The Customer Experience Company

Salma and the Toy FactoryAnurag Rana and Namrata Rana

Noor Salma was born in a small village of Channapatna in South Karnataka, India.

Salma grew up seeing the beautiful Channapatna wooden toys being made in most houses and lovingly painted in vibrant colours.

Channapatna toysFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Channapatna toys are a particular form of wooden toys (and dolls) that are manufactured in the town of Channapatna in the Bangalore Rural district of Karnataka state, India.

- This traditional craft is protected as a geographical indication under the World Trade Organization, administered by the Government of Karnataka.

- As a result of the popularity of these toys, Channapatna is known as Gombegala Ooru (toy-town) of Karnataka.

- Traditionally, the work involved lacquering the wood of the Wrightia tinctoria tree, colloquially called Aale mara (ivory-wood).

Channapatna toysFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The origin of these toys can be traced to the reign of Tipu Sultan who invited artisans from Persia to train the local artisans in the making of wooden toys.For nearly two centuries, ivory-wood was the main wood used in the making of these toys, though rosewood and sandalwood were also occasionally used.

As of Oct 2006, more than 6,000 people in Channapatna, working in 254 home manufacturing units and 50 small factories, were engaged in the making of these toys. The Karnataka Handicrafts Development Corporation (KHDC) provides assistance with marketing efforts.

As Salma grew older her love for the toys became a passion. So after school she would often run off to work in one of the units close by and learn the art of toy making.

Much to her orthodox Muslim parents dismay she wanted to become a toy maker!

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Salma was soon married off at the tender age of 15 - all was not lost - her father in law was a traditional toy maker though the small Lethe had been lying vacant since several years with little work.

The StartSalma seeing this as an opportunity soon began this unit and got some toy makers and gave this little toy making unit life again.

With her husbands support she began marketing her toys and gathering some momentum in her village and around.

She managed to generate enough work to distribute it to the nearby toy making units.

N.S. Toys

Today, after 18 years of dedication and hard work Salma works with 13 SHG'S. The company has been registered as N.S. Toys. There are about 72 women involved who get regular orders to develop a fascinating array of toys. She drives around on her bike in a radius of 10- 15 k.m where these groups work independently giving work and ensuring timely collection.

N.S. Toys

Salma collects the toys in the warehouse in her home  where stringent quality checks are done  and then packed to different clients across India. Small bank loans have made it possible to give regular wages to each of the women involved.

Depleting work force and no government support is forcing them to now invest in training as well.

The need to better their lives, send children to school, get medical facilities is still a desire that Salma and her group long for.   

Today the aspiration and determination in Salma's eyes is to be able to better her work and market the goods to sustain the 13 groups of women.

 

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