Akhom ongbi Promila — Entrepreneur of Kauna products — |
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By: Thingnam Anjulika Samom * |
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Every conceivable inch of her courtyard bears testimony to her work. Half woven kauna cushions, mats and bags are strewn across her outhouse and the shumang. They have to be softened in the overnight dew to be ready for the next day’s work, she explains.
In 2002, Promila opened her own venture under the name Promila Kauna Crafts at Kongba Nandeibam Leikai with an all-women team to produce besides the
However she hasn’t gone in for any kind of training for her new innovations, most of which has sprung up from customer’s demands and her own originality. She also spends part of her day in imparting free training to interested students. Promila’s kauna products have carved out a niche market for itself; she has regular customers not only in Manipur but also in Nagaland and Assam. A sales outlet was recently opened in Guwahati too under the initiative of the State Art and Culture Department to showcase her products. “It is an eco-friendly product, and we have a huge demand both in India and abroad as well,” she explains. Ultimately she plans to set up an export unit as well as a raw material bank. “I need adequate supply of raw material that is kauna reed if I am to start exporting,” she explains and adds that she is arranging to set up a plantation unit for kauna reeds to ensure regular supply. “But a problem area is that kauna is a seasonal plant, and as such we have to store a whole year’s supply at one go after a drying process. Sometimes if the drying is not done properly, we lose most of the reed to fungus,” she said. However despite all setbacks, Promila is happy with her role as proprietor of Promila Kauna Crafts. “The work itself is creative, and also a good thing is that it is self-sustaining,” she said, exhorting that working with kauna could play a major role in bringing down the unemployment figure in the state. Promila has two sons – 12 year old Jenish and 11 year old Ronish. She has taken part in many exhibitions across the state as well as the country including Bhopal, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Guwahati and Delhi. She also bagged the second prize in the state level REGP exhibition in 2006/7. Thingnam Anjulika Samom wrote this article for The Sangai Express . You can contact the writer at thingnam(at)yahoo(dot)com . This article was webcasted on April 18th, 2007 |
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