: The crowd that had gathered at the YMCA hall in the city was diverse. From youngsters to senior citizens, they were all ready to try their hand at soap-making. A Swadeshi festival under way at the hall is offering eight training programmes in manufacture of homemade products and an exhibition of Swadeshi products. Four seminars on various aspects of Swadeshi will also be held.
Conducted jointly by the Gandhi Centre for Rural Development (GCRD), the Swadeshi Trust and the Thiruvananthapuram YMCA, the festival was inaugurated by the former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
“I am a painter and I don’t know how long I will be able to continue painting. I am planning on taking up soap production as another career option,” Anand from Neyyattinkara says.
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He is one among the large number of people who attended the training programme. “Around two lakh people have attended the training classes since 1998. Around one-third of them are active in production of soap,” says former director of Gandhian Studies and Director of GCRD Jacob Pulickan.
“The Swadeshi festival is famous throughout the State. The certificate from here and the Swadeshi brand name are really helpful in setting up production units. The classes are of great quality and help us know the unseen side of mainstream products that we use everyday,” says Rahul S. who has travelled all the way from Athirappilly to attend the classes.
People from as far as Tamil Nadu attend the seminar, indicating the popularity of the brand name outside the State. Anyone who has attended the training programmes can sell their products under the Swadeshi brand name, provided they meet the quality norms of the GCRD.
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“By the end of the festival, almost all the products will be sold,” says Anila, an active member of GCRD. Among the wide variety of products arranged on tables is jack fruit mixture, jack fruit and other fruit jams, nutmeg, ginger and lemon squash.