Virtual upskilling sessions for residents of Kannagi Nagar

During the lockdown, these women are learning how to make bags based on new patterns; and also masks, with some help via WhatsApp

They are known as the wonder-women of Kannagi Nagar. Why not? These nine women refused to be swept away to insignificance by the socio-economic whirlwind swirling around them. They are currently going through an upskilling exercise, individually via WhatsApp. The lessons offered to them have to do with patterns of tote bags, drawstring bags and backpacks. Besides, they are also being put through short primers on mask-making. More than imparting new skills to them, this informal virtual sessions are aimed at keeping their morale up in these difficult times.

They have indeed come a long way, from the time they were making flowers out of plastic material clogging the drains in Kannagi Nagar. They were, and still are, part of a social-art project by InkLink, which seeks to effect interventions through art. These women learnt how to twirl simple discards into works of arts — that is how years ago the carelessly-flung plastic bags morphed into eye-catching flowers. Along the way, they also learnt to weave bags.

Years ago, drawing this writer’s attention to an artwork of flowers made by these women that was adorning a lobby wall at a star hotel, Kaustav Sengupta, one of the two founders of InkLink, underlined how through their upcycling skills, these women were finding a new sense of purpose as well an income that would augment their family’s meagre earnings.

In the years that followed, they graduated to more complicated artworks, under the mentorship of co-founder Lily Sengupta. The progress included stitching soft toys with leftover fabric sourced from tailoring units. They formed an impressive team along with their mentor Lily Sengupta that they began to be known as Lily and the Wonder-women.

Now, the wonder-women are on to their next challenge.

Says Lily, “They know how to make those pleated cotton cloth masks; but making the slightly rounded ones, is proving quite a handful for them.” Knowing these women, Lily must be confident that this one must not remain a challenge to these wonder women for too long.

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