Kuldip Maity

My last blog was about the impact of climate change and how we can shift our focus from single-use plastics to environmentally friendly and sustainable options such as bamboo products. But you may ask, what about other products made of plastic? Aren’t they polluting the environment as well?

Most importantly, what about the small-scale businesses that make single-use plastic products? A ban on single-use plastic products such as bags, straws, cutlery and so on will hit lives and the businesses around such products.

The question is, what should be our priority—Climate change or livelihoods? The answer is both. We cannot turn a blind eye to the intensified impact of climate change or ignore the livelihoods associated with single-use plastics.

But one can surely diversify, re-imagine and re-invent, and most importantly, adopt a better, sustainable mode of business. We can, with some effort, change our line of business for better opportunities for ourselves and healthier options for everyone else.

In Maharashtra, a group of 12 specially-abled people made rakhis out of bamboo. This kept them gainfully employed. Since last year, the government’s effort to boost indigenous handicrafts, with special reference to sustainable products, has helped Indian-made rakhis beat mass-produced foreign products.

Proactive environmental conservation coupled with the government initiative to boost sustainable, traditional crafts will surely drive positive action against climate change. But the onus is not just with organizations and the government but also with us. The real change will come from a change in mindset. Jute bags or plastic bags? Bamboo baskets or plastic baskets? The choice lies with us.

When Minati Hansda’s nephew chose to leave the family business of bamboo handicrafts to work in a factory, everyone in the family was saddened. The bright young man had no hopes for the family’s bamboo handicraft business. He thought it was old, redundant and irrelevant. The fast life of technology and chemicals (even if toxic) was the real deal for him. Following his footsteps, the other children in Minati’s family started showing a similar disdain for their bamboo handicraft business.

But the disdain didn’t stay for long.

When the government announced lockdowns to check the COVID19 pandemic, the economic and financial landscape changed and forced many to rethink their way of living and thinking. An increase in the number and frequency of cyclones made people look closely at global warming and environmental damage.

The children in Minati’s household also felt this change. Her nephew, realizing the power in the call of “Vocal for local”, returned to his small village of Majlishbag in West Bengal’s Maldah district. But, by this time, the family’s bamboo handicrafts business had suffered huge losses because the lockdowns had taken away their biggest chunk of customers—the villagers who used to throng the fairs.

The art had come down to Minati from her parents. Minati dreamt of expanding the operations and passing her knowledge down to the children. But she had no capital.

Minati’s nephew knew that his expertise and his aunt’s talent could revive the business. In this journey, Village Financial Services became a proud partner.

With a loan from VFS, Minati and her nephew accelerated operations once the lockdown was lifted. The loan money helped Minati transport her bamboo products to markets in nearby villages and towns.

Minati now despatches products to markets around the year, not just during the season of country fairs. Most importantly, with her nephew, she was able to gain the trust of her future generations for the family business. Today, as she spoke about her journey with our VFS customer executive, she recalls how her father used to say that all they have gained is because Mother Earth was benevolent to them.

The climate crisis is real. We have caused it, and we must fix it. “The evidence is irrefutable: greenhouse gas emissions are choking our planet & placing billions of people in danger,” António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, said at the release of the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on August 9.

Two years ago, he had said the climate emergency is a race we are losing, but it is a race we can win.

The signs are everywhere: from wildfires to massive glacial meltdown to increased cyclones and a record rise in global temperature. We cannot close our eyes to our new normal. Not the one with the COVID19 pandemic but the one with the reality of climate emergency.

While some governments have been proactive, only consolidated public support and mass action can win a race that can be won.

The Indian government’s August 13 notification banning the manufacture, sale and use of single-use plastic items from July 2022 was a much-needed action. The havoc created by single-use plastic items is beyond comprehension. The Great Pacific garbage patch is an example of the indiscriminate and unconscionable use of plastics.

Alternatives to plastics such as cotton, jute, bamboo, coconut shells and paper have been used in India for a long time. Our cottage industries make environment-friendly biodegradable products. We just need to rediscover the traditional, eco-friendly handicrafts and support our cottage industries. Our country has no dearth of talented craftsmen; what they lack is the right support.

When Soma Nama came to the Village Financial Services branch at Sabroom in Tripura, she wasn’t hopeful of getting a loan. She was apprehensive about whether her business of bamboo products will ever get financial assistance from us. But VFS heard her out and felt that she would succeed. Soma left the branch as a happy customer and a hopeful entrepreneur.

Soma and her husband had been weaving bamboo baskets and rice-dusting trays for many years now. It had been a family tradition that was passed down to them by their elders. The bamboo baskets are sturdy, durable and most importantly, biodegradable and free of harmful chemicals. Their light wood colour gives them an earthy aesthetic charm. The rice-cleaning bamboo trays are also used in religious ceremonies and festivals, especially in eastern India.

Soma made products of a quality that was rare to find in the area. People from her village were her regular customers. But her reach was limited to her small village. She was not left with much of a profit. She realised that to increase her sales, she needed to sell in the town markets. To ramp up production and pay for the logistics, she needed some capital.

But who would give her the capital? In a village of artisans, farmers and vegetable sellers, getting financial assistance was a difficult task. The village did not even have a proper moneylender.

Her sister-in-law insisted that she give the VFS branch in Sabroom a try. That was all it needed, a try...

Her sleepless nights ended when she left the VFS branch office with the assurance that her loan would be credited to her new bank account.

With the loan, Soma was able to buy bamboo strips in bulk. Her husband got involved full time in weaving the baskets and bamboo trays. Soon, they had built up a huge pile of products. Enough to take to the market. They hired a small truck.

They had already spoken to a trader in the market, who bought the entire lot at an attractive price. After that first sale, Soma never had to look back. Her business is thriving.

Soma knows nothing much about the science of global warming or the debate. She has never heard of Guterres.

But she knows her baskets will last for years. When they are beyond repair, they will be thrown away and rot gracefully without polluting the environment. Soon, there will be no trace of the basket.

But Soma will still be making bamboo products. She even plans to diversify her range with more help from VFS. Goodbye, plastics crates and trays.

Each Olympic Games gives us legends. The legends may or may not have won medals or even qualified for the quarterfinals. But they are still legends. Because they dared to brave the odds and reach the stage. Because they persevered, putting that effort and commitment, day after day, behind the dream of the Olympics.

The ultimate reward of the medal doesn’t make them champions. Their journey does.

Italian high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi and his Qatari rival Mutaz Essa Barshim created history at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 when they asked an official if they could have two gold medals for the same event after several failed tiebreakers. And the official said yes.

Of course, there was a celebration of brotherhood. But that is not what makes Tamberi and Barshim special. It’s their journey to the stage that does...

In 2016, Tamberi had arrived at Rio for the Olympics, but tragedy struck just a few days before the competition kicked off. Tamberi broke his ankle. Reduced from a participant to a teary-eyed spectator, Tamberi thought nothing could be worse than this...but there was. Later, doctors informed him that the severity of the injury could end his career as a high jumper.

Tamberi made sure that fate bowed to the strength of his perseverance. He wrote ’Road to Tokyo 2020’ on his plaster cast. When the pandemic postponed the Games, he crossed out the year and wrote in red ’2021’. The cast lay on the track after his gold.

In Kolkata, I came across a similar story of perseverance.

Mamta Mahato made fate bow to her perseverance. An apparel shop owner in Raghunathpur, Mamta is busy with expansion plans today and has a second store in mind. Something that she could not have imagined three years back.

Mamta had started a clothes store as a mother of three to bring some financial stability to her family. Initially, the shop drew customers. But as competition grew, Mamta’s store started losing customers. After a year and a half, her business losing money, and she got into debt.

She debated whether to lease out the shop or shut it down. The thought of giving up years of hard work was devastating. Mamta clung to the shop, praying for the best.

Her prayers were answered...

One day, while walking to her shop, she saw a freshly painted signboard atop a new office. The man behind the counter looked familiar. Mamta realised it was her classmate. Mamata dropped in, and they got chatting. The friend explained that he was in microfinance, and the office was of Village Financial Services. He also explained what microfinance is all about.

Mamta saw hope again. A week later, she was at the VFS branch, applying for a loan.

That was the beginning of Mamta’s second innings.

With the loan, Mamta decided to stock her shop with a new variety of clothes and keep abreast of fashion trends. She visited the leading outlets in Kolkata and did some market research.

By the next month, Mamta’s store was stocked with trendy clothes and attracted a rush of customers.

Every month, her husband visits Kolkata and brings in fresh stocks. Mamta’s clothes store has become a sought-after destination ahead of any festival or occasion. Within a year, Mamta found herself thinking of employing some shop assistants.

The journey has just started for Mamta and the better days are ahead.

Unless you are someone who thoroughly enjoys the sedentary life of a recluse, caged within the four walls of your home, last year was perhaps the worst year of this century. Children missed their first day at school and then for months their classroom experience. A virtual make-belief world of primary days was painted, and they believed it. Senior students missed the experience of board exams, first day of college, the canteen adda. Most devastating was the rise in the number of school drop-outs. Education systems around the globe were severely disrupted.

“At the peak of the crisis, UNESCO data showed that over 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries were out of school.” — One year into COVID-19 education disruption: Where do we stand? - UNESCO

As for the grown-ups, many faced the impact of COVID-19 in the harshest way possible: job cuts or loss of business. In my previous blogs, I reached out to readers who were desperately looking for hope, ideas, motivations, and a light in the darkness. If any of the blogs have positively impacted someone, even if that is one person, I shall consider my labours fruitful.

Don’t give up. The call to say “it’s over” lies with you and not with that letter of termination or eviction. If you can start once, then you can start again. If Ranu Yadav can make it, so can you.

Ranu Yadav walked into the VFS branch in Itarsi, Madhya Pradesh, near her village, to take a loan. That was last year. With the COVID-19 lockdowns, the year turned out to be bad for most of us. But women like Ranu knew how to turn it into their favour. The year started with bad news for Ranu, from losing relatives to the coronavirus pandemic to suffering financial loss. Her husband saw his income shrink as sales of his business dried up. The couple considered mortgaging Ranu’s gold jewellery at the local pawnshop. Like many pawnshops, this one, too, was notorious for duping people.

Although the need was pressing, the couple did not let their desperation get the best of them. They looked out for other means of a real income, with Ranu’s husband calling up relatives near and far for distributorships or partnerships. But even that entailed the question of capital. There were many opportunities, but the couple lacked the means to seize them.

The search went on for two months. Their five-year-old son waited to start school. While many of his friends did join the online classes, Ranu’s son stayed behind as the virtual class would require devices and internet connectivity, which meant mounting expenses.

Their neighbour opposite their house was looking for a tenant for a shed. Ranu knew that something needed to be done. Her only source of strength was her belief in herself and her conviction in turning things around. And this made all the difference.

Ranu was aware of the presence of the VFS branch in Itarsi, although she had never been to a bank. She decided to give herself a chance. With her identity papers, Ranu made her way to the VFS office. The rest was taken care of with the right assistance and proper guidance.

A week later, the VFS office called her with the good news: her loan application had been approved, and the money was soon in her new bank account. All she now needed was to negotiate the rent of the shed with the teacher. She was prepared with a map of her entrepreneurial journey. The shed soon became her kirana, and soon her verandah became the makeshift classroom for her son.

As Ranu nears the first anniversary of her kirana, she reflects how one year of hardship prepared her for a future of financial stability. Last year was perhaps the worst year, but that doesn’t mean that this year will be the same. The decision to turn it around lies with us.