Puja logs brisk business for them
A good number of people of Hindu Mali community are now busy producing flowers and other items from shola (sponge-wood) ahead of puja festival in Jhenidah to make a brisk business.
Residents of Bhatpara village under Kaliganj upazila and Solaimanpur under Kotchandpur upazila say they will earn a significant amount of money during puja next week.
They make good profit as they need not buy shola, the main raw material for making the flowers or puja items. They collect shola from the nearby water bodies.
Shola -- also known as sholapith or shola pith or Indian cork -- is a dried milky-white spongy plant matter which can be pressed and shaped into delicate and beautiful objects of art.
Shola grows wild in marshy waterlogged areas. Traditionally sholapith products were used in decorating Hindu idols and in creating the headgears of brides and grooms for a traditional Bengali wedding.
Around twenty families in Bhatpara village and 40 families in Solaimanpur village make many puja items including flowers of shola.
In the run up to the weeklong festival for the Hindu community, they make at least five types of flower, and crowns and garlands that cost from Tk 6 to Tk 600.
On the occasion of Monsa puja, they also make paper-made pots.
Most of the female members make these flowers and other items staying at home. Of them, the girl students also earn money. During holidays they make flowers, contributing economically to their family.
They can make a substantial amount of profit from the shola-made articles as the main raw material costs them a little.
Krishna Malakar, who provides the shoal-made articles to wholesalers, said they collect shola from water bodies free of cost. They dry them in the sun and wash. Later, they cut those in different shapes and make flowers and other items.
They also add colours and thread to the items to make the profit margin much higher.
Ananda Malakar, 73, of Bhatpara village, has been making flowers for the last forty years. He said he can make any kind of flower from shola.
“The demand for the flowers is high. If I get an order from any company, I will be able to make the flowers.”
Anjana Rani Malakar, a housewife of Bhatpara village, said her husband collects shola from water bodies and she makes different items from shola and earns a good amount of money ahead of Durga and Laxmi puja.
Nanda Rani Malakar, 65, of the village, said it is profitable as it costs less. “We can make different items staying at home.”
She also said she can earn Tk 80 a day. “It is better to earn something instead of wasting time.”
Poly Malakar, a HSC girl student of Mahtab Uddin Degree College, said she also earns while studying so that she can buy books and other study materials for her.
Dipti Malakar, a student of class VI of Bejpara High School, said her father cannot afford her educational expenses. So, she works to earn money.
Anjoli Rani of Solaimanpur village under Kotchandpur upazila said: “Ours is a Hindu majority upazila. We not only supply the shola-made flowers and other items ahead of Durga puja and Laxmi puja, we also supply those to Magura and Kushtia districts.”
A wholesaler, Naru Gopal from Ratnat Bazar under Shailkupa, said they collect shola flowers and other items from Bhatpara village and sell those in different markets of the district.
Another wholesaler Probir Kumar Das of Faridpur district said he very often comes to Solaimanpur ahead of Laxmi puja to collect the shola-made articles and earns a good amount.
Ruhul Islam, chairman of 17 number Naldanga union under the sadar upazila, said the Mali community collect shola from water bodies and make flowers and supply those to different parts of the country. They make a good profit.
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