Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Feb 27: The ongoing National Khadi Utsav, which kicked off Thursday, is attracting scores of visitors. Around 200 stalls from 20 states have been set up to sell different items. Different khadi groups are selling items made of cane, leather, jute, terracotta, wood and cloths.
Apart from the khadi items, jute products such as chapels and jewelleries made of jute are attracting lots of visitors. People are curious and surprised to see jewellery made of jute. Hemlata Behera, a housewife said, “For the first time I saw jute jewellery. They are really very beautiful and look very elegant. It’s amazing that people are so creative… they can make anything out of any material. I always thought that goats are only used to make jute bags to carry things, but jewellery is a unique thing.”
An exponent in jute jewellery, Ashutosh Sarkar from Kolkata said, “This is not a new thing, we have been doing this since 1990. In West Bengal jute production is high; we started making jewellery from it as an experiment and it clicked. We use raw jute and jute fabric to make jewellery.”
Informing that the National Jute Board has been promoting jute artistry, which has helped many to establish their own jute business he added, “I have trained many students to make jute jewellery and they have started their own business and they are doing good too”.
“Jute Jewellery is not that popular in rural areas, but in urban areas like Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai where people are very style conscious and like to experiment with their looks, jute jewelleries are liked. It is stylish and trendy too, so college students and working ladies can wear it. The price ranges between `20 and `2000. We make all kinds of jewelleries” said Sarkar.
Sabita Mishra, a college student said, “I was just roaming from one stall to another and I suddenly noticed some stalls selling jewelleries. Being a girl those attracted me, so I visited the stalls. At first I thought they were made of cloth, but I was surprised when the stall owner told me that they were made of jute. They looked very unique and the price was very reasonable, so I purchased some of those.”
Another stall owner, Ashok Pal who was selling jute chappals said, “We have been making jute chappals for the last 10 years, and it is rally very popular among people in West Bengal. We have been participating in khadi melas regularly and wherever we visit those we get good response. I was trained to make jute products in a program initiated by the Jute Board in West Bengal; after the training I formed my group”.