuring understanding and qualifications meet real Sholapith cluster employment
needs and with high quality market-industry intelligence
7. It may be useful/possible to mechanize some/all the processes used in the production of Sholapith products. This will lead to faster, consistent, mass scale production and might, in the long run, reduce variable cost in the production. Yet, this might not be the way to go as it will lead to unemployment among the existing labourers and rob them of their livelihood. Yet the fear is that sooner or later this might be adopted in the industry by other players nationally or internationally and adversely affect the craftsmen of the Mandirbazar block eventually.
8. Securing the raw material sources and supplies is critical and crucial to the survival of Sholapith craft in long run. Urgent efforts are needed to ensure that the Shola plant farming is boosted and the existing farming area and not encroached upon for alternative usage or destruction of wetlands on account of unauthorized encroachment.
In a longer-term intervention, the other constraints identified during this analysis should also be addressed, including lack of access to financing, poor enabling environment and irregular and expensive inputs.
In terms of specific recommendations, most of which must be undertaken by the CFC, the following is an exhaustive list:
DCS for MSMEs
Demandfor Sholapith products
Fron
t-en
dB
ack-
end
BWWA NID
Buyers & Retailers
Ministry of MSMEs
Sholapithunits & craftsmen
Material producers& suppliers
CFC
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- The Sholapith craft needs a strategy framework to highlight the historical values of the craft and connect it to the modern needs of the buyers and customers. This needs creation of hiring trends, planning, design & development, sales and marketing, branding & promotion experts strategy team for the Sholapith cluster.- For severe weather conditions in summer and rainy seasons the cluster needs a regular supply of orders and permanent craftsmen who work throughout the season. An additional payment system along with the regular payments for the work has to be brought in for the craftsmen.
- In every village in the cluster region a permanent shade with the electricity, drinking water and toilet facilities has to be built which can be utilized by multiple units as and when needed.
- The cluster needs its own permanent waterproof Shola sticks warehouse which can be used by the units to keep their raw material and access it as per their need. The availability of raw material in good condition is a priority for all the units. The raw material can be bought in bulk by the clusters which would cost lesser for the units.
- A awareness program has to be launched in the cluster region to engaged the young talent to be part of the Sholapith craft in different capacities.
- The knowledge and the skills is to be effectively passed from the senior craftsmen to the younger generation it the region.
- A common training centre can be developed where the younger population with interest in Sholapith craft can be given training in the business and product design of the Sholapith products.
- There is a greater need to empower the women workforce in the region to play a bigger role in the Sholapith business and community development.
- The cluster has to move out of the exporters clutch who rule the Sholapith business and develop its own export authority. This will cut down the middlemen profits and bring back better income for the cluster, the craftsmen and bring over all prosperity in the region.
- A common facility centre (CFC) has to be developed to tap the international market and connect to the buyers and the customers directly.
- Engage local and nationalized banks and the financial institutions for entering into a pact with the cluster, under which the country’s efficient lender would provide easy and affordable credit to Sholapith units and craftsmen.
- Engage the local government and the
panchayats to speed up the infrastructure developments in the region. Instead of making mud and brick roads, the roads should be made pakka using concrete and charcoal which would be less expensive in long run since it would require less maintenance every year especially in rainy seasons. Better roads would facilitate easy movement for the people and vehicle carrying the raw material and finished products.
- Set up a Common Computer Training Centre (CCTC) which will help the units members and the craftsmen to learn using computers. They can be effective in connecting to exporters & business, learn new design softwares to design products with better specifications and do a research about new market and product opportunities. - Engage research, business and design experts to impart better training to the cluster units and the craftsmen.- Encourage the cluster & the farmers and promote better agricultural practices in the region to produce high yield and better quality food products. The aim is to bring in the food security in the region and cut down the unwanted food price inflation. Bring in the perspective of community and collective farming among the farmers.
- Water quality standards should be revisited, especially for chemical contamination by Arsenic, and more research done.- The local government and the panchayat
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need act in advance to secure the arsenic free drinking water supply in the cluster region. Central Government should encourage state governments to develop community based water quality monitoring guidelines.
- The cluster community need to be trained and empowered to manage their own drinking water systems, including quarterly (minimum) monitoring of water quality. This should be part of a well planned and implemented campaign to generate awareness, change attitudes and behaviour.
- Majority of the craftsmen do not have electricity supply in their houses. In unfavourable summer and rainy seasons, it is impossible to work inside the house. Even in days with good weather conditions the work ends by 6:30 p.m. after which the sunlight is enough to continue the work.
- Immediate uptake of small scale renewable energy generation (grid connected and off-grid) units in cluster region is needed to ensure quality generation of electricity and supply at local level to ensure supply of electricity to all units and the region in general.
- Introduce sustainable sources of electricity supply in the cluster region. Evaluate opportunity for solar and wind powered electricity generation in the region.
- Efforts by the central and the state government
should be made to ensure that the house in the cluster region are pukka (brick and concrete) with permanent walls and permanent roofing. The permanent nature of the house would facilitate the people such the house is able to withstand the peak summer and rough rains and the weather conditions in general of the place throughout the year.
- The houses should have disaster resistant technology to be able to withstand earthquakes, cyclone, floods, etc.
- Most importantantly the spaces should be designed to help the units and the craftsmen to organize their Sholapith work, store their Shola wood safe and totally water proof and utilize the space most effectively for their peak production orders.
- Revisit the government plans for rural education and ensure the education is met for all with the help of qualified teachers, school infrastructure, and the quality education.
- Introduce subjects on creativity, design and technology in the basic curriculum in government schools and private schools which in long run would help the regions innovation capability. The schools will be the microcosm of the cluster and the region in general.
- Need for a visionary educational framework to strengthen institutional partnerships between the government, local bodies and
the community in the task of adult education promoting equity and quality for all in the region.
- Set up of a research centre for Shola plants to increase its yield and improve Sholapith use. The education and the raining programs should also focus on the awareness and better design practices.
- Train and enhance capacity of local health centres and panchayats to effectively own, control and manage public health services.
- Ensure representation of existing cluster community group and the general population on existing medical facilities centres may help facilitate their work and feedback to the community.- Promote access to improved health-care at household level through the village level volunteer worker.
- Introduce bilingual education in schools for help students learn languages such as Hindi or English other then Bengali. Multi language capability will help the students, the cluster and the region in general to help in transition to mainstream global business and lifestyle.- Set up recreational centres for the cluster members especially focussing on the elders and the senior citizens to come together for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. The senior members of the Sholapith cluster can also utilize the centres
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to discuss the issues and action plans for the cluster.
- Promote Sholapith craft region as craft based tourism for artisans and craftspeople to produce and sell their work in local and tourist markets is often critical to the overall success of a community. Successful craftsmen and craftspeople contribute to a successful communities.
- Encourage the cluster to be proud of a long Sholapith craft history for both preservation goals as well as encouraging entrepreneurship and new business development opportunities.
- Engage experts from across the design and business world to help the Sholapith cluster units achieve balance between the traditional processes within the cluster and the modern pull for the new products and services.
- The cluster members and the craftsmen must be moulded out of tradition approach to handle the Sholapith material and design new products targeting the modern lifestyle requirements across different cultures
- Focus on Sholapith clusters continuous growth will help preserving cultural inheritance, employment generation, transformation of local raw materials into useful goods and supplies to meet the needs of both rural and urban communities, income generation and linkage with other sectors.
- An efficient sales and marketing team is required to be in place to help the cluster approach buyers directly and capture markets across the globe. A better demand for Sholapith products would boost the clusters power to boost the local economy of its region.
- Shola plant research is a catalyst for future growth of the Sholapith craft and the cluster.
- Set up a research facility under the CFC for the Shola plant committed to generating awareness of environmentally sustainable applications of Shola wood through research and education.
- Encourage and facilitate the cluster to take initiative to focus of Sholapith plant cultivation collectively. The aim is to cut down cost of the raw material and help achieve Shola raw material sustainability in the region.
- Provide access for Sholapith units and craftsmen to databases of product profiles from target markets, media resources or connect service providers providing information on product demand trends.
- Facilitate the unit members and the craftsmen of outbound missions to develop an understanding of product profiles, trends and requirements.
- Engage designers, technologists, associations such as BWWA, NID, management institutes and entrepreneurship development institutes
to develop new products and business together with the units and the craftsmen.
- Include design and technology in the curriculum at all the primary and secondary schools in the region with focus on vocational training: learning by doing. The focus on students should be on involving students in thinking, writing, drawing and sketching and build in knowledge of materials, tools and processes as well as craft skills.
- Setting up a common design and technology facility under CFC with help of Ministry of MSMEs, state & central government and NID.
- Exchange of design and technology ideas can be initiated through workshops and other idea exchange programmes with indian and international craftsmen, designers and technologists.
- Engage experts from design and architecture background to develop the common workplace such as CFC.
- Ideal work spaces have to be designed and work spaces to be optimized to minimize human effort and increase productive in less time.
- Common machines such as plastic ball moulding machines, dying facility, etc. can be introduced at Common Facility Centre.
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- Introduce sustainable sources of electricity supply such as solar and wind powered electricity generation in the Common Facility Centre toe help the units and the craftsmen to work in bad light conditions.- A sourcing facility under the CFC should be set up to secure the raw material supply for the units for entire year. The raw materials if bought in bulk for the cluster, would be less expensive because of economy of scale.
- Finance facility under CFC for production of raw material in the local region with assistance from the local government and financial institutions.
- Communication and promotion facility under CFC should be set up.
- Set up Common Facility Centres and install common machines such as plastic ball moulding machine and wire cutting machines used in the cluster.
- Design and develop new machines to assist the mass production of existing and new innovative Sholapith products. This will bring down the cost of the production and speed it up as well.
- Developing new machines is a threat to employment of thousands of craftsmen in the cluster region but if the market size can be increased, it is possible to retain the craftsmen.
- The tool design facility under the CFC should be set up to design the tools to make it safer for the craftsmen as they are big and sharp in form which is not safe for the craftsmen themselves and the family members as the workplaces are part of craftsmen houses.
- The tools have to be designed as well to speed up the processes and add quality to the work.- There is ample scope for redesigning the products under CFC for local and national markets. The markets at the national level other than local villages and Kolkata have never been explored.
- The existing traditional products can be made more contemporary and relevantand according to the latest trend with the help of Indian and International designers.
- Focus on new product developments, its applications and design for new markets.
- Improvisation in Sholapith craft technology through R&D activities.
- A Common Facility Centre can be set up with modern technology to connect to the foreign buyers and customers for closer insights to design and develop new products.
- Conduct continuous researches in terms of consumer trends, market trends and competition in the local and international market.
- Apart from decorative and lifestyle products, there is a need to focus on more functional products considering the Shola pith material properties as there are lighter, flexible and have good insulation property.
- A financial facility operating under the Common Facility Centre (CFC) should be set up which arranges to buy raw material (Shola plant) in bulk from the suppliers by negotiating well with them on account of long-term relationship and economies of scale. Mechanisms should be devised to provide this raw material on loan to the units and the costs should be recovered by the CFC after the completion of the sale-transaction, preferably in the export market.
- The finance facility of the CFC should also encourage financial education of the unit owners so as to be able to leverage the CFC support in a wholesome and healthy manner.
- The processes should be streamlined and a quality should be incorporated decrease rejections by the exporters.
- The process will have planned to be more efficient, speedy, and to better quality in case the units enter the export market on their own.
- Setting up of Common facility Centre is important to carry out certain processes such as use of machines, dying or Sholapith materials. New and effective packaging techniques have to
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be established to reduce the products damage during transportation.
- The CFC will be of advantage for the entire cluster since the above processes are expensive in nature, not required all the time by the units and may require machines which uses continuous electricity supply.
- The sharing of these machines by the units of the cluster through Common Facility Centre would reduce their expenses and give equal access to new technologies.
- The farmers have should be encouraged to do collective/cooperative farming which can provide more produce, reduce effort, reduce expenses and lead to sharing of better cultivation processes and technology use.
- Cooperation and understanding between the cluster units is to be established to deal with outside exporters as a result the units can be more commanding in pricing of products.
- The cluster can be more effective and can save cost if they act together and buy raw materials in bulk. The common warehouses which are designed to store raw materials safely can be shared by the units.
- Together share the Common Facility Centre and increase their expertise to avail the facilities provided by these centres. The centres can be
effective in ways such as conducting researches common for all and setting machines which can be shared by all. It can also be used as nodal point for the cluster and the outside experts such as designers, researches, business mentors, financial institutions to share, design and develop new products, plan the businesses and avail common facilities
- Facilitate a better practice of research and development to keep the cluster in tune wi the trends for around the world market. The proposed ‘Hourglass model’ helps to see the Sholapith craft system in a very simplistic way and how build interaction between the customers and producers to innovate.
- The CFC should empower the units by negotiating on behalf of the units with the exporters. In due course, the CFC should enable direct footprint for the units in the export market, removing the reliance on exporters. This could be done by setting up an Export facility within the CFC which will procure all relevant licenses required to export the Shola products.
- The export unit of the CFC should be armed to negotiate with all buyers, retailers and exporters from a position of strength.
- The CFC should create an e-commerce portal for these units and also create awareness about their art through the online medium by use of
blogs and other social media channels.
- A financial facility operating under the Common Facility Centre (CFC) should be set up which arranges to buy raw material (Shola plant) in bulk from the suppliers by negotiating well with them on account of long-term relationship and economies of scale. Mechanisms should be devised to provide this raw material on loan to the units and the costs should be recovered by the CFC after the completion of the sale-transaction, preferably in the export market.
- Re-skilling and skill diversification should be undertaken to ensure that the alternative materials could be used by the units in their craft in case Shola goes out of favour in the international markets. This should be undertaken by the CFC.
- The CFC should facilitate the participation of the unit members in various national and international fairs and exhibitions for better exposure.
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5.2 Sholapith cluster’s NAS: ConclusionThe sustainability of the Sholapith craft depends on the sincere dedication by the stakeholders towards the craft’s business and design development aspects. The future sustainability of the craft can be achieved by bringing the front end (the users) and the back end (the producers) of Sholapith craft in sync by understanding their needs in a better way and working towards fulfilling it.
The future scope of work for NAS of Sholapith cluster are as following:
More in-depth and primary research on the end user front.
More in-depth and primary research on the exporter and the buyers.
Tool improvement and machine design possibilities for the Sholapith production processes.
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APPENDICES 6.0
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1
2 3
6.1 Tool, chemicals, machine, etc. of Sholapith cluster
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6.1 Tool, chemicals, machine, etc. of Sholapith cluster
Photos: Knives used in the Sholapith craft.
1. Wire cutter and scissors
2. Measuring scale: plastic and wooden with knife
3. Knife of different sizes: with & without wooden handle
4. Pointed handle of the knife is sused to remove hard wood
5. A craftsman using a knife with a plastic handle
6. The knife is digged in the mud floor for use
7. A craftswoman holding a knife in between the toes
8. A craftsmen sharpening knife on a wooden bat
9. A craftswoman peeling a Shola wood with a knife
10. Knife is used to cut a coconut
5 8
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7 10
4
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Photos: Tools used in the Sholapith craft.
11. A craftsman sharpening his knife on a stone block
12. A craftswoman is rolling a Shola strip on a wooden board
13. A wooden board for rolling the Shola strip
14. A craftsman holding a needle for use in the craft
15. A craftsman is using a needle to join the logs of Shola
16. A craftswoman rolling the edge of the Sholapith petal
17. A craftswoman rolling the edge of the Sholapith petal
18. Sholapith rose petals’ rolled edges with the help of a needle
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16
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Photos: Tools use in Sholapith craft
19. Nylon tyre thread in the shop, South bishnupur
20. A craftsman using a nylon tyre thread to tie the flower
21. Plastic string tied to a piller for pulling and tying flowers
22. A craftsman holding a cotton thread
23. A craftsman using a cotton thread to tie a Sholapith bud
24. Hand made measuring tool made of Sholawood
25. A craftsman is using a handmade (Shola wood) tool for
measuring and cutting Shola sticks in bunch
26. The handmade wooden tool is still in hand while the cut
cut part is dropped off the bunch
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23
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27 28 29
30 31 32
34
Photos: Adhesive used in the Sholapith craft
27. Polysynthetic resin adhesive, Grippo by Pidilite
28. A craftswomen using Grippo adhesive to make
Sholapith kali (white) ball
29. Grippo is kept in open in the adhesive container’s cap
30. Polyurethane Adhesive, Stiko
31. A craftswoman applying adhesive on plastic ball
32. 3. Stiko adhesive is poured in a coconut shell
33. Polysynthetic resin adhesive, WG, a wood adhesive
34. A craftswomen using WG to make Sholapith hexa
chips rose stick 33
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Photos: Blowmoulding machine to produce plastic balls
35. Semi automatic blow moulding machine
36. Plastic granules for producing the plastic balls
37. A preform of the ball is drawn inbetween the cavities
38. The cavity is closed and the hot air is pumped in
39. After 3 - 5 seconds the cavity is opened to detach the ball
40. The hot plastic ball is put in cold water to cool down
41. The final plactos balls are ready to be dispatched to the
Sholapith units for making decorative balls
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a c e
b d f
6.2 Step by Step process of Sholapith rose makingThere is almost 250 variety of Sholapith products in making in the Sholapith cluster in a year. Here, the author is putting a step by step process of one of Sholapith product. Sholapith beauty rose flower has been chosen to show the process of the flower making
form Shola wood. The making of the flower can start from a simply from a Shola stick or the ready made roll of Shola sheet is used to save time for production. The process of making he flower can start from ‘a’, ‘e’ or ‘f’. To make the process easy to understand, the author
chose to start the process form the very beginning, using a few Shola sticks. The process for the same starts at ‘1’ and completes on ‘78’. Rest of photos aims to show the packaging and the delivery process. In the end a few of the concerns are highighted.
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6.3 Step by Step process of Sholapith dyingPhotos form 1 to 32 shows the Sholapith dying process and the making of Sholapith kadam flower (known as aliflaila as the flower is multicoloured).
The chemical colours are bought locally from the
market. The white Sholapith products are dyed at the cluster unit level and many a times they are dyed at the exporters units. The expoxters do it at their end as they are better equipped to maintain the colour consistency for the entire production.
There is a need for a colour and dying department at the common facility centre for the Sholapith cluster. As a result the units will be compatible to carry out these processes and keep up the quality of the production s per the buyers quality standards.
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30
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6.4 Sholapith products made for the export market
The Sholapith products made in Sholapith cluster of
Mandirbazar block is 100% (approx.) made for the export
market. The products made in the cluster units are directly sent
to the exporters who further process it and send it forward to the
buyers in the foreign countries.
List of the Sholapith products made in the Sholapith cluster are
as following:
SHOLAPITH FLOWER
Sholapith Artichoke Bud
Sholapith Bakulia flower
Sholapith Beauty Rose flower
Sholapith Beldum flower
Sholapith Belli flower
Sholapith Belli (new) flower
Sholapith Button flower
Sholapith Carnis flower
Sholapith Chakri flower
Sholapith Chips Dahlia flower
Sholapith chips flower
Sholapith Chips Lotus flower
Sholapith Chinese Java flower
Sholapith Chinese joba
Sholapith Fan flower
Sholapith ………… flower 1
Sholapith Gandhraj flower
Sholapith Gardenia flower
Sholapith Genda flower
Sholapith Jui flower
Sholapith Kadam flower
Sholapith Kadam (Aliflaila) flower
Sholapith Kundari flower
Sholapith Lily flower
Sholapith Lokhi/Lakshmi flower
Sholapith Lotus flower
Sholapith Magnolia flower
Sholapith Marine Rose ball
Sholapith Lotus (new) flower
Sholapith Pana flower
Sholapith Patol flower
Sholapith poppy flower
Sholapith Rajnigandha flower
Sholapith Rose flower
Sholapith Rose flower - pink
Sholapith Australia Rose flower
Sholapith Thai Rose flower
Sholapith Shankha flower
Sholapth Sunflower
Sholapith Dahlia flower
Sholapith Zinia flower
SHOLAPITH FLOWER - skin
Sholapith skin lotus flower
Sholapith skin beauty rose
Sholapith skin lily flower
Sholapith Skin rose flower
Sholapith Skin Zinia flower
PALM FLOWER
Palm Flower - pink
Palm sunflower
PALM STICK
Palm Lily stick
Palm artichoke stick
PALM BALL
Palm artichoke ball
SHOLAPITH STICK
Sholapith Aakundh kudiya
Sholapith Belli flower stick
Sholapith Belli flower, bud and leaf stick
Sholapith Belli flower and Corn leaf stick
Sholapith Berry stick
Sholapith Chili stick
Sholapith chips dahlia stick
Sholapith Chips Flower stick
Sholapith Chips Wave stick
Sholapith Cosmos stick
Sholapith dhaneshish stick
Sholapith Fan stick
Sholapith flat pine stick
Sholapith Gulab stick
Sholapith Jhudi stick
Sholapith kachurmukhi stick
Sholapith kudi flower & wire spring stick
167
Sholapith lanka kali stick
Sholapith Lata ball, Corn leaf and Shola skin rajani bud stick
Sholapith Lily stick
Sholapith Lily bud stick
Sholapith Lily flower and fan stick
Sholapith Lily flower (with coconut stick) ting ting stick
Sholapith Log stick
Sholapith Peacock stick
Sholapith Poppy stick
Sholapith Rajni stick
Sholapith Rajnigandha flower stick
Sholapith Rose bunch stick
Sholapith rose flower stick
Sholapith Zinia stick
SHOLAPITH STICK - skin
Sholapith Skin Chips Lily stick
Sholapith skin Jhudi flower stick
Sholapith skin Lily flower stick
Sholapith skin rajnigandha stick
Sholapith Skin ting ting stick
SHOLAPITH BALL
Sholapith Artichoke bud ball
Sholapith Ata ball
Sholapith berry ball
Sholapith Busy Rope ball
Sholapith Cabbage ball
Sholapith chatka ball
Sholapith Chips ball
Sholapith Cone ball
Sholapith Crape ball
Sholapith Gardenia ball
Sholapith Guli ball
Sholapith Kali ball
Sholapith Lata ball
Sholapith Log ball
Sholapith Paper ball
Sholapith rekha ball
Sholapith ring ball
Sholapith Rose ball
Sholapith Rope ball
Sholapith Round Step ball
Sholapith Slice circle ball
Sholapith Tip ball
Sholapith tube ball
Sholapith white crape ball
Sholapith white tip ball
Shola Zebra ball
SHOLAPITH BALL - skin
Sholapith skin crape ball
Sholapith skin crape ball - white
Sholapith skin guli ball
Sholapith skin rope ball
Sholapith skin tip ball
SHOLAPITH BOUQUET
Sholapith bouquet - small
Sholapith bouquet - tall
Sholapith flower bunch bouquet
Sholapith wreath bouquet
Sholapith maize leaf stick
Halder tree
Bead stick
Khel Kadam ball
Babul dori ball
Corn skin ball
Maize leaf stick
Benti Ball
168
Below are the listed Sholapith items available in the
international market. The countries which have a demand for
Sholapith products are such as USA, UK, Australia, Canada,
Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Thailand, Korea, China and
India.
Photo:
1. Sholapith shoe clips by Apple & Ivy (on Etsy), USA
2. Sholapith flower bouquet by Green with Envy, USA
3. Solapith wreath by Decofleur, Netherlands
4. Sholapith Belli flower fragrance diffuser by Essense & Fleur,
Artlab, Japan
5. Sholapith flower garland by Little Retreats on Etsy
6. Sholapith flowers by Decofleur, Netherlands
7. Sholapith napkin rings by House of Peltier, USA
8. Sholapith cherry rose flowers on Etsy
9. Sholapith flower place cards by Engaged & Inspired, USA
10. Solapith roses flower ball by Andreafays, UK
11. Sholapith flower stem-95cm by Dunelm
12. Solapith flowers and fragrance diffuser by Commonplus living
13. Sholapith bud bouquet-115cm by Dunelm
14. Sholapith flower accessory by ‘The Soil and Sea’ on Etsy, USA
15. Sholapith flower wallhangings by Carole Anne Designs, UK
16. Sholapith flower table centrepieces by J C Floral Designs, USA
17. Sholapith pink rose garland by Yatris Home and Gift, UK
18. Sholapith flower bunch by Flores del sol, on Etsy
19. Sholapith flower stick by Floristik24, Germany
20. Sholapith twin rose decorations by Yatris Home and Gift, UK
21. Sholapith tulip flower tree lights by Thaihandicraft, Thailand
6.5 Sholapith products as seen in the foreign market
22. Sholapith flower wreath by Mederuno, Japan
23. Sholapith pink rose heart by Yatris Home and Gift, UK
24. Sholapith white rose circular wreath by Yatris Home and Gift,
UK
25. Sholapith potpourri by Mederuno, Japan
26. Sholapith flower glass bowl by Mederuno, Japan
27. Sholapith flower by UK stokists, UK
28. Sholapith flower by Stacy K Floral, USA
29. Sholapith small sola coloured lotus bag by Sweetscents,
Australia
30. Sholapith flower fragrance diffuser, Epos Card Co., Ltd.,
Japan
31. Sholapith Pueak flowers by TCIE, Thailand
32. Sholapith dahlia flower - pomeroy diffuser by Macys, USA
33. Sholapth roses wall hanging by Melody Craft Gifts
34. Sholapith gardenia favour box by Yatris Home and Gift, UK
169
1 4 6
2 5 8
3 6 9
170
1012
11 13
14
15
171
16
17 19
21
18 20 22
172
23
24
25
26
27
28
173
29
3331
30 32 34
174
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175
6.6 NAS schedule, Sholapith clusterSchedule | Need Assessment Survey | Sholapith cluster | Mandirbazar block, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal
Prepared on 3rd May of 2011 | By Saurabh Kumar
Sr. no. Sholapith unit Village 3rd - May 4th - May 5th - May 6th - May 7th - May 8th - May 9th - May 10th - May 11th - May1 Satyaranjan Halder Bazarberia
2 Bhishradeb Halder Bazarberia
3 Satibrata Halder Bazarberia
4 Kalidas Nasker Bazarberia
5 Kalipada Mondal Gokulnagar
6 Sudeb Purkait Gokulnagar
7 Debashish Sarder Gokulnagar
8 Arjun Paik Ratneshwarpur
9 Basudeb Halder Maheshpur
10 Subhankar Halder Maheshpur
11 Prashant Kumar Halder Matilal
12 Sushanta halder Matilal
13 Sushanta Gayen Pukuria
14 Jayanta Gayen Pukuria
15 Pradip Sarader Gokulnagar
16 Debu Gayen Makhimpur
17 Uttam Halder Bazarberia
18 Biswanath Gayen Maheshpur
19 Sanath Halder Maneshpur
20 Chinibus Mistry Bazarberia
176
6.7 Sholapith resources on internetCountry Resource Type Email Phone Internet link
USA 7th House on the left Blog [email protected] http://7thhouseontheleft.com/category/regular-features/etsy-thursday-regular-features/page/2/
India Airbridge Greens Trading 91-33-26771449 http://www.airbridgegreens.com/product/product-details.php?pID=20#20
India Aitbridge Dryflora Trading [email protected] 91 33 2667 7208 http://www.airbridgedryflora.com/sola.htm
Alibaba E commerce
USA Amazon.com E commerce http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/switch-language/product/B000VT0HYE/ref=dp_change_lang?ie=UTF8&language=en_JP
UK Andreafrays Supplier http://www.etsy.com/listing/9506670/beautiful-flower-girl-cream-sola-rose
Apple and Ivy http://www.etsy.com/shop/Appleandivy?ref=pr_shop_more
Japan Art Lab. Co. Ltd. Supplier http://www.artlab.co.jp/en/
USA A Spacial Day Designs [email protected] 530.903.0163 http://aspecialdaydesigns.com/mobile/?page_id=6
Japan Attract Ltd. [email protected] 088-880-9877 http://item.rakuten.co.jp/attract/solaflower_potpourri_glass/
Japan Ayura Laboratories Inc. [email protected] http://www.ayura.co.jp/en/OnlineShop/commodity_param/ctc/pr0303/shc/0/cmc/10038166/backURL/http%28++www.ayura.co.jp+en+OnlineShop+main/detail.html
UK Become Inc [email protected] 44 203 170 5643 http://home-and-garden.become.co.uk/sola-flowers-cream-box-of-40--compare-prices--sc339160530
India Bhalotia International Exporter [email protected] 91 33 4008 1602 http://bhalotiainternational.com/sola.html
China Bick Cheong Ind. Co. Trading 852-23459887 http://www.hicrafts.com/product-86321/Peony-Flower-Head-Artificial-Flower-2.htm
USA Blissbloomblog Blog [email protected] http://blissbloomblog.blogspot.com/
USA Blue Whale Arts [email protected] 603-679-1961 http://www.bluewhalearts.com/?s=sola
Bollea Blog [email protected] http://www.bollea.com/sola-wood-bridesmaid-bouquet
Bulkbotanicals [email protected] 801-232-6269 http://www.bulkbotanicals.net/index.html
China Busy Trade E commerce [email protected] 86-4000008308 http://www.busytrade.com/sellingleads-search/sola.html
UK Carole-Anne Designs [email protected] 01873 882954 http://www.carole-annedesigns.co.uk/photo_gallery.html
China Chinaqualitycrafts B2B www.chinaqualitycrafts.com
India Company India Ltd. http://www.companyindialtd.com/coltd.php?company=10570_1_Turnkey_Groups_(India)#Turnkey%20Groups%20(India)
India Craftziners Creative community
http://craftziners.info/photo/sola-wood-flowers-1?xg_source=activity
Dazzle Yellow Pages B2B, B2C [email protected] 91-141-2358331 http://www.dazzleyellowpages.com/Listing-Details/?12420/Flowers
Netherlands Decofleur Suppliers [email protected] http://www.decofleur.com/index.php
India Dry De Fashion Pvt. Ltd.
177
Country Resource Type Email Phone Internet linkUK Dunelm-Mill Trading customerservices@dunelm-mill.
co.uk0845 1 65 65 65 http://www.dunelm-mill.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?freeText=sola&storeId=10551&catalo
gId=11100&langId=-1
Korea E C Plaza B2B, B2C 82-2-476-1144 http://www.ecplaza.net/search/3s1nf5sell/sol_aroma_diffuser_sola_flower.html?id=EnjiaEnterprise
India Edison pamps Pvt. Ltd. Exporter 91 33 26511745
USA Engaged & Inspired Blog, Seller [email protected] http://www.engagedandinspired.com/shop-our-wedding/
China Enjia Enterprise Co., Ltd. Trader 886-03-3347410 http://www.made-in-china.com/showroom/enjiaenterprisecoltd/offer-detailWqFmtcavhLrM/Sell-Sola-Flower-7.html
China Enjia Services [email protected] 886 3 334 7410 http://www.enjiaservice.com/product_solaroma.htm
Japan Epos Card Co., Ltd. / Shouhintamaru.eposcard
http://shouhintamaru.eposcard.co.jp/keyword_search/?keyword=Sola+Flower%5B%A5%BD%A5%E9%A5%D5%A5%E9%A5%EF%A1%BC%5D&cat_id=0&loc=header
India eSuppliersindia E commerce [email protected] 91-11-46710500 http://www.esuppliersindia.com/products/dried-flowers.html?keyword=dried-flowers&set=1&page_no=2
USA Etsy Inc. E commerce [email protected] http://www.etsy.com/?ref=so_home
Ever Lasting Florals http://www.etsy.com/shop/everlastingflorals?ref=pr_shop_more
India Fast Flowers http://www.fastflowers.in/category/best-flowers/dried-flowers
India Fauna International Exporter [email protected] 91-33-22114366 www.faunaintl.com
India Flora Classique Exporter [email protected] 951-676-18888 http://www.floraclassique.com/
India Floral Exports Exporter 91-44-26720290 http://chennai.indiabizclub.com/products_catalog/1634880~floral_exports~chennai
USA Floral Labs [email protected] 760-585-8380 http://www.theflorallab.com/weddings.html
USA Flores del sol [email protected] http://floresdelsol.blogspot.com/search?q=sola
Germany Floristik24 http://www.floristik24.de/Naturartikel/Sola-Skin-Stick-gebleicht-10St.
USA Flortini Designs http://flortinidesigns.com/
Flower Advisor E commerce [email protected] http://www.floweradvisor.com/florist/japan/gifts/for_women/137/page-2
Japan Funroom Blog http://funroom.exblog.jp/9867391/
Japan Garitto [email protected]
India Gayen Enterprise Exporter 91-33-22162489 http://in.local.yahoo.com/Kolkata/gayen-enterprise-db2c6d5faf3e94c7a2a72d06dbdb47bd/
India Global Dry Flower
USA Google Search engine
USA Happily Feather After http://www.etsy.com/shop/HappilyFeatherAfter?ref=pr_shop_more
China Hi Crafts Supplier
HIWTC [email protected] http://www.hiwtc.com/products/sola-flower-786-1572.htm
USA House of Peltier Manufac-turer
http://www.etsy.com/listing/62573827/napkin-rings-set-of-6-made-with-burlap
USA Illuminated Garden 816-595-0400 http://www.illuminatedgarden.com/natural-elements.html
178
Country Resource Type Email Phone Internet linkIndia Indiamart B2B 91-120-6777777 http://catalogs.indiamart.com/cgi/catprdsearch.mp?ss=sola+flower
India Indian Dry Flowers
India Indian Dried Flowers Exporter [email protected] 91-33-26630936 http://www.indiamart.com/indiandriedflower/dried-flowers.html
India Indo Global Exports Exporter http://www.esuppliersindia.com/indo-global-exports/sola-flowers-pr572907-sFP-swf.html
India Intercon Impex Pvt. Ltd. [email protected] 91-33-2359 7271
http://www.interconimpex.com/home.php
USA It’s a Shore Thing B2C [email protected] 850.835.2854 http://www.etsy.com/shop/itsashorething?ref=pr_shop_more
UK John Lewis [email protected] http://www.johnlewis.com/Search/Search.aspx?SearchTerm=sola
USA JC Floral Designs http://www.jcfloraldesign.net/
India Jolly Enterprise [email protected] 91-033-22656072
http://jollyenterprise.in/dried_flower/sola_flower
India Justdial B2B search [email protected] 91-22-2888-4060
http://Kolkata.justdial.com/gayen-enterprise__hLoG.kuqqzzzmkfpd.fjXX.ekXXPbiq.htm
USA Kabbodle [email protected] 408.492.0028 http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/2-natural-sola-tip-tapioca-wood-balls-12-balls-for-4.99
Kalalayaa Blog (craft) [email protected] http://kalalayaa-artclub.blogspot.com/2009/08/how-to-make-solar-wood-flower-basket.html
India Kamala Enterprise Manufac-turer
[email protected] 91-033-25422687
http://kamalaenterprise.com/sola_balls
Hong Kong KKC Home Accents Co. Ltd.
Manufactur-er, Trader
86-763-3383931 http://reeddiffuser.cn/
Japan Lasting Green
Japan Commonplus Living 0797-63-5881 http://living.commoplus.com/goods/090210122950.html
USA Love and Lavender Blog-wed-ding
[email protected] http://www.loveandlavender.com/?s=sola
Luna and Chole Weddings [email protected] http://www.lunaandchloeweddings.com/2010_03_01_archive.html
USA Mackensley Designs Blog [email protected] http://mackensleydesigns.blogspot.com/
USA Macys B2C http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=514144&CategoryID=55974#fn=sp%3D1%26spc%3D180
USA Made by Jessa Blog-home [email protected] http://www.etsy.com/listing/62573827/napkin-rings-set-of-6-made-with-burlap?ref=sr_list_8&ga_search_query=thanksgiving+napkins&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=&order=&includes[0]=tags&includes[1]=title&filter[0]=handmade
India Madhu flowers [email protected] 99-33-465 5811 http://www.madhuflowers.com/flowers1.htm
China Manufacturer [email protected] 0571-8893-8435 www.manufacturer.com
Japan Mederuno [email protected] http://mederuno.com/SHOP/243997/list.html
Melody Craft Gifts Co., Ltd. Manufactur-er, Supplier
886-02-58807771
http://www.tootoo.com/d-cps12655805-1-Melody_Craft_Gifts_Co_Ltd/
Canada Merchants World Wide [email protected] 905-670-4321 http://www.merchantsworldwide.ca/search.asp?keyword=sola&search.x=16&search.y=21
179
Country Resource Type Email Phone Internet linkUS Morgann Hill Designs [email protected] http://morgannhilldesigns.blogspot.com/2010/09/personalized-flower-girl-basket_9013.html
UK Morjarias Toys & Gifts 0870 333 6898 http://toysgifts.biz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=123_135&products_id=3611
Japan Naver (blog.naver.com) Blog http://blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=seory7&logNo=10094710200
USA New Life Companies [email protected] 760-630-4488 http://newlifecompanies.com/Personalized-Flower-Girl-Basket-With-Sola-Paper-Flowers-MHD1433.htm
India Noorana Exports 91-9500403371 http://www.indiamart.com/nooranaexports-coimbatore/decorative-dried-flowers.html
Notions N Things
UK Notonthehighstreet.com Blog-wed-ding
[email protected] 0845 259 1359 http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/home-garden/living-decorating/interior-accessories/silk-paper-flowers
USA O’B Says [email protected] 610.558.4855 http://www.obsays.com/product-newlook.asp?m=3&c=mixed/interior%20design&l=i
China Ok Ok China http://www.okokchina.com/p/Fresh-Flowers/Dried-Flower-87048.html
India Om Impex India [email protected], [email protected]
99038-89312 http://www.omimpexindia.com
China Outstanding Design & Manufacture Co., Ltd.
86-021-51698303
http://www.outstandingdm.com/
India Pargel Fauna Exports (Pvt.) Ltd.
033-22904439, 65348503
Thailand Pearlessence 800.648.5153 http://www.pearlessence.com/default.htm
India Petals Concept 91-33-22432154 www.petalsconcept.com, http://www.tootoo.com/d-cps986801-1-Petals_Concept/
India Radharam Sohanlal Pvt. Ltd.
91-33-22722419 http://www.esuppliersindia.com/radharam-sohanlal-pvt-ltd-/sola-flowers-pr572881-sFP-swf.html
Japan Rakuten, Inc. http://en.item.rakuten.com/auc-jolly-heart/sora8/
India Ramesh Flowers Pvt. Ltd. [email protected] 91-461-2340505 http://www.rameshflowers.com/products.php
India R. B. International
India R. P. Tiwary & Co. 91-653-23192 http://www.maxyellowpages.com/indian_manufacturers_exporters/flowers_floriculture_and_dried_flowers/index.php?s=1&rec=50&page=3
Japan Sanwa Trading Co. Ltd. Online shop-ping
[email protected], [email protected]
03-5833-2320 http://www.sanwatrading.jp/shopping/?brd=1176711012-214629
India S B Enterprise Exporter [email protected] 91-33-2242 6547
http://www.indiandryflowers.com/index.html
Australia Scent 2 u http://scent2u.com.au/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=71&zenid=n4hiq52ujrbsvgvdeoa4trur47
Thailand Siam Quality Industries Company Limited (Brand MELLOW)
[email protected], [email protected]
(662) 582-2009 www.sqigroup.com
180
Country Resource Type Email Phone Internet linkThailand SQI group (Siam Qual-
ity Industries Company Limited)
http://www.sqigroup.com/home_fragrance_oil.html
China Shanghai Ailsa Crafts & Gifts Co., Ltd.
86-021-13671618556
http://www.ailsacarft.com
China Shanghai fine-v life style Co. Ltd.
86-021-54862773
www.fv-lifestyle.com, http://www.tradekey.com/product_view/id/1640279.htm
China Shanghai Jieyute Trade Co., Ltd.
Trading 86-021-37693670
http://otchomedeco.en.alibaba.com/
Japan Shikki http://item.rakuten.co.jp/kururi-poche/aroma-hd1/#aroma-hd1
UK Shopperhive Ltd. Online
UAE Shoumiaslam http://shoumiaslam.blogspot.com/2011/05/sola-flower.html
USA Simply Pretty Wedding Blog [email protected] http://simplyprettywedding.blogspot.com/2010/06/recommendation.html
India Singhvi International [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
033-24750866 http://www.singhviflowers.com/
USA Soap daily news http://www.soapdelinews.com/2010_11_01_archive.html
USA Solutions 1-800-342-9988 http://www.solutions.com/jump.jsp?itemID=16512&itemType=PRODUCT
USA Stacy K Floral [email protected] 585-244-1414 http://www.stacykfloral.com/blog2/tag/weekly-floral/
USA Style feeder [email protected], For partner-ship : [email protected]
617-500-4101 http://www.stylefeeder.com/i/xq0vsjhk/Pomeroy-Diffuser-Dahlia-Sola-Flower
USA Sugar and Charm (Blog) Blog [email protected] http://www.sugarandcharmblog.com/2010_11_01_archive.html
Australia Sweetscents [email protected] 03 5149 7288 http://sales.sweetscents.com.au/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=69
India Tara Maa Dry Flower Manufac-turer and supplier
Thailand TCIE Ltd. [email protected] , [email protected]
66-54-382778 http://tcie.com/sola_flowers/
India Texon Exotic International 91-33-23451530 http://www.esuppliersindia.com/texon-exotic-international/decorative-sola-handmade-flowers-sticks--pr524463-sCATALOG-swf.html
Thailand ThaiHandicraft 66-87-0724111 www.thaihandicraft.net
Thailand Thai trade fair
USA The Soil & Sea [email protected] 949.873.2149 http://www.thesoilandsea.com/
China Tootoo (Ninetowns Internet Technology Group Com-pany Ltd.)
B2B [email protected] 4006-160-186 http://www.tootoo.com/buy-sola_flower/
181
Country Resource Type Email Phone Internet linkIndia Trademart.in B2B [email protected], sales@trademart.
in91-120-4729550
Tradenote B2B
India Tristarr Hortitech Exporter [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected]
91-462-2335503 http://www.tristarr.net/decorative-bunch.html#grass-bunch
India Tropicana Exports Exporter/Manufac-turer
91-33-22802693 http://www.tradeindia.com/Seller-2184293-TROPICANA-EXPORTS/
India Turnkey International Co. 91-33-25343372 http://www.esuppliersindia.com/turnkey-groups-india-/artificial-sola-flowers-pr466953-sFP-swf.html
India Tuugo.in B2B [email protected], [email protected] http://www.tuugo.in/
UK UK Stockists http://www.ukstockists.co.uk/cheap/sola-flower
India Vacchi International (P) Ltd. [email protected] , [email protected], [email protected]
91-33-2219 0429
http://vaachi.com/product6.htm
India VAC Exim Private Limited Exporter 91-33-22205545 http://www.theindianbusiness.com/get/indian-companies/suppliers-directory/arts-and-crafts/flowers-floriculture-and-dried-flowers/vac-exim-private-limited.htm
India Vanam Orchids [email protected] (0422)-2443170 http://www.orchidsasia.com/driedelement005.htm
Thailand Vivianpotpourri Trading 662-9462035 http://www.vivianpotpourri.com, http://www.hiwtc.com/company/1344375/
China Wellness Group Co.,Ltd. Trading
USA Weddingbee (eHarmony, Inc.)
Blog [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
http://www.weddingbee.com/, http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/flower-inspiration-1
India World Dried Flowers (WDF)
[email protected] http://www.driedflowerswdf.com/eng/solaflowers.html, http://www.esuppliersindia.com/world-dried-flowers/sola-flowers-on-ting-pr443423-sFP-swf.html
USA Wreaths for Door [email protected]
1-888-838-2109 http://www.wreathsfordoor.com/servlet/the-Silk-Wreaths/Categories
Japan Xuite Blog http://blog.xuite.net/bethelhone/teatime/37992391
India Yahoo! India Pvt. Ltd (Ya-hoo Local)
B2B
UK Yatris Home and Gift (YHAG)
http://www.yatrishomeandgift.co.uk/, http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/yatrishomeandgift
182
Shola is sometimes called the fire of love. Flowers and decoratives made from its wood are used during all important 'love' occa-sions- love for man as well as God. The irony is that those who sustain this fire of love, the craftsmen, are in dire straits. This report aims to understand their situation and find ways to better their lot, keeping in mind the market realities along with traditions.
www.designclinicsmsme.org
SHOLAPITH FLOWER MAKING CLUSTER, DESIGN CLINIC WORKSHOP SCHEDULE:
20/12/2011 to 24/12/ 2011
PRESENTATION / NATURE OF WORK TIME Day 1
20th December (Tuesday), 2011 {For Association/NGO & Unit Owners}
1 Welcome address by - Mr. B. S. Kayal and Mr. Ashok Mondal
10:00 to 10:45 am
2 Presentation on Sholapith flower Cluster "Interactive Design & Need Assessment Study" by - Mr. Saurabh Kumar
10:45 to 11:45 am
3 Question & Answer Session 11:45 to 12:00 pm
4 Various Government Scheme for MSME, Presentation by MSME
12:00 to 12:30 pm
5 Lunch Break 12:30 to 02:00 pm
6 Presentation on 'Design Thinking' by – Mr. Saurabh Kumar
02:00 to 03:00 pm
7 Question-Answer & Discussion 03:00 to 03:30 pm
8 Tea / Snacks Break 03:30 to 04:00 pm
9 Presentation on Design Process 'Some Design Projects Discussion' by – Mr. Saurabh Kumar
04:00 to 05:00 pm
10 Question-Answer & Discussion 05:00 to 05:30 pm
Day 2
21st December (Wednesday), 2011 {For Unit Owners}
1 Export market scenario and business processes by – Mr. Saurabh Kumar
10:00 to 11:15 am
2 Presentation & Discussion on 'Product Marketing' by – Mr. Saurabh Kumar
11:15 to 12:15 pm
3 Question-Answer & Discussion 12:15 to 12:30 pm
4 Lunch Break 12:30 to 02:00 pm
5 One to One Interaction & Practical Works by – Mr. Saurabh Kumar
02:00: to 03:30 pm
6 Tea / Snacks Break 03:30 to 04:00 pm
7 One to One Interaction & Practical Works by – Mr. Saurabh Kumar
04:00 to 05:30 pm
Day 3
22nd December (Thursday), 2011 {Representative from the Registered Unit}
1 Presentation & Discussion on 'Communication Design' by Mr. Saurabh Kumar
10:00 to 11:00 pm
2 Presentation by - Mr. Saurabh Kumar, Contemporary Scenario of Sholapith flowers
11.00 to 12:30 pm
3 Lunch Break 12:30 to 02:00 pm 4 One to One Interaction & Practical Works by -
Mr. Saurabh Kumar 02:00 to 03:30 pm
5 Tea / Snacks Break 03:30 to 04:00 pm 6 One to One Interaction & Practical Works by -
Mr. Saurabh Kumar 04:00 to 05:30 pm
Day 4
23rd December (Friday), 2011 {Representative from the Registered Unit}
1 One to One Interaction & Practical Works by - Mr. Saurabh Kumar and Ms. Nidhi Agarwal
10:00 to 12:30 pm
2 Lunch Break 12:30 to 02:00 pm
3 One to One Interaction & Practical Works by - Mr. Saurabh Kumar
02:00 to 03:30 pm
4 Tea / Snacks Break 03:30 to 04:00 pm
5 One to One Interaction & Practical Works by - Mr. Saurabh Kumar
04:00 to 05:30 pm
Day 5
24nd December (Saturday), 2011 {For Association / NGO & Unit's Owners}
1 Presentation - case - studies - example - discussion by – Ms. Nidhi Agarwal
10:00 to 11:00 pm
2 Benefit of Design for MSME units by - Mr. Sudev Mandal
11:00 to 12:00 pm
3 Concluding Session, feedback, Suggestion and future direction of the cluster
12:00 to 2:00 pm
Note: Time limit for each unit for one to one discussion is 45 Minutes
Sr. no.
Member speakers Total Days
1 Mr. B. S. Kayal 5
2 Mr. Saurabh Kumar (Design consultant) 5
3 Ms. Nidhi Agarwal, Guest (Indian handicraft exporter)
3
5 Mr. Ashok Mondal (DCS, East Zone) 5
6 Mr. Somen Ghosh (DCS, East Zone) 5
7 Mr. Sudev Mandal (DCS, East Zone) 5
Activities during five days (20th
,Dec to 24th
,Dec,2011)
Design Clinic Workshop and a short report
Date: 20th December 2011
1. At the outset Mr. Bimalendu Sekhar Kayal, Managing Director of
M/S. Bengal Women Welfare Association (BWWA) welcomed the
participants and introduced Guest Speaker, Design Experts and
other invited guests in the opening ceremony of Design Clinic
Workshop for Sholapith cluster.
2. The flower bouquets were presented to Dr. Sandeep Ghosh, Ex
CGM, NABARD; Mr. Saurabh Kumar, Design consultant; Mr.
Soumen Ghosh, Coordinator at east zone Regional centre of DCS,
NID and Mr. Sudev Mandal, Designer at Regional Centre of DCS,
NID by Mr. Bimalendu Sekhar Kayal, M/S. Bengal Women Welfare
Association (BWWA) and Sholapith unit members.
3. Then the seminar were inaugurated by Dr. Sandeep Ghosh
(Invited Guest Speaker), Mr. Bimalendu Sekhar Kayal, Mr.
Saurabh Kumar (Invited Design Consultant), Mr. Soumen Ghosh
and Mr. Sudev Mandal through lighting the inaugural candle.
4. Mr. Bimalendu Sekhar Kayal in his address delivered brief
information about workshop schedule and activities for the next five
days. Also he appealed the Sholapith cluster to take part with their
full presence in the deliberation of the design experts to make the
programme success. He also promoted the scheme enthusiastic
for taking it further as an initiative.
5. Mr. Soumen Ghosh, coordinator - East zone, DCS, NID delivered
detail speech on 2nd & 3rd phase DCS benefits with the MSME
participants engaged in Sholapith craft.
6. Presentation and Discussion upon the report of Sholapith Cluster-
Interactive Design & Need Assessment Study titled 'Flower of the
Wood' by design consultant & expert- Mr. Saurabh Kumar.
7. Presentation on 'design thinking and some design projects
discussion by- Mr. Saurabh Kumar.
Date: 21st December 2011
8. Presentation & Discussion by- Mr. Saurabh Kumar on 'product
marketing'.
9. One to one interaction on practical works by Mr. Saurabh Kumar
(one hour for each unit).
10. Presentation & discussion by Mr. Saurabh Kumar on 'export
market scenario and business processes.
Date: 22nd December 2011
11. Presentation & Discussion on 'Communication Design' by Mr.
Saurabh Kumar.
12.Presentation by - Mr. Saurabh Kumar, Contemporary Scenario of
Sholapith flowers.
12. One to One Interaction & Practical Works by- Mr. Saurabh Kumar
Date: 23rd December 2011
13. One to One Interaction & Practical Works by- Mr. Saurabh Kumar.
The Sholapith members were divided into group of five members each
and were briefed about the design processes and development
techniques. Each group was given a product category such as
apparel accessories, Christmas decorative items, bouquets and
wreaths, lampshades, fragrance diffuser and potpourri, wedding
decorative items, hanging items, lifestyle products for home, offices
and hotels. The aim was to engage the unit members with practical
work experience with the help of live project examples.
Date: 24th December 2011
15. Presentation – case studies - example - discussion by- Mr.
Saurabh Kumar.
16. ‘Benefit of Design for MSME units’ by- Mr. Sudev Mandal and Mr.
Saurabh Kumar.
17. Concluding Session, 'feedback, suggestion and future direction of
the Sholapith Cluster'.
Registration/List and details of participants for the
Sholapith cluster design clinic workshop:
Sr. no.
NAME COMPANY NAME
COMPANY ADDRESS
1 Arjun Paik Paik Enterprise Ratneshwarpur, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
2 Arun Halder Shanti Dry Flowers
Maheshpur, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
3 Basudeb Halder Halder Dry Flowers
Maheshpur, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
4 Bhishmadeb Halder
Lakshminarayan Sola Bhandar
Bazarberia, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
5 Biswanath Gayen
Mayarani Sola Shilpalaya
Maheshpur, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
6 Buddhadeb Naskar
Buddhadeb Naskar
Bazarberia, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
7 Chandrasekhar Halder
A. R. Sola Enterprise
Jafarpur, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
8 Chinibas Mistry Tripura Sola Works
Bazarberia, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
9 Debashish Sardar
Maa Kali Handicrafts
Gokulnagar, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
10 Debu Gayen Om Dry Flowers Mokhimpur, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
11 Jayanta Gayen Radhakrishna Sola Supply
Pukuria, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
12 Kalidas Naskar Kalidas Naskar Bazarberia, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
13 Kalipada Mondal
Baba Loknath Sola Products
Gokulnagar, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
14 Madhai Baidya
15 Pradip Sardar Baba Bishwakarma Sola Products
Gokulnagar, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
16 Prashanta Gayen
Radha Krishna Sola Supply
Pukuria, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
17 Prashant Kumar Halder
Halder Sola Supply
Motilal, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
18 Ruhit Gayen
19 Sanat Halder Maa Kali Sola Flower
Maheshpur, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
20 Satibrata Halder Maa Tara Enterprise
Bazarberia, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
21 Satyaranjan Halder
Maa Mangalchandal Sola Bhandar
Bazarberia, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
22 Subhash Halder Maa Monasa Sola Products
Maheshpur, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
23 Sudeb Purkait Subed Purkait Dry Flower
Gokulnagar, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
24 Sushanta Gayen
Radhakrishna Sola Supplier
Pukuria, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
25 Tapan Halder Tapti Dry Flowers Bazarberia, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
26 Tapan Kumar Halder
Tapan Kumar Halder Dry Flower
Pukuria, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
27 Tarun Halder Tarun Sola and Dry Flowers
Haattala, Mandirbazar block, 24-Parganas (South), Pin: 743395, West Bengal
Details/ profile of speakers and topics/practical exercises covered:
1. Dr. Sandeep Ghosh
M.Sc in Agril, Ph.D , Ex CGM, NABARD having vast experience in
rural development and different Govt. sponsored program related
to weaker section of the rural community in India.
> Topics covered at the Design Clinic Workshop for Sholapith
cluster are as following
- Innovation: Business and entrepreneurship
- Institutional collaborations for cooperation and coordination
- Need to institutionalize small entrepreneurship as producer
companies
- About NABARD and it's assistance
- Examples of projects assisted by NABARD
2. Saurabh Kumar
Chief Strategy Officer, Designhumon Consultancy Services, Ahmedabad
> Educational qualification
- Executive post-graduate diploma in International Business, IIFT,
New Delhi (2011-12)
- Masters in Strategic Design Management, NID, Ahmedabad
(2007-09)
- Masters in Strategic Design, Politechnico di Milano, Milan (2008)
- Graduate diploma in Lifestyle Accessory Design, NIFT, New
Delhi (2000-03)
> Work experience
- Chief Strategy Officer, Designhumon Consultancy Services,
Ahmedabad (2010-present)
- Strategist, DMA Yellow Works, Mumbai (2010)
- Design Manager, Lumium Innovations, Ahmedabad (2010)
- Senior Design Engineer, Automotive Design, TATA Elxsi,
Bangalore (2006-07)
- Senior Designer, Two-wheelers division, Honda Research and
Development, Gurgaon (2004-06)
- Senior Designer, Jayanita Exports, New Delhi (2003)
Topics and practical exercises covered at the Design Clinic
Workshop for Sholapith cluster
> Topics covered are as following:
- Discussion on the findings and recommendations of the 'Need
Assessment Survey' report
- Design and its evolution
- Why design: it's roles and responsibilities
- Design for socio-business
- Business strategy
- Domestic and international market scenario
- User, usage and usability
- Design for function and aesthetics
- Design approach and methodology
- Some design project discussion - product and branding projects
- Handmade design and development
- Design for Indian and foreign markets
- Design research - user, market and technology
- Design conceptualization and creation
- Mock-ups and prototyping
- Design documentation
- Product marketing and communication design
- Labeling and packaging design
- Contemporary scenario of sholapith flowers
- Domestic market scenario and business processes
- Export market scenario and business processes
- Product lifecycle and sustainability
- Design and environment
- Design and community
> The practical work aims at creating awareness for new product
development for international market and domestic market. The
unit members were divided into groups of four and assigned
different product areas. The product categories chosen were
apparel accessories, christmas decorative items, bouquets and
wreaths, lampshades, fragrance diffuser and potpourri, wedding
decorative items, hanging items, lifestyle products for home,
offices, hotels, etc., everyday decorative items for shops, home,
offices, hotels, etc. and packaging.
Photographs on workshop:
Fe
ed
ba
ck
form
(22
no
s.)
Name of the Association members/Contact person associated with the Organization of Workshop
Sr No
Name of the Participants Address Contact no.
1 Mr. B.S.Kayal MD. BWWA 9433051510
2 Mr. D.Purkait Director, BWWA 9732923670
3 Mr. A.K.Maity Exe. Office, BWWA 9830194450
4 Mr. P.Sikdar Exe. Office, BWWA
5 Mr. M.K.Das AFC (Guest)
6 Mr. Sandip Ghosh AFC (Guest)
7 Mr. P.K.Chakraborty Staff BWWA
8 Mr. B.Santara Staff BWWA
9 Mr. D.Naskar Staff BWWA
10 Mr. M.Mondal Staff BWWA
11 Mr. P.Naskar Staff BWWA
12 Mr. S.Middey Staff BWWA
13 Mr. B.Majumder Staff BWWA
14 Mr. R.Kayal Staff BWWA
15 Mr. B.Mondal Staff BWWA
16 Mr. B.Mazumder Staff BWWA
17 Mr. S.Middey Staff BWWA
18 Mr. P.Bhowmick Staff BWWA
19 Mr. R.Naiya Staff BWWA
20 Mr. C.S.Bhattacharya Staff BWWA
21 Mr. S.Das Staff BWWA
22 Mr. S.Naiya Staff BWWA
23 Mr. S.Kar Projector Operator
24 Mr. T.Saha Driver
25 Mr. S.Khan Driver
Opportunity areas, remedial design solutions & design project:
The existing products of the unit are currently serves as a mass production of running items which only fulfil the exporters demand (international market). The domestic market has not been explored by the units. The proposed design intervention will provide the relevant inputs to transform this conceptual prototype into a cost effective and popular product both in domestic and international market. The design intervention will specifically address the technical, functional, ergonomic & aesthetic aspects of the product and upgrade the current fabrication methods into a standardised production process.
There is an urgent need for the design projects which will lead to innovative and multipurpose Shola decorative as well as functional items, which will create a unique market segment & identity for the units engaged in.
7 Design consultant shall be starting the project with design research, attempt to understand the market, market segment, new product line, competing products, context of use, ergonomic issues, environmental issues etc. This stage will also have a presentation showcasing the form trends and possible directions to be taken during ideation.
The ideation phase that follows the research phase shall focus on first defining a functional direction that is aesthetically pleasing, relevant for the product category and production friendly. The design directions shall also be influenced by the overall size specifications and design. This is an iterative process and shall be made more effective by leveraging concepts from the team of designers through design consultant. With the initial design direction frozen, design consultant shall venture into the Industrial design phase of the project. There are expected to be iterations moving between the Industrial design and Ideation phases considering there would be overlaps and also parallel processing required. During this phase, design consultant shall prepare three-dimensional model options of the direction as necessary. Design consultant shall prepare a mock-up of the concepts to allow for physical look and feel and proportion check of the selected concept along with the digital renders.
Design consultant shall do the detailing on the product, process detailing and move into the technical phase. The task at this stage would be to complete the technical drawings, do the component and material selection, organize the final layout of components, do the technical reviews and finalize the drawings. The prototype will follow and based on the learning’s from the prototype, the drawings shall be finalized. To make the designs mass production friendly the design consultant should work closely with the unit members and define & document the process for the same. The proposed innovative Sholapith items would be targeted both to domestic as well as international customers. Final design projects: The proposed design projects aims at new product development for international market and domestic market. The product categories chosen were apparel accessories, Christmas decorative items, bouquets and wreaths, lampshades, fragrance diffuser and potpourri, wedding decorative items, hanging items, lifestyle products for home, offices, hotels, etc., everyday decorative items for shops, home, offices, hotels, etc. and packaging. Each product category can lead to individual projects involving the design processes from concept to customer. The ten product categories/projects are mentioned as following:
Project one: Design and develop a range of apparel accessories
Project two: Design and develop a range of Christmas decorative
items
Project three: Design and develop a range of innovative
bouquets and wreaths
Project four: Design and develop a range of lampshades
Project five: Design and develop a range of fragrance diffuser
and potpourri
Project six: Design and develop a range of wedding decorative
items
Project seven: Design and develop a range of decorative
hanging items
Project eight: Design and develop a range of lifestyle products
for home, offices, hotels, etc.
Project nine: Design and develop a range of everyday decorative
items for shops, home, offices, hotels, etc.
Project ten: Design and develop a range of packaging
