THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Teenage idols such as Hannah Montana and Ben 10 are going rural! Divya Bags, a Kudumbashree initiative from Pathanamthitta, has displayed school bags with teen sensations on them at a stall at the ongoing exhibition-cum-sale at the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium in the city."We go to Ernakulam to buy these pictures of Hannah Montana and Ben 10 and other such favourites of kids. Fourteen of us who work at the unit attach it on to the bags we make. We also make bags for textile giants such as Jayalakshmi Silks,’’ said Ambili, a member of the unit. Each bag comes for Rs 200 a piece. Divya Bags is just one of the many interesting stalls put up at the exhibition. The Thrikkadavoor panchayat has come up with cane frames which give your paintings a totally different and ethnic feel; the Edathala panchayat has displayed footwear, bags and umbrellas for ladies and gents and the Vilavoorkkal panchayat artificial flower bunches.Thinking natural would get soaps packed in leaves and palm sheaths and still smell wonderfully fresh - check out the stall put up by the Nova Production unit from Cherukulathoor in Kozhikode. The members manning the stall will tell you that they first treat the leaves of ‘Elavankom’ tree with salt and turmeric and then dry it, before using it as a green leafy pack for the soaps. The 15-member all-women unit has an array of soaps made naturally with ingredients such as virgin coconut oil, gram flour, turmeric, tulasi, red sandal, ‘kasthuri manjal’, ‘ramacham’ and ‘kacholam’, which they claim are not only good for a number of skin ailments, but even dandruff and prickly-heat. And they have a heavenly scent.The coconut shell handicraft from Kottayi grama panchayat in Palakkad is another attraction of the expo, with showpieces and cute little earrings made of treated coconut shells. ‘’We buy coconut as such and then sell the kernel for oil. This gets us back the initial capital we put in,’’ said Lakshmi, a member of the unit. There are a number of stalls for herbal oils, spices, medicated oils and even one-gram gold ornaments. The Kuttampuzha unit from Ernakulam has some coloured reed products such as lamp shades and waste baskets in unique shapes. ‘’We have coloured the reed for waste baskets a deep chocolate brown so that even if dirt collects on it, it won’t get noticed or look repulsive,’’ said Ruby Mathew from Kuttampuzha.The exhibition will be on for just a day more, after which these products will still be available at city units, say Kudumbashree members.
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