Hyderabad, August 15, 2021. Wow, what confidence, what a talent, these are the few words that come to your mind instantly when you see the works of Mrs. Santosh Daga, 45, a cancer survivor, an exhibitor at Mahila Jagruti.
She has put up a stall Dagas Craft Valley at the 3day exhibition at EF Garden, Opp Apollo Hospital, Hyderguda which kicked off on Friday.
She has displayed unique wall clocks, Money Tree Frames, Photo Frames, Name Plates. All are handcrafted. But, still what is so different about them. Yes, there is. She has picked up this art while lying on a hospital bed, getting treated for cancer.
Last year November when the whole world was under the grip of Corona she was taking her chemotherapy treatment to fight cancer. The pain caused by chemotherapy is often described as a burning, numbness, tingling, or shooting sensation. She didn’t want to cry and curse. Instead decided to do something creative, constructive to engage herself to divert her mind. Doctors treating her Dr. Mohan Vamshi, Sushil Vamshi and Mohan Narayan encouraged her.
Now she is a Cancer Survivor. Her Art Products were hotcakes. Everybody liked them. She has already sold 60 to 70 of her masterpieces. Now she wants to continue that as her profession.
Mayank her husband, 21 years old son encouraged her. Now she is a home enterpreneur. She is comfortable doing this business from home. She has a Dry Fruit Wall Clock made up of all dry fruits. One cannot imagine that a wall clock can be used so aesthetically using dry fruits.
Santosh Daga says it costs Rs 7000/- was specially made for Dry Fruit Shops, which goes very well with those shops. She is a creative genius. She converted Dosa Pan into a beautiful wall clock. Using old coins which are no longer in circulation, she made a Money Tree Photo Frame. It is priced at Rs 2500/- and must have a piece. When the frame adorns the walls the entire place gains importance.
She has made so many tailor-made clocks to suit the client’s business.
If I cry, my pain will not go away. If I smile, people will smile. But if I cry, nobody will share my pain. That is why I wanted to do something creative, says Mrs. Santosh Daga. She is a proud HomePrenuer(Home Entrepreneur) and CraftPreneur(entrepreneurship in craft) now
Like Mrs Santosh Daga, Mahila Jagruti, an NGO founded by two like-minded friends Smt. Sangeeta Bhutada and Smt Meenakshi Kasliwal 24 years ago hosted many HomePreneurs.
The three-day exhibition was inaugurated by Social Workers Amrit Kumar Jain, Ramesh Kala, Gumala Kala and Seema Kaushik. The entry to the exhibition is free and it is open till 15th August from 11 am to 9 pm.
It is the exhibition of women who despite being Home Makers, also took additional responsibility of HomePreneurs(Home Entrepreneurs) to support their families. It is an exhibition of women self entrepreneurs. It has about 75 stalls of which 90% of stalls belong to Home Entrepreneurs, who just work from home and who otherwise don’t have a larger platform to promote their products and services.
Mahila Jagruti is a Non-Profit Organization set up 24 years back by two Rajasthani Home Makers—Smt. Sangeeta Bhutada and Smt Meena Ksilwal around 50 years. They provide exhibition space at a very affordable cost as low as Rs 2000/- and as high as Rs 75000/- to enable HomePreneurs to come forward and showcase their creations, products to a larger audience. They also help poor women HomePreneurs by providing free exhibition space. They have also accommodated 6 poor Home Makers who couldn’t afford to pay the stall rent.
Smt. Sangeeta Bhutada and Smt. Meena Kasliwal founders of Mahila Jagruti are from well to do families who ventured out 24years ago. Started with Summer Coaching for kids, then graduated into a full-fledged exhibition, which provides a platform for Home Entrepreneurs to market their products. Today after 24 years and 20 exhibitions after some Home Entrepreneurs graduated into full-fledged businesses and opened/established their permanent shops.
The organizers sole objective is to help Home Entrepreneurs. With the money raised together with their savings, these two women go to slum areas, conduct games and give rations like 5kg Rice and 5 Sugars as gifts to the winners of the competitions. They also help poor women with money in their marriage. They pay school fees etc. A very ideal friend turned sister for life. They wear identical sarees all through the exhibition to tell the whole world that they are one, friends, sisters for a lifetime.
