April 18: Day 10
We left Alipura Palace at 10:30 and had to go back
the way we came through that traffic jam, but it was clear sailing this
time.
Along the way we stopped at a TARA project -- a paper-making
project for tribal women. They demonstrated how rags and old paper were
bleached, shredded through a special machine into fairly small pieces,
added to an alum bath, beaten in a drum-like machine for about seven hours
into pulp, then strained on screens. It was fun to watch the women in production
line. One would scoop the pulp into a screen, then bang onto a muslin cloth
where two women put a board on top, sat on it to press out the water. A
man then lifted this onto a pile to be pressed further in a mechanical
press. The women were quite happy to pose for pictures. There were several
more steps to the finished product - trimming, cutting, packaging, stamping,
and some printing. The excess trim was recycled to make "souvenirs" - lanterns,
journals, etc. which were offered for sale in a small gift shop at the
exit.
Tara Paper is a recycled handmade paper and paper products
unit and follows the ideology of "waste to wealth" and integrates this
in every process, product and practice. It was set up in 1996 in Orchha
under the sustainable livelihood program for Sahariya Tribal women in Central
India
TARA paper is particularly special. It is not only
made of recycled and waste materials: it is crafted by the careful hands
of highly skilled villagers, most of whom were impoverished women. It creates
jobs and incomes while saving the environment. One tonne of TARA paper
saves 3 tonnes of wood and 100 cubic metres of water – and creates Rs.
40,000 in wages.
Handmade paper is used for making of writing paper,
envelopes, wrapping paper, boxes, paper to paint on, and making of paper
products (boxes, chit pads, photo frames, lamp shades etc.)
