Chaitali Das, aged 50, is a outstanding determine in West Bengal and past. Famend for her contribution to the jute trade, which is sometimes called the Golden Fibre.

Rising up in Bengal, the most important producer of jute, Chaitali discovered herself on the trail of selling this versatile materials. From a younger age, she devoted herself to societal and environmental causes by way of her organisation, the Rakshak Basis.

Below her basis, Chaitali initiated the venture ‘Jute Story-Past Bars’, specializing in coaching jail inmates in Assam to craft jute merchandise. Notably, she incubated a jute startup named ‘Root To Jute,’ which has efficiently bought jute merchandise globally, reaching international locations reminiscent of Canada, Central Asia, and North America.

“Jute is a extra eco-friendly, sturdy, and widely-available various, which not solely advantages the atmosphere but additionally provides to our cultural richness. By my basis, I goal to assist jail inmates and promote sustainability,” she expresses to The Higher India.

Capturing lives behind the bars 

Born and raised in Alipore, West Bengal, Chaitali displays on her distinctive childhood recollections. Her house was located between Alipore Central Jail and the Presidency Correctional Residence, an uncommon backdrop that performed a major function in shaping her perspective.

“My home was in a peculiar place to be rising up close to such services. But it surely made sense as my father was a lawyer,” she explains.

Chaitali fondly recollects accompanying her father to his office, together with visits to the police station and shut encounters with the imposing partitions of the central jail. The sheer enormity of the jail partitions sparked her curiosity, prompting her to surprise concerning the life inside.

“As I grew up, I started watching motion pictures that depicted life behind bars and the way folks exist in such circumstances. At night time, as I lay all the way down to sleep, the distant sounds of the closed zoo backyard, which was additionally close to our home, would attain my ears,” she shares.

Chaitali describes listening to the haunting roars of tigers within the stillness of the night time. Concurrently, round 11:30 pm, throughout police interrogations, the night time can be punctuated by the chilling screams of individuals.

Whereas these sounds would possibly terrify a toddler, Chaitali’s perspective differs. “The noises from the police station didn’t instill a way of concern however relatively sympathy for them. It piqued my curiosity much more,” she provides.

Recalling what notably led her to this path, she says, “There’s one incident from my childhood that left a long-lasting impression on me, very similar to many people who had the possibility to go to our fathers’ places of work as kids. I will need to have been round 5 years outdated or even perhaps youthful. On this explicit day, my father took me to a courtroom.” 

She observed a police van with folks disembarking, arms restrained with handcuffs and a thick rope round their waists – the customary manner the accused had been delivered to the courtroom in these days.

“As my curiosity peaked, I approached one in all my dad’s colleagues and requested who he was. Labelled as wrongdoers, they had been being taken to the courtroom to face the results. I stood there, observing them, whereas their relations rushed in the direction of them, partaking in fervent conversations,” she provides. 

Trying on the relations’ struggling, little Chaitali felt like she ought to do one thing for them. “I used to be too younger however I had made up my thoughts that I need to do one thing for them,” she says. 

At this age, Chaitali determined she needed to be a social employee and selected the trail of serving to others. 

Taking Jute To the World Stage 

In 2015, after a number of years of working with numerous NGOs, Chaitali laid the inspiration for the Rakshak Basis.

The muse focuses on empowering female and male inmates and different underprivileged ladies.

“I started my work on the correctional house, initially specializing in spoken English. Over time, I’ve undertaken numerous tasks, together with actions reminiscent of cookie-making with ladies and inmates, introducing yoga (particularly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic), partaking in woodwork, and conducting portray classes. The array of tasks displays the various initiatives I’ve been concerned in,” she says.

Nonetheless, the venture that has gained vital traction is “Jute Story Past Bars”.

“In India, particularly in Bengal, the jute trade includes roughly 40 lakh folks. We have now actively engaged inmates in crafting jute merchandise, showcasing their creations at numerous areas, together with totally different chambers and occasions on each nationwide and worldwide platforms,” she says.

To coach and incubate these inmates, she related with the Nationwide Jute Board of India (NJB).

“The coaching program spans 45 days, and we’re proud to have partnered with NJB for its profitable implementation. Our preliminary accomplishment was the coaching carried out on the Dandam Central Correctional Residence, benefiting the prisoners there. Subsequently, I prolonged the initiative by offering further coaching, resulting in continued manufacturing and participation in numerous exhibitions,” she says.

To advertise acceptance and utilization, the organisation carried out a apply of free gifting initially. This technique goals to introduce folks to the merchandise, fostering acceptance and inspiring reuse in the long term.

“Below this venture, now we have skilled about 3,000 inmates in making jute merchandise. This venture has developed into ‘Root to Jute’. Notably, it has been incubated by the Indian Institute of Administration,” she informs.

Educated and skilled, a few of the inmates who’ve served their phrases are even employed at Chaitali’s startup, changing into a part of their provide chain administration groups.

The startup produces jute merchandise reminiscent of handicrafts, rugs, and purses. Moreover, she and her basis created the Guinness World Report for creating the most important jute bag on the earth on January 7, 2021. The bag measures 30.68 m (100 ft 8 in) extensive and 24.87 m (81 ft 7 in) excessive.

The golden fibre, nevertheless, is just not very fashionable among the many youth although.

“We provide a various vary of merchandise particularly designed for younger people. One efficient manner we showcase these merchandise is thru fashion-oriented shows. For example, we characteristic situations the place college students, contemporary out of college or faculty, are seen carrying jute baggage. This not solely generates curiosity but additionally serves as a visible platform to show the merchandise tailor-made for this age group,” she says, including that whereas her productions are going up, she nonetheless hopes that extra folks use jute.

Trying again at her journey and pondering on why she selected inmates for this explicit program, she says, “Folks usually view these concerned within the correctional system as wrongdoers or offenders, carrying a mindset that they deserve punishment. Nonetheless, when these people have interaction in crafting merchandise, particularly for the betterment of the atmosphere, a shift in notion happens.”

“Folks start to understand the constructive contributions, and steadily, acceptance grows. It turns into evident that, given a constructive path, people labelled as wrongdoers or convicts are able to change,” she provides.

Discover her work inspiring? Purchase her merchandise right here.

(Edited by Padmashree Pande)