Twenty students of Jeevandhara Vidayalaya are preparing 4,450 lanterns.
Her brows knitted in concentration, Priyanka (name changed on request) gets busy with the task of fashioning a lantern using her paper and glue. Although this activity appears to be simple, for Priyanka, it is a tedious one, given her differently-abled (mentally challenged) status.
A student of the Rasta Peth branch of the Jeevandhara Vidayalaya, she is one of 20 students of the school, who are making their best efforts to finish an order of about 4,450 paper lanterns before Diwali.
The school, run by the Apang Sahakari Sanstha, has been involved in the process of making paper lanterns to order for the past 15 years.
Catering only to the differently-abled, this school has created quite a niche in this field and has by now built a steady database of regular customers who place orders with them.
About 20 of the 50 students who study at the Rasta Peth branch of the school have come together to finish this year’s order, which by far is the largest. “For the past 15 years, we have been making paper lanterns and painting mud lamps as per the requirements of our customers,’’ says school principal Sujata Shinde.
The 20 students, who have an IQ of 20 or above, are allowed to participate in this activity. Most of the students of this school hail from low income families whose parents work at construction sites or at other such workplaces.
Shinde says, “Banks like Cosmos, Vishweshwar, Sampada and Bhagini Nivedita are regular customers who place orders with us. We start making lanterns a month before Diwali so that they are not damaged or spoilt due to rain or any other means.’’
Another pre-Diwali activity of the school is preparation of mud lamps as per order. However, given the workload of the lanterns, the school has decided not to accept any more orders this year. “People who are interested in ordering lamps for
Diwali next year, can contact us a month in advance,’’ said Shinde.
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