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Venture

Eid Bonanza

"Kheya's" festival fair at the "Arial" Gallery

FAYZA HAQ
THE atmosphere at the "Arial" gallery, recently, was teeming with fun and frolic despite the Ramadan season. This was due to the entrepreneur work of young university enthusiasts, who decided to take their free time out to organize an Eid 'mela'. This included clothes for both sexes and for various age range, home furnishing, artificial jewellery, decoration pieces etc. Thus one found saris, "shalwar-kameez-dupatta" sets, "punjabis", "fatwas ", T-shirts, "kundan" ware ranging from sets of artificial jewellery with gold water run over to stone setting ware which would delight the hearts of one and all.
The opening day had fashion models parading the gallery in "gamchha" (a la Bibi Russell) and spray-painted "fatwas", while some of the sales girls had been models at important fashion shows before. What was most fascinating about the Eid fair was that all the commodities had been locally produced and the prices were extremely low, in order to capture the market with their particular brands. urmi and uttam Ghosh were among the chief brains behind the spirited and youthful project, which drew large crowds of eager buyers. The aim of the outlets was Dhanmandi, Jhikatola, Kolabagan and other neighbouring areas, where shoppers hanker after the sophisticated items seen at Banani and Gulshan but which the hip-pocket nerve cannot stand.
Rabeya Sani urmi, who studies BBA at the Asian university, asked how she got into sale of crafts, said, 'When I was studying entrepreneurship at my university this interest grew in me. I felt from my personal experience that during Eid people flock to get good clothes for the festive occasion. People residing, say at Azimpur, hanker after clothes available at the Banani and Gulshan boutiques but they cannot afford it due to financial constraints or due to the mere distance and hassle of travelling. I felt that far flung crafts sales outlets could be brought under one roof, the well-populated area around Dhanmandi could come, see and buy at leisure. A "mela" is meant to be enjoyed; it's a colourful occasion to come to where some buying-and-selling process also ensues.' Due to the Ramadan season urmi could not arrange any food or drink stalls but other ones were there to feast the eyes on and make the quick purchases once the price was fixed after the normal bargaining. This attempt at "Arial" was her first personal effort; she had taken part in the First International Motor Show at NAM Centre, E-Commerce (business through the Internet) launching, and various other fairs earlier. Now she wanted her own "do." Asked about the stalls that had been included at the fair, urmi said that they included boutiques, jewellery shops, furnishing stalls, and all other shops selling items necessary for Eid. One searches, she said, for festive garments, as well as clothes and other home-decoration items like colourful and exotic bedsheets, and token gift items like greeting cards, pens and wallets. urmi insisted that items like jewellery were a must for some trend setters: people change the interior decoration too for the festive time, if they can afford it. Thus bed-covers and comforters had been included in the items of sale along with winter garments and light apparel.
The main attractions included
hand-embroidered saris and "kameezes" with Lucknow, cross, satin, 'nakshikantha' stitches, as well as block prints. Glitzy 'Dollar' decorations, winking beads and sensuous sequins had also been included in some of the embellishments. Brush painting had also been used for the decorative details on the garments as that too is locally in vogue. Our heritage had not been lost sight of while the young ones sped ahead in their quest for the latest trends. The focus was from the new-born to people in their 80s.
The items included sophisticated saris or "shalwar-kameez-dupatta" sets (which could be of cotton, Rajshahi silk or muslin), which included muted as well as dramatically coloured and embroidered ranges of shades of baby-pink, midnight-blue, tangerine-gold and juxtapositions of multicolour. Household items like Chenille-type and curiously woven bed-covers "kanthas" with the colourful design and stitches were available at incredibly low prices. The home decor items of wood, clay and aluminum (including with pseudo antique matte finish), were also there to win the hearts. The jewellery with the latest trends included one of the first local imitation brand which had gold plated and "kundun" items with traditional subcontinent details.
urmi elaborated about the customers and the stalls, "They included the target area of in-and-around Dhanmandi, Green Road, Azimpur, Lalbagh, Lalmatia, Kalabagan, Mohammadpur, etc. There were 16 stalls on the single platform of 'Kheya' (boat)." "The students who worked
here included had all worked as fashion models at some time or another. They treated this entrepreneurship during the "mela" as extracurricular activities and had the total support of their friends and family for the venture," said uttam Ghosh, one of the participants, who happens to be a student of drama, (who also made the well-accepted film on Bibi Russell, the uN ambassador for Peace).
The "Kheya" "mela" was a good example for young people in bold but stable ventures and provided fashion ware to please the mind and pocket of the average bourgeois.