With Diwali round the corner, more than 100 residents at Bedia tola village of Pradhankhanta locality of Dhanbad got a surprise when they received exquisite dresses ahead of the festival. Not only this, the residents, majority of whom are snake charmers by profession, received homemade food as Diwali gift from Prity Pathak, the special guest at the village.
Pathak, a fashion designer of Jagjivan Nagar area in Dhanbad, made the designer kurtas for the village men, sarees for the women and lehengas for the girls. She distributed the clothes among the residents on Friday.
Talking to The Telegraph Online, the 23-year-old said, “I came to know about the village about a month ago through one of my father’s contacts Bengu Thakur, a resident of a nearby locality who is also a language-right activist. I was surprised to know that people here are so far from development and still making a living with the traditional profession of snake charming.”
“I decided to help these people during Diwali and prepared the dresses on my own for over a month. I invested my savings of around Rs 30,000, and gathered Rs 20,000 from crowdfunding through an online platform called Milap. Other than this, I gathered around Rs 10,000 more from friends and other family members,” Pathak, the daughter of a BCCL employee and a homemaker, said.
The fashion designer completed her course from International School of Fashion Designing in Calcutta this year, and has been engaging in social activities since her days at Calcutta.
Children of Bedia tola village wearing dresses gifted by Prity Pathak Picture by Gautam Dey
“All the dresses designed by me are premium quality ethnic wear,” said Pathak, adding that she wanted to celebrate Diwali this year by bringing a smile on the faces of those who are economically deprived. Pathak also revealed that during her Calcutta days, she prepared sanitary pads and provided them to more than 2,000 women. She has also provided masks made by her to the poorer sections of the society.
Jitendra Bedia, a construction worker and one of the first persons in Bedia tola to complete matriculation, said, “Due to extreme poverty, majority of the children here are deprived of education as they are compelled to work along with adults to financially support the family. All of them were very happy receiving special dresses during Diwali from a special guest.”
“Many of the children and women were very curious about the job and the lifestyle of Prity and wanted to know what kind of study is required to become a fashion designer,” said Sapan Bedia, another villager of Bedia tola.
