Whilst travelling I try to visit villages, small towns to see products made by local people. In Barmer visited Gramin Vikas and Chetna Sansthan. They specialise in Applique Patchwork, Patchwork and hand embroidery. Their
Secretary also took me to villages to see how work is done. U see double bed sheet ie applique work cost app Rs 3,500/.
Secretary Vikram Singh took me to this village ie about 30 kms from Barmer. U see the village ladies gathered in the hut on left of pic. Temperature inside hut is much lower than outside,
in fact it was cool. Entire house and village was very clean. They have a well close by that gets filled during the monsoon, separate ones for drinking water and other use. Well is covered
so water does not evaporate.
Village ladies. The Accountant from the NGO has a record of the pieces he gives to every lady, when work is completed takes delivery, enters in ladies passbook and payment is made at
end of month. Most of ladies who do this work belong to the Meghwal community although Suthar, Darzi communities also do this work.
This is a Tree of Life curtain that you see. Work was done on it. During the 1965, 1971 wars with Pakistan and thereafter a number of Hindus belonging to the Meghwal community migrated to India.
This is end product of what you saw in the previous pic. The final Tree of Life curtain is size 42 by 84 cost Rs 1,550/.
Villagers insisted that I ate lunch. U see me having bajre ki roti with kadhi. The roti came with lots of ghee, not used to so much of it kept it in the plate that you see in
front of pic. It was amongst the best kadhis that I ever had. Plus served with so affection. The man on left of pic is the person in whose house we had the meeting. Ladies told me
that per government records they were BPL cardholders ie below the poverty line (never got free rations) but I did not see any signs of poverty during my brief stay.
This Van goes from village to village giving material to ladies and collects finished product from them. The Accountant travels along. This way homemakers in villagers do
not have to travel long distances. The women look after the home, cook, work in the fields and do stitching work - appreciate their multi-tasking skills. Did not hear any
lady crib, said with a matter of fact approach. Left to right tall person in white kurta pujama in pic is secretary Vikram Singh.
Cushion 16 by 16 for Rs 125/ each. White bedcover below 95 by 108 app Rs 3,900/. The purpose of showcasing Sanstha''s work is to help market their products. Sitting in Barmer it
is very difficult to market their work even though quality is good. Esamskriti aim is to selflessly promote such work, we have no financial interests in any purchases.
Patch work table cloth 60 by 90 about Rs 2,300/.
Next 3 pictures are of curtains with lovely designs size 42 by 84 for about Rs 1,550.
Blue curtain 42 by 84 for about Rs 1,550/.
Red curtain 42 by 84 for about Rs 1,550/. All prices as of February 2013.
U see women doing applique work. It is very laborious work. Nearly all women I saw wore ghunghats ie cover the face. They are more particular whilst meeting an outsider. All the women
were very comfortable with Vikram Singh but I was an outsider. Ghunghat is very different from burkha worn by Muslim ladies where every part of the body is covered.
This is Azrak print patchwork double sheet 95 by 108 cost app Rs 4,500/. If you like to buy Sanstha products please contact Vikram Singh gvcsbarmer@gmail.com, phone nos 91 9413308843,
91968099029. U can deposit money with any branch of IDBI Bank or Bank of Baroda (where they have bank accounts) and Sanstha will courier products to you. In Facebook search for
gvcs ngo barmer.
Table Cloth 60 by 60 app cost Rs 1,500/.
Tree of Life bedcover in applique work 95 by 108 cost app Rs 3,500/. After visiting this NGO and Villages realized how purchase of such products can contribute to increase their incomes
and improve their standard of living.