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Working wonders with straw

Correspondent

Pradeepta's works are a rage with visitors at crafts fair

BHUBANESWAR: He looks like any ordinary villager. However, this young man has an extraordinary vision for his village. He dreams of making it famous for the craft he has been pursuing for the past 18 years.

Meet 35-year-old Pradeepta Kumar Nayak of Jiral village in Dhenkanal district who is a master craftsperson in the lesser-known straw craft.

Dream project

A self-made artist whose works are attracting a large number of visitors at the ongoing crafts fair at the exhibition ground here, Mr. Pradeepta is the winner of several State-level awards, besides being a major contender for the current year's national award. Mr. Pradeepta, who has generated self-employment for himself and nearly 50 poor girls of his village through his training centre, however, takes pride and pleasure in talking about his dream project for his village than his personal success.

"As Piplili is best known for the appliqué work, I wish to put Jiral on the tourism map of the country for straw craft," he says. Son of a senior forest officer of the State, Mr. Pradeepta had a childhood passion for designing art works out of the waste material. And his parents were worried when he decided to convert his passion into a profession as they knew how miserable has been the lives of craftspersons in the State. "I experimented with straw as my raw material and people liked its natural colour," he explained. Price of Mr. Pradeepta's works range from Rs.25 to Rs.25,000 and his products are being sold out like hot cakes in various fairs and festivals. "In nine years, I have been able to train more than 50 poor girls of my village in this craft who have been able to earn their livelihood through it. I train them free of cost at my centre that I have set up with my income, sell the products they design and pay them 30 per cent of the sale proceeds," he said.

The Dhenkanal district administration and the State Handicrafts Department appreciated Mr. Pradeepta's efforts at popularising a crafts form and employment generation for women. "Former district Collectors Usha Padhee and Ranjana Chopra took keen interest in my project," he said.

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