Bhandara SHGs: rice, spice, silk and mushrooms....

Bhandara SHGs: rice, spice, silk and mushrooms....

Bhandara, the word evokes thoughts of God blessing us through divine prasad , naivedhyam or bhog as per hindu traditions. Bhandara also happens to be the name of a beautiful district in Maharashtra. Some of you may also know it as the "District of Lakes" or even as the "Brass City" due to it's brass industry. The district is also known for it's production of rice. Tumsar block of the district has a famous rice market.
MSRLM has been working in the district since 2015 but in in an intensive mode for the last two years. The district has more than 4500 SHGs.
Bhandara has a mixed economy based on agriculture, industries, silk and resources from the forest. It therefore has a natural scope for growth of enterprises. The training and capacity building under MSRLM Umed has facilitated this growth.
No wonder 30 SHGs from Bhandara have come to Mahalakshmi Saras Bazaar at Gram Vikas Bhavan, Kharghar for exhibition and sale of their products.
The first thing that struck me on my visit there today was the vast range of products. The second important aspect was the emphasis on quality.
I was overwhelmed by the huge variety of rice packed in neat bags like mounds of pearls. It would definitely be difficult to get rice of that colour and look in Mumbai. I was told that the taste was unique too. There were different kinds of daals, specially chanoli which is a totally local grain from Bhandara. The added advantage was that the grains were totally organic.
A number of other pulses like moong, vataane- dried peas, chaney- bengal gram is also available. The famous Wainganga organic jaggery looked tempting and could be easily eaten with phutaane- roasted horse gram which was also available in plenty.
A variety of puffs like the Wheat puffs- Gahu Murmura, Sabunadana Murmura, Basmati Murmura are available. Hand pounded turmeric, special turmeric, coriander powder, amchur- mango powder, dhaniya- coriander powder, masala tea powder, ajwain, methi seeds, red chilly powder will add spice to your life.
Of course a variety of pickles, papads, mung vadis, shevaaya- vermicelli, urad vadi, ready to eat chakli and chivda, mukhvaas, dahi mirchi, laddoos, til chikki are also available.
Cloth bags, different kinds of purses, mobile pouches, carry bags, velvet bags, jute bags, tiffin bags can be bought. They look rural and may lack Mumbai's finesse but have great utilitarian value.
And how about a little aroma in the house with a variety of rose, sandalwood and jasmine agarbatties- incense sticks and dhoop all handmade by the women.
Stepping into the house in the rains will certainly be easy with the unique multi coloured handmade doormats. Colorful candles to brighten your life and handmade wooden show pieces to beautify your homes, aprons to keep your clothes clean and stain-free.
Your gardens could become greener or flower more by using the compost manure. You could also create a beautiful kitchen garden with the nutri-garden paras baag kit. Neem oil as a skin disinfectant could be extremely useful more so if it is made from the choicest neem trees found locally at Bhandara. Natural honey from the forests would make life sweeter.
A few women in all innocence had brought colourful bail jhuli used specially for covering oxen without realising that they would not have any market in Mumbai. Maybe such things could adorn your homes.
Now how many would have heard of cashews from Bhandara? Well, an SHG had brought cashews too. On probing, I learnt they had procured them from Konkan for business in their own district and brought them to Saras Bazaar too.
And of course for the lovers of silk , there's some lovely silk material, sarees of Tussar and Gichaa silk, matetial with Warli painting. The sarees in pastel shades of pink, mauve and green were tempting as also the rich Gichaa silk in red, black and green.. Ladies could go ahead and indulge themselves.
The most unique products have been brought by Lakshmi SHG and include dry food mushroom, mushroom papad, mushroom pickles, mushroom powder and mushroom baasundi. Interestingly their pamphlet not only talks about the health benefits of mushroom but also about cost effectiveness in eating mushrooms.
So do visit Saras Bazaar at Gram Vikas Bhavan, buy home made goods and food grains from Bhandara for your home and experience heart's content.....

P.S. SHGs from Bhandara will be at Trimurti Praangan in Mantralay, Mumbai on Thursday, 8th August 2019