Bamboo is widely used for making furniture and handicrafts. But in recent times, bamboo-based eco-friendly jewellery has become the latest fad among fashionistas. Bhubaneswar-based homemaker Priyadarshini Das launched a bamboo-based sustainable jewellery range during the lockdown period keeping the growing demand in mind. She also has been imparting training to the women in Rayagada district to make them financially independent.
Using modern techniques, Priyadarshini has crafted different types and sizes of bangles, hair clips, earrings, studs and necklaces. She applies Pattachitra art on her products to add zing to the ornaments.
Inspired by the concept of Farm to Fashion propounded by Professor Binaya Bhusan Jena of NIFT, Priyadarsini also developed a unique chemical free eco-friendly processing of bamboo with the application of neem, karanja and turmeric available in her kitchen. Besides, she started experimenting with making beads from bale, neem and basil plants with bamboo as a base material. She uses basic machine tools and materials to make all these fabulous products.
Priyadarshini also experimented on dying of bamboo and wooden beads using different natural dyes collected and sourced locally. During the pandemic, she did the maximum to create a new genre of sustainable jewellery using bamboo and other local natural materials. Unlike other entrepreneurs, her objective is to create employment opportunities for the rural youth, particularly girls through skilling in sustainable bamboo-based jewellery. Last year in April, she designed a project for 25 Kondh Tribal girls of Badachandeli village of Rayagada district through a project from SPARSH Social Foundation, an initiative of JK Papers Ltd, Rayagada. These girls are doing good business and have bagged many projects from the Government and private agencies.
About her work, Priyadarshini says, “I am extremely worried about issues like climate change, unemployment of youth, and migration of people in search of livelihood. My concern for these issues and love for bamboo have been at the core for this new initiative of eco-friendly bamboo-based jewellery. With almost zero investment and using locally available bamboo and other raw materials anyone, women in rural pockets in particular, can comfortably earn up to Rs 20,000/- a month working from their home. Odisha has got around 10 different varieties of bamboo, out of which 3-4 varieties are suitable for making jewellery. When most of the artisans make sliver-based bamboo jewellery, my focus is solid bamboo jewellery.”
Earlier, Priyadarsini also created a series of bamboo-based rakhis which were widely appreciated by the customers.
Rashmi Rekha Das,OP