Surja Paharia
On the 13th and 15th of December 2024 2 training programs on making utensils were held in the Paharia hamlets of Balami and Gadsingla. The programs involved 75 participants, 55 women and 20 men. The Paharia people know how to make leaf plates and bowls known as Tari and Kale respectively for their own use. However, they don’t know how to make them for commercial use, mostly for sale to small shops and restaurants and for festivals and events.
Training was provided by Chandi Paharin from Gadsingla. She learned how to prepare commercial Sal leaf plates and bowls after the birth of her 2nd child around 10 years ago. She learned on her own when she had spare time while staying in a Machan near her Kurwa fields to protect them from wild animals and she dismantled a commercial plate to understand how it is made and then practiced making it herself. While she is an expert at making these plates and bowls she does not sell them commercially but now she plans to form a group and explore selling these plates commercially to generate additional income.
The participants shared that they had learned this skill earlier they would have been able to generate an additional income for their families like the Santal people who are skilled in making these utensils and have been generating a regular stream of income for their families for a considerable period of time. They will look to sell the leaf utensils in local weekly markets known as Hatia with the two markets they would be targeting being Chandna and Damru Hatia.
