The Hindu : Kerala News : Innovative Homemakers

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Wednesday, Mar 05, 2008
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Kerala

Kerala

Innovative Homemakers

From dawn to dusk, a woman plays skillfully through her creativity. Starting from the morning kolam she draws, till the night supper she prepares, her imagination and originality illumine. Though she does various works simultaneously, there is no chaos or confusion in what she does. She is trained right from her childhood in multitasking. Her significance is now realised and so in recent times she is praised as a home maker and not merely a housewife.

Worker turns maker

With cookery and domestic services, the life of a homemaker does not come to an end. In spite of remaining at their homes and taking care of their family women can do a lot and infact all doing a lot.. Their multifaceted nature and multitasking ability glitter even if they are at home.

Art for heart

“I am basically a Home Science graduate, after marriage, my family situation demanded me to be at home. The creative light that the course lit in my mind forced me to do something resourceful. So I started to teach basics of arts and crafts. Some 4 years back I had just two pupils. To be frank ,my family did not support me as felt it to be a sheer waste of time. But the lively subject that I studied did not let me down. I began to equip myself with various techniques such as glass painting, pencil drawing, clay modeling, flower arrangement, toy making, ceramic and soap works, saree painting, Rangoli and traditional kolam, Chinese, Tandoori and Thai cuisine and special healthy culinary. Slowly, women in and around our locality began to attend my classes. Today , I teach about 25 women and this has turned out to be both my hobby and profession” smiles an enthusiastic Madhumitha.

The music maker

“Music is my breath. I always dreamt of becoming a singer. I worked for a few years in a private school as a teacher but later resigned the job to take care of my children and husband. Later, I started to teach both vocal music and dance at home. Now I feel proud that I am a maker of musicians. This gives me much satisfaction and keeps me going”, muses Ms.Sharmila Christina Viola.

There are thousands of home makers like these women in our city who are involving themselves in various innovative tasks. Many of them are conducting tailoring classes, running tuition centres, teaching languages from Hindi to French or running a crèche. There are designers for textiles, artificial fashionable jewellery designers and even abacus tutors.

Despite their progress, tele-serials and literary debates are repetitively delimiting women’s capabilities. They are projected to be idle beings merely watching chat shows and endless soaps. Even while viewing television there are women who opt for informative programmes and put them to practical use in life.

They try out a number of inventive works not only to earn but definitely as a useful leisure hour pleasure.

-M.Susithra

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