Aakkam 2012: To The Hands That Mould : Charging ahead to Day 2

Aakkam 2012: By Rukmani Krishna To The Hands That Mould : Charging ahead to Day 2:

11^th September 2012 was day of ‘Aakkam 2012’. This was the day when the campaign would be officially inaugurated. At around 12:30 p.m all the students of the Department of Journalism gathered in the Theatre to be a part of the inaugural ceremony. For the inaugural ceremony we had a Chief Guest and 2 Guest’s of Honour. The Chief Guest was Mr. Mohan Kumar, a Joint Director in the Textiles Industry. The Guest’s of Honour were Ms. V. R Devika the founder of ASEEMA trust and Mr. Muniswamy, a potter of acclaimed repute from Pondicherry. The function started off with a few introductions of the guest’s after which the guest’s came forward to light the lamp and then moved on to the various talks given by the guests. While Mr. Mohan enlightened us on what the government was doing for the artisans, Ms. Devika’s session was filled with enthusiasm and panache. Ms. Devika spoke about her background and gave us insights into what she did. She also mentioned a very interesting fact that she wears only handloomed sarees and that when she goes abroad, she moves around a place only in those sarees. She was an inspirational figure to all us. She also got everyone off their seats and I mean literally when she showcase some spinning expertise using a miniature Charka. In all it was a very amusing and entertaining session when it came to Ms. Devika. After Ms. Devika, Mr. Muniswamy was up next. He had already brought us a video of himself to be shown and the video left the audience spell bound and in awe of this man. We salute artisans like him who have worked very hard for their craft, despite all the problems they’ve faced. He explained to us his art, the nuances involved with it, the inspiration behind why he does pottery for a living, the numerous national and international awards he has received and his general view on the topic. Soon after the inaugural session concluded with the guest’s being presented with hand-made memento’s by our classmates and everyone dispersed for lunch.

After lunch everyone came back for a panel discussion which involved Mr. Muniswamy and an expert from the field. The discussion was informative and it brought out many interesting information and ideas to the table. The expert and the artisan spoke about the future of craft in our nation and they spoke in detail about what has happened, what is happening and what should happen. Mr. Muniswamy also spoke about various schemes he saw in Thailand when he had traveled to that part of the World. Overall the information was enlightening and it was followed up by a Q & A session. With that we wrapped up all the sessions of Day 2.

Another highlight of Day 2 were the stalls outside the Department. We had 3 stalls exhibiting handicrafts and it was quite a success with a large bunch of students thronging to make purchases. One stall sold knick nacks and bags, another one exclusively sold jhola’s and other such bags and the last stall sold bangles, earrings and anklets. The women students were elated and you could see that the stalls were doing good business. In an effort to use hand made products we also kept water outside in clay pots. Yet another move to become eco-friendly and a step towards helping the artisans.

On day 3 we all have decided to ‘Go Swadeshi’ and will be seen moving around the campus in Khadi Kurta’s.

We’ve decided to ‘Go Swadeshi,’ what about you?