When Medhavi Gandhi and Suneera Tandon started Happy Hands foundation in 2009 in Delhi, little did they know that their organisation would change the lives of over 500 artisans from across India. Happy Hands foundation is a non-profit organisation that seeks to revive India’s endangered arts, craft and culture. The foundation helps in sustainable development of artists and craftsmen and helps them earn a living and live a life of dignity.
Gandhi discovered while working on a UNESCO’s craft council project that the recognition government gives to our artisans is hardly enough for them to grow, let alone compete in the national and global market. “After a lot of research and extensive travelling, I found that there is no organisation in India that helps or gives artists the edge to market their products. My idea was to help them market their products in their own way and help them in skill development,” says Gandhi, a 24-year-old MBA graduate in communication management from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune.
The organisation
The duo decided to name the organisation Happy Hands so as to make it synonymous with the hand- made crafts of various artisans and enabling them to work, earn and allow their creativity to soar. The symbolism of hand in both the logo and the organisation doesn’t have any political connotations — it comes from the fact that it was created by a group of creative people in their 20s which adds an element of colour and fun to the brand. As Gandhi says, “There are a lot of craft organisations in the country but most of them end up becoming middlemen. Happy Hands foundation is trying to eliminate middlemen and is helping artisans to market their products and ensure these products reach the masses.”
In June 2009, Gandhi and Tandon co-founded Happy Hands, though the idea was concieved in 2008 when they were in college. “We felt the need to start a foundation as there was lack of awareness and appreciation of crafts among today’s youth. At Happy Hands, grass-root level product development as well as appreciation of an artists’ skills is the emphasis,” says Tandon, who is also a journalist working with Business World. The main motto of Happy Hands is to not just help artisans and craftsmen from across India but also aid other communities in learning crafts to sustain themselves. “The idea is to educate artisans in terms of skill development and build markets for them and teach how their art work can be sold as a finished product,” says Gandhi. According to her, Happy Hands doesn’t have a specific structure that they follow. They work more like a team along with the other members — Anandee Ghorpade and Prerna Seth.
Challenges
For Gandhi, starting Happy Hands came with its own set of challenges. It was difficult to get the appropriate funds to run the organisation in the beginning. “We did a fundraiser in association with Kurkure of Pepsico which helped us raise enough money to work in two villages,” says Gandhi of her struggles while trying to get funds for her organisation.
“In terms of people, we still face challenges. It is tough to find committed individuals who stand for the cause. People love the website and the work we do, but in reality when it is time, very few actually turn up to lend their support,” she adds.
Gandhi also worked in an organisation called Pravah which seeks to encourage youngsters to become active citizens. She was nominated for the International Visitors Leadership Programme and was also listed among the 100 young entrepreneurs of the Foundation for Youth Social Entrepreneurship (FYSE) in 2010, an organisation which aims to inspire and empower young people to become entrepreneurs. “I am an entrepreneur because I prefer to initiate good things rather than waiting for them to happen,” says Gandhi.
Programmes
One of the main objectives of Happy Hands is to initiate the transition of rare arts and crafts from museums to markets and it has undertaken a lot of programmes to do so. The Green Room is one such initiative. It is an interactive training programme which comprises workshops and seminars for the development of the artist community where students engage in meaningful and collaborative efforts to innovate and bridge gaps between urban and rural art.
Project Dor is another attempt of Happy Hands to help women, especially from the low income and marginalised groups and find them an alternative way of life. The women that Happy Hands help are mostly suffering from HIV/AIDS, disabilities or widows/sex workers who the organisation provides support from partner organisations and create market opportunities for the products they make. The women are taught basic design skills and product development techniques and these products are marketed through exhibitions at retail partner-outlets. This project is aimed at touching the lives of women, their children and communities.
Apart from these programmes, Happy Hands has taken several other initiatives like People’s project which is an ongoing activity that envisages engaging community-wide participation to propel change.
Gandhi travels all over the country looking for dying art forms where artisans are giving up their craft form due to lack of financial support and market to sell their craft. This need along with various issues plaguing the artisans led her to organise workshops in villages and create awareness where the artisans are encouraged to develop their products, be it a painting or even folk theatre. “I have done a lot of travelling in the country and through Happy Hands, have helped artisans from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Himachal to West Bengal and some states of the North East. There is so much untapped potential for artisans’ in the country. They need to be tapped and sustained which is what we are trying to do,” says Gandhi.Once the products reach Happy Hands, they reach out to people, through multiple exhibits, corporate gifting, retail tie-ups and Happy Hands’s own little retail space in Delhi.
Funds
Happy Hands raises funds through corporate projects, campaigns, festivals and events that it holds round the year. One such event, Purple Street, an amalgamation of traditional art and culture was held in 2009 where artisans, craftsmen and folk performers from various parts of rural India displayed their work.
Such events with the help of sponsors allow Happy Hands to support the organisation. “We don’t get funds from other sources. We do our own fundraisers,” says Gandhi.
Lives that Happy Hands has touched
Om Prakash Galav, a 28-year-old potter from Rajasthan is one of the most educated craftsmen associated with Happy Hands and whose life changed after being a part of the organisation. In October 2010, Happy Hands organised a workshop in collaboration with Coca-Cola India to celebrate the art of Warli, an ancient folk art tradition of the Warli tribe of Maharashtra, where Galav built a 10ft terracotta replica of the coke bottle. This feat was chosen to be a Limca Book of Records entrant this year. “Through Happy Hands, I have got the opportunity and the platform to display my talent. It has given me exposure and a lot of encouragement to pursue my passion,” says Galav of Happy Hands.
Heera Kanth, a 36-year-old Madhubani artist from Bihar is another person that the organisation has helped in terms of getting her work and sustain her artform.“I crafted a 4”-6” handmade paper booklet for the Capital D’ event in February that was held to commemorate 100 years of Delhi as the capital of India. Happy Hands has helped me get work and get my art noticed,” says Kanth, who has been associated with the organisation for the past six months.
Apart from Galav, Happy Hands is working extensively with Madhubani, Warli and Dokra artisans. Happy Hands covers about 10 states and 16 clusters affecting lives of hundreds of artisans and their families. It is also working for a women’s group in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa and giving them aid in local crafts every month through workshops.
Future plans
Gandhi wants to write a children’s book about folk stories in the future. She wants to work on better projects and create enough funds through various resources to be able to give grants to artisans and craftsman and take arts to a whole new different level. “Someday, arts and crafts will not be a niche thing to do or be involved with,” says Gandhi as she signs off.
prerna.c@newindianexpress.com