A group of girls and boys in Piyali in South 24-Parganas district, most of whom are first generation learners, organised a fair with stalls that sold crafts and food items that they made themselves.
The young organisers were helped by their mothers.
Some of the students made handicrafts which included clay items while their mothers made snacks and woollen mats, much of which were sold off even before the fair ended.
Items at display at the fair
Soma Ray, a mother, ran out of her stock much earlier than she had thought.
She was sceptical whether she would be able to attract buyers. “Piyali is a small place and I was not sure whether people would buy anything from my stall,” said Ray.
Ray, whose husband works as a daily wager, said that she made woollen mats at home but never knew that she would be able to sell them at a fair.
For 17-year-old Raju Mondal the hobby of making clay idols helped him earn a pocket money of Rs 400 by selling four clay idols.
“I have kept the money for buying colours and materials,” said the Class XII student.
Raju and many others like him go to Piyalir Boighar, an initiative of an organisation, Ebong Alap, that has been working with these children.
Tapashi Mondal, the coordinator of Ebong Alap said that six of the mothers were able to sell food worth Rs 3,000.
“It means a lot for them and they had not expected to get such a response,” she said.
The Boighar is a library where the kids read, watch films and have discussions.
“Anandamela (the fair) was a culmination of workshops that the students and some of their mothers did for a year. They wanted to showcase their talent. The fair was a huge boost to their confidence,” said Ruchira Goswami, secretary, Ebong Alap.
Goswami said that seeing their children develop an interest in books, their mothers have shown more support than before. Some of the mothers have demanded an adult education programme for themselves.
While activities like these are common in the city but in a place like Piyali where the girls and boys lead a life of struggle it is an event to add some fun to the festive season.
“It was something that they wanted to do and came up with this idea. They also used up some space to make a wall magazine where they put up their writings and drawings that they have done,” said Sharmistha Dutta Gupta, founder secretary of Ebong Alap.
The drawings are illustrations that they made after watching films in the library.