Propelled by its gutsy women entrepreneurs, a fair showcasing the culture and produce of Satara’s Mann region will open in Mumbai for the first time
An earlier exhibition
It isâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088often in places that receive nature's most meagre blessings where one comes across people of greatest resilience. Barely 300km from Mumbai, the Mann region of Satara district is a highly drought-prone area that doesn't allow farmers to sow more than one crop a year. It is also a region that boasts of the second largest
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microfinance bank in India, run for and by women; a mobile business school that reaches remote villages; a community radio station with one lakh followers; and the first team of female goat doctors in the district.
The seeds of change were sown in 1996 when Mumbai-born Chetna Gala Sinha, 58, moved to the Mhaswad village in Satara as a student activist in the JP Movement. As she witnessed the distress migration of farmers to cities during drought, she realised that it was the women, with the right resources, who could solve the community's problems. She started the Mann Deshi Foundation, which, over the years has turned 62,000 rural women from Maharashtra and Karnataka into entrepreneurs, and over 50,000 women into bank account holders. Two decades later, in a symbolic return, Sinha will be in Mumbai as her foundation brings the Mann Deshi Mahotsav to the city for the first time. Started in 2012 in Satara, the rural fair will feature art, music, sports, food products and other specialties of the region, which will be exhibited by 60 women entrepreneurs.
Chetna Gala Sinha with a rural entrepreneur
"The exhibition is part of our initiative to celebrate rural women entrepreneurs and expose them to newer and bigger markets," says Sinha. "It is these women who are our modern-day start-up magicians. It has been inspiring for me to learn about their business stories," says filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker, who will inaugurate the four-day fair with Justice Chandrashekhar Dharamadhikari and state education and culture minister, Vinod Tawde.
Mumbaikars can expect to see local artisans display their craft and hold live demonstrations. The line-up of performances includes Lezim, Malkhamb and women wrestling, kirtans as well as renowned artiste Chandatai Tivadi's Bharud folk music and dance performance.
"All entrepreneurs will bring their business cards to directly connect with customers," says Devika Mahadevan, head of strategy and communication for the organisation. And, while card swiping machines are being procured, many women have already loaded their smartphones with e-wallet apps.
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