Pics: Umesh Marpalli
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi
Udupi, Mar 11: The School of Communication (SOC), Manipal University, virtually turned into an idyllic village as the three-day 'Namma Angadi', an exhibition-cum-sale of handicraft, handloom and eco-friendly products, began here on Friday March 11.
The event was inaugurated by Dr Leena Ashok, co-ordinator of the MSW programme, department of public health, Manipal University along with Damodar Acharya, executive director, CWC.
"'Namma Angadi' means belief in our individual strength and collective marketing network. It sustains child rights by providing vocational training empowering artisans, brings gender empowerment and prepares individuals to be self-reliant," said Dr Leena Ashok in her inaugural speech.
Expressing his views on working children, Damodar Acharya said, "The west made the idea of buying something made by a child, a stigma. What’s wrong with somebody who wants to pick up the resources available to him and make something of himself? Skills are as important as education. Skills give the necessary push to take the formal education forward."
As an initiative to shop for a cause, Namma Angadi aims to fund the cause of empowering working children and raising awareness among the people on environmental concerns. This year, the second-year post graduate students of SOC, who put together this event as part of their event management and planning course curriculum, focussed on spreading awareness about the usage of organic and cruelty-free products for Namma Angadi with the help of promotional acts such as flashmobs and casting impressions on the canvas.
The 13th edition of Namma Angadi has an entirely new range of handmade products including trendy designs and prints in ethnic garments for men, women and children, handmade hammocks, backpacks, organic soaps, laptop holders, along with traditional garments, terracotta jewellery, homemade products and furniture. All products are eco-friendly, handcrafted and priced reasonably with easier mode of payment where credit and debit cards will be accepted.
The sale is open from March 11 to March 13, 10 am to 7 pm at School of Communication, Manipal. All the proceeds from the sale will go directly to the artisans supported by Namma Bhoomi.
About SOC
The School of Communication, Manipal University has been ranked 5th best college in India by Outlook survey 2015. The college teaches wide variety of courses ranging from journalism to new media, advertising to film making, public relations to event management, web designing to creative communication. SOC is ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 certified. It has achieved cent percent placement of graduates passing out every year.