Bamboo from Nagpur going beyond Oranges

Which city comes to one’s mind when we debate about oranges. You are correct, we are talking about Nagpur. But hold on, I am not going to talk anything about that orange stuff here, but it is the Bamboo crafts in the area that has shaped it big too. Lying in the Vidarbha region of India, which is acclaimed for the rampant suicides by farmers, lies a jewel in itself, Nagpur.

Nagpur is a burgeoning city, with huge industrial setups , big malls and shopping complexes and hold on a newly built up Cricket Ground that has been the centre of attraction for quite sometime now owing to a series of International One-Days, Test and 20-20 cricket matches being played here. But, I am not going to talk about them atleast for now. Well, if you see the geographical setup of nagpur, you would yourself agree to the rich resources that it encompass.

Lying close to the borders of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and not too far Andhra Pradesh, the whole area is a dense patch of forests, a few of the national parks are also a part of these. Two main varieties of Bamboo vis-a-vis Oxytenanthera Stocksii & Dendrocalamus Strictus are abundantly available in the area. These varieties of bamboo are perhaps one of the best varieties that can be put to use for furniture making purposes.

Call it the curse of using "Poor Man's Timber" or lack of awareness, we still do not have people putting the adequate use of this species. They mostly find themselves being put to use in a paper industry, who have no other means but to use Bamboo. Still a handful of organisations are making Bamboo Furnitures in the area .

The problem faced by these organisations are again the marketability . Compared to other places where Bamboo work is undertaken, Nagpur has an advantage in terms of it's proximity to Mumbai and Indore. The artisan skill set is good and a lot of people in the adjoining villages of Nagpur are involved in some or the other activity related to Bamboo. The nodal agency i.e. NMBA has undertaken quite a few artisan training activities in the area.

As far as Bamboo crafts and Furniture business is concerned, I am fairly confident that Nagpur will be a big driver as lots of eco resorts and eco housing are coming up along the konkan coast and hence, the demand is surely going to rise up.

Tharu Tribe and their art

Well, this sets the beginning of my journey of blog writing. Hope that I keep the pen moving in the best possible spirit.

A brief overview of the THARU COMMUNITY:- They are mostly or predominantly residing in the terai region of the Indo-Nepal border. They follow hinduism and constitutes the oldest ethnic group of the terai region. They are considered to be devotees of a tribal Goddess named "BHUMSEN"...Their population is close to a lakh people who are residing in India.

Tharu community is predominantly agriculture based. Over the years Tharu people have used their skills to make one or the other things, but we have zeroed in on their quite acclaimed skill of making Bamboo products.

Travelling to Sitarganj, a small town in Uttarakhand , some 46 Km away from Rudrapur is a journey across the paddy fields, flowing with the breeze. The journey to the village "Vhitora" is another 10km from Sitarganj and into the deep trenches of village life. The scenic beauty completely take your breath away as across the lush green paddy fields you find the giant Shivalik mountains waiting as a barrier just a few yards away. The hired tempo suddenly comes to a standstill and the driver points me to the office cum small development cluster funded by Uttarakhand Bamboo Board(UBFDB) for the people of Tharu tribe.

The bamboo products made by this ethnic community ranges from chairs, dining tables, sofa sets to lamp shades, trays and some other products made from sun-hemp fibres. The quality of the products is quite appreciable and their dedication to work is well commendable. This skill is no doubt their in-born trait that forms a core of their life.

In and around Sitarganj , which falls in the Terai region of Uttarakhand and quite close to the Nepal border, are scattered various villages belonging to the Tharu Community where one can easily find such arts. We happen to visit another such Cluster at a village named Dusri and another named Nagla which were is close proximity to Nanakmatta, a famous shrine for the Sikhs.

Due to rapid industrialisation of the region, especially after a few industrial zones have come up in the region, Tharu people are moving for such avenues and why not. The bamboo products doesn'ty fetch them big bucks and also takes days to give it a shape. The situation is grim but not upto a level that we have to press the panic button.

The government of Uttarakhand has taken due diligence of this situation and is acting quite smartly. What can really turn the situation is the entry of private players putting their money to train these people more in their art and buying them too.

Their is a gold lying here, only if the people see it.