New Delhi, Feb 23 (FN Agency) Besides showcasing India’s diversity and incredible creativity of our artisans, the ongoing 37th edition of the Aadi Mahotsav at the Maj Dhyan Chand National Stadium is promoting tribal entrepreneurship, their digital literacy and allowing them to have direct interaction with their consumers so that they become aware about their tastes and preferences. The event commenced on February 16 and would go on till February 27, it is the first time when the event has such a large venue as earlier it use to be organised at the Dill Haat, this year’s edition is seeing participation from approximately 1000 artisans from 28 states manning 206 stalls. Besides tribal merchandise and food, every day the time slot from 6 pm-8 pm has been earmarked for cultural programs featuring exotic and rare music and dance performances from tribal artists.
Bhaskar Jha, Deputy Manager, at Tribal Co-operative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) stresses that one of the most important roles events such as Aadi Mahotsav play is that customers interact directly with the consumers which makes them aware about their taste and demand, “when they interact with the consumers they get to know about their taste and hence have an idea that what is in demand and are able to modify their merchandise accordingly. So they are able to produce as per the market trend” Jha explains how the event is empowering tribal artisans for entrepreneurship by imparting digital literacy to them “Digital literacy is crucial for business, particularly for marketing one’s products through e commerce sites, hence what we are doing is we are imparting training to them as to how to use digital mode of payments. We conduct workshops with these artisans for imparting this knowledge along with other skills such as maintaining bill books.”
Liantong M. Hungyo from Mirim Enterprise, Manipur expresses gratitude to PM Modi for taking personal interest in the Mahotsav, allowing a huge platform to it in the form of Maj Dhan Chand stadium and for his role in promotion of millets “PM Modi on the inaugural day said that Lakadong turmeric should be promoted as it is the best turmeric in the world, largely due to that statement so many customers bought all our stock, even our black rice got sold out so we had to get new stock from our go down from Manipur.” Liantong explains the health benefits of the products at his stall “black rice is filled with anti oxidants and a lot of roughage and is anti cancer, it is wholesome and much healthier than ordinary rice. Lakadong turmeric, which is originally from Meghalaya is the best turmeric in the world as it has higher curcumin content compared to other turmeric.” A particular stall from Jharkhand is drawing immense attention as it offers customized Lac bangles, these bangles are being prepared right in front of the customers as per their preference by melting and molding Lac which has been stored in brick form. Lac is a wax like semi solid derived from trees used by tribals for manufacturing a variety of products.
‘The Fibrent- The Craft Women’ stall from Kerala is another stall that is very popular with visitors, it is offering unique products all made of bamboo. Sushmith Bose the marketing and design assistant at the stall says “we are offering soap trays, food trays, lamp shades, laptop stands, toothbrush, bamboo loud speakers, mobile holders, paper clips, rainmaker musical instrument all made totally of bamboo” The Bamboo Loud speaker, that amplifies sound without the need for electricity and the rainmaker music instrument called Mazhamunooly that produces melodious and soothing sound of rainfall are two items at the stall that are leaving the visitors wonder struck. Among the food stalls at the event the Chhattisgarh stall seems to be particularly popular.
Rajesh Yellem at the stall explains that Chapra chutney and Mahua kishmish are two items that are most in demand, he explains the medicinal and nutritional value of these two “We are offering 27 types of our traditional dishes here, Chapra chutney and Mahua kishmish are seing great demand, the chutney is made of red ants, it is a great remedy for cough, flu, difficulty in breathing, cold, fatigue and several other ailments. Ants and their eggs contain formic acid, which is known to fight bacteria in the human digestive system. The chutney contains optimum amounts of zinc, calcium and protein, which is good for immune system of the human body. This is natural protein, as opposed to eggs and chicken available in the market which contain growth hormones and chemicals. Mahua kishmish is also very healthy food, it’s a power packed energy food, our elders in case they were not able to get rice they would collect Mahua then boil it and store it covered in leaves and carry it with themselves and when they went to the forest they would be able to sustain themselves for long time due to this kishmish.”