Building Local Enterprises

TRIBAL FARE

Our north eastern region has a unique legacy in terms of customs, traditions, food, attire, sports, music and even religious beliefs. The topography and entrepreneurial culture too here is distinct in many ways from the rest of the Indian subcontinent. This is a space dedicated to understanding and celebrating multiple facets of this uniqueness.

All for reviving traditional crafts of Meghalaya- Rida Gatphoh

Rida Gatphoh hails from Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya. Born to a Jaintia mother and Khasi father, Rida is a Jaintia as Meghalaya is a matriarchal society.

In the year 1999, after completing high school, she moved to Bangalore to study design. Thereafter she started her career with Future Group (in Mumbai) in the design department of innovation and incubation. After living outside for more than a decade, Rida decided to relocate to her hometown and started teaching at NIFT Shillong. It was here that her journey of discovering the arts and crafts really began and she decided to set up her brand Dakti Craft.

The inspiration really came in 2010 when she had travelled to different craft clusters across Meghalaya to conduct design workshops with the local artisans. She realized that the abundant skill in the state posed a pressing opportunity to create handcrafted products using natural materials by sustainable means. Now the unique thing about crafts across Meghalaya is that they are a reflection of the raw materials and skills from each of the regions. The colours, textures, weaves, forms etc vary from village to village which makes them special and unique to their environment.

Consequently, Dakti_Craft came about and worked independently in mapping the different crafts and identifying artisans and craftsmen to work with materials like clay, bamboo, cane and other resources available locally.

"We are mapping the different raw materials available in the state to sketch out a plan wherein these clusters can get connected and interdependent," shares Rida. Today, Dakti Craft engages with various clusters in Meghalaya but the main clusters are Black Clay pottery in Jaintia hills and Bamboo weaves from East Khasi hills and Jaintia hill. More than a hundred artisans are covered under her project.

Talking about one of the most satisfying things about her journey as a grass root entrepreneur, Rida says, "Some of my life's most memorable moments happen while working in the villages amongst simple subsistence farmers, potters, weavers and instrument makers. These experiences more than enable me to work in conservation for it re-kindles a creative flame that had been burning since my childhood."

Some of the signature attributes of her entrepreneurial venture Dakti Crafts has always been about finding a sustainable model for every aspect of the job so that it can have a long term impact. "I always plan 3 to 5 years in advance in order to achieve my goals because the nature of my work in this particular sector is slow and time taking," she explains.

One of the professional organisations/forums at a national level that Rida is now associated with includes Meghalaya Tourism. "This association envisages promoting high value tourism and entrepreneurship in the areas of arts, crafts, food and music" she concludes.

Priya Dahal- Imparting entrepreneurial training in handmade soaps and cosmetics Priya Dahal a 34 year old woman from Phongla village in Sikkim has started the first soap making unit in the state. This unit located in Poklok Denchung, (the gram panchayat of Denchung village) undertakes manufacturing, packaging and marketing of handmade organic soaps and cosmetics. It has been offering an entrepreneurial opportunity to hundreds of women since its inception eight years ago.

Priya considers every woman engaged in the unit as a business partner despite the fact that it was only she who had invested her life-long savings of Rs 50,000 in it. The womenfolk make about Rs 6,000 each per month. The profits clocked in the pre-covid days were distributed among all the women and many utilized this in paying outstanding school bills of their children. Some invested in medical policies. "We have been participating in annual trade fairs and exhibitions and hence our soaps and cosmetics have captured the attention of people outside the state and even abroad," shares Priya.

Priya hails from a family of farmers who revere nature and mountains. "I strongly believe that women empowerment can only happen through financial independence. This coupled with my affinity for organic things translated to this enterprise that I have christened Beautiful Earth," she shares.

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