BENGALURU: For the world famous Channapatna toy industry that has been completely shut down in the last two months, a bulk order of 700 toys from the Bangalore Railway Division on Tuesday has come as a new whiff of life. And more such orders for the GI-tagged brightly-coloured handmade wooden toys, which instantly bring a shine to children’s eyes, are in the pipeline as the special trains run by the Railways for migrant workers are only increasing with every passing day.
The initiative, ‘Bring back the Smile’ by Railways is aimed at entertaining all the children who will be travelling for 40-60 hours to reach their hometowns in the North and North Eastern parts of India. Children as well as toymakers are now delighted, as little cars, trains, animal figurines and dolls find their way to tiny hands that instantly cherish it. P Prashant, whose family owns Sri Balaji Handicrafts, a large manufacturer based at Neelasandra village in Channapatna Taluk, bills it as a lifeline. “As soon as we got the order from Railways, we supplied 700 toys we had as stock in our godown. We have 15 labourers and we make these toys by hand only. Everyone rushed back to work today,” he said.
For the last two months, there was not a single rupee earned, Prashant added. “We have exhausted all our savings just to survive. It was an extremely tough time for all of us,” he stressed. Children are wowed by the move. Farhana had a tough time deciding which toy to pick when a commercial staffer offered her a choice. Her older brother Syed said, “We have got food, water and now toys for children. Look at the joy on my sister’s face. I have no words to say how grateful we all are.”
Five-year-old Hussain, who was heading to Tripura by a special train from Cantonment, was too shy to express his happiness in words. His mother Kutila Begum said, “He loves toys and I am carrying some for him. We never expected Railways to give my son a toy.” Roshan Kumar, Divisional Commercial Manager, Bengaluru Railway Division, who is in charge of the toy distribution, said, “We allow the children to select which toy they want. And if they show a desire for more, we give them more!”
Divisional Railway Manager, Bengaluru Railway Division, A K Verma said, “We just want the children to be happy in such a tough time for all. The idea was to bring back the smile on to their faces and our toys have achieved that.” Bengaluru-based Rakesh Jain of Creative Playstore sponsored 50 toy kits on Monday and many establishments are coming forward to help now. Container Corporation of India, a PSU under the Ministry of Railways, is sponsoring the toys. Group Manager of CONCOR in Bengaluru, Anup Dayanand Sadhu, told CE, “We are doing it as part of our CSR responsibility. We have already spent `25,000 to buy 700 toys and have earmarked `40,000 for it.”