Bengali Version
Amar Kutir
In the year 1923, Santiniketan was boiling with excitement on the arrival of Gandhiji. The father of the nation has come down to the dusty town of Bolpur to attend a rendezvous with another Indian glitterati - Rabindranath Tagore.
People have thronged in Bolpur in hordes to witness the mega event. Among this sea of humanity was a youth, his heart full with overpowering dreams to witness Gandhiji with his own eyes. Nobody had then any inkling idea what future holds for this youth. His mind and soul was charged with making it big with "Swadeshi". It is very hard to keep someone in control once bitten by the bug of industry. Such was his zeal that the man overcame all hiccups and started his venture - "Aamar kutir" in the very heart of Sriniketan. The 300 bigha land earmarked for the venture was nothing but a rocky land with dense woodlands, on the way to Ballavpur village from Santiniketan - Sriniketan. Sushen Mukhopadhay was also the founder of a commercial establishment called Hindustan Industrial Association in the year 1920 at 1, Raja Rajballav Street, Kolkata. The association manufactured hand spun taant fabrics made from spinning yarn and other indigenous methods.
The huge commercial potential of swadeshi had never gone down well with the British. Consequently, the association was placed under vigilance. This created a negative environment for the venture. In 1921, during his visit to the village of Surul, Sushen Babu met the local zamindar Rajanikanto Sarkar. This turned out to be an unexpected blessing to Sushen as Rajinikanto Babu bought some taant machine from the association and set up a business at Surul. Meanwhile Tagore's "village reformation project" was going at a full swing at nearby Sriniketan. Sushen was drawn to this project. 25 bighas of land was acquired at Ballavpur village. From here Sushen's baby, - "Aamar Kutir", an institute for producing cotton clothes, started its life. What before was lonely woodland beside Kopai river, now became the centre stage for a revolution. Sushen's dream was to elevate "Aamar Kutir" to a status where people can almost regard it with a patriotic respect. Soon other cottage industries, swadeshi goods, development of villages became an obsession to him.
History stands to testify the fact that it was Sushen Babu, who set up the first factory to dye clothes in the region. Later on, leather goods and other different cottage industries were also added to the list. In the year 1928 "Aamar Kutir" was banned by the British as they suspected that it fomented nationalism. Consequently, people associated with the association including Sushen Babu were imprisoned.
In the formative years of the association (1926-37), the local youths assimilated in it in a bid to attain self sufficiency. During the years 1937-47, Aamar Kutir was a pole star to the revolutionaries guiding them through troubled times. After Sushen Babu was released in 1938 he headed straight to "Aamar Kutir". In presidency prison Sushen forged some valuable alliance with revolutionaries like Anil Dey, Mani Ganguly, Manmatho Dey. Later he met Pannalal Dasgupta at Kalimpong. When Pannalalbabu was ill Sushen Babu attended to his treatment.
At that time our country was passing through turbulent times. Most of the revolutionaries were either in hiding or behind bars. Sushen gave a clarion call to all the fugitives "Come join me at Aamar Kutir…. Aamar Kutir is for all of you". The response to this call was staggering and a large number of people joined it, which ushered a new era of development. Besides cottage industry projects like leather goods manufacturing, agriculture, poultry and education program in villages were also undertaken. People like Pannalal Dasgupta, Mani Ganguly also associated them with Aamar Kutir. The fame of Aamar Kutir soon crossed the reaches of Birbhum district and spread to new frontiers. In 1939 Subhas Chandra Bose came for a visit. With the world war in 1939 there was a resumption of police torture. This forced people of Aamar Kutir to go in hiding again. But clandestine attempts for village development and manufacture of swadeshi goods remained unabated. Challenges continued to ravage Aamar Kutir even after independence as it lost its founding father Sushen Mukhopadhay in the year 1955
Aamar Kutir is still a name to reckon with. It is an instance of self-sufficiency through Tagore's ideals. The first institution in West Bengal for the commercial production of leather goods stands high near Tagore's Santiniketan-Sriniketan. At present about 65 expert leather craftsmen are engaged at their wares in Aamar Kutir shelling out designer bags along with taant goods, boutique goods, and intricate kathas, employing at about 100 people. The association also markets products of other independent craftsmen. Aamar Kutir has its own palatial showroom for the goods to be displayed which creates a platform for many craftsmen from adjoining areas. The institution gained government recognition in the year 1978 as a "Society for Rural Development" whose founding president was late Pannalal Dasgupta. It is an instance of self sufficiency of cottage industry all by itself. The association also runs rural health clinics. Trade at Aamar Kutir runs for 364 days a year excepting the yearly death anniversary of its father, Late Sushen Mukhopadhay. Food items like jam, sauce, pickles besides khadi and cotton clothes entirely made by rural artisans are available here. Aamar Kutir also runs an afforestation programme and has tasted much success in agriculture.
- Article: Sujit Sengupta, English Version: Kush
( Sep 2010)
People have thronged in Bolpur in hordes to witness the mega event. Among this sea of humanity was a youth, his heart full with overpowering dreams to witness Gandhiji with his own eyes. Nobody had then any inkling idea what future holds for this youth. His mind and soul was charged with making it big with "Swadeshi". It is very hard to keep someone in control once bitten by the bug of industry. Such was his zeal that the man overcame all hiccups and started his venture - "Aamar kutir" in the very heart of Sriniketan. The 300 bigha land earmarked for the venture was nothing but a rocky land with dense woodlands, on the way to Ballavpur village from Santiniketan - Sriniketan. Sushen Mukhopadhay was also the founder of a commercial establishment called Hindustan Industrial Association in the year 1920 at 1, Raja Rajballav Street, Kolkata. The association manufactured hand spun taant fabrics made from spinning yarn and other indigenous methods.
The huge commercial potential of swadeshi had never gone down well with the British. Consequently, the association was placed under vigilance. This created a negative environment for the venture. In 1921, during his visit to the village of Surul, Sushen Babu met the local zamindar Rajanikanto Sarkar. This turned out to be an unexpected blessing to Sushen as Rajinikanto Babu bought some taant machine from the association and set up a business at Surul. Meanwhile Tagore's "village reformation project" was going at a full swing at nearby Sriniketan. Sushen was drawn to this project. 25 bighas of land was acquired at Ballavpur village. From here Sushen's baby, - "Aamar Kutir", an institute for producing cotton clothes, started its life. What before was lonely woodland beside Kopai river, now became the centre stage for a revolution. Sushen's dream was to elevate "Aamar Kutir" to a status where people can almost regard it with a patriotic respect. Soon other cottage industries, swadeshi goods, development of villages became an obsession to him.
History stands to testify the fact that it was Sushen Babu, who set up the first factory to dye clothes in the region. Later on, leather goods and other different cottage industries were also added to the list. In the year 1928 "Aamar Kutir" was banned by the British as they suspected that it fomented nationalism. Consequently, people associated with the association including Sushen Babu were imprisoned.
In the formative years of the association (1926-37), the local youths assimilated in it in a bid to attain self sufficiency. During the years 1937-47, Aamar Kutir was a pole star to the revolutionaries guiding them through troubled times. After Sushen Babu was released in 1938 he headed straight to "Aamar Kutir". In presidency prison Sushen forged some valuable alliance with revolutionaries like Anil Dey, Mani Ganguly, Manmatho Dey. Later he met Pannalal Dasgupta at Kalimpong. When Pannalalbabu was ill Sushen Babu attended to his treatment.
At that time our country was passing through turbulent times. Most of the revolutionaries were either in hiding or behind bars. Sushen gave a clarion call to all the fugitives "Come join me at Aamar Kutir…. Aamar Kutir is for all of you". The response to this call was staggering and a large number of people joined it, which ushered a new era of development. Besides cottage industry projects like leather goods manufacturing, agriculture, poultry and education program in villages were also undertaken. People like Pannalal Dasgupta, Mani Ganguly also associated them with Aamar Kutir. The fame of Aamar Kutir soon crossed the reaches of Birbhum district and spread to new frontiers. In 1939 Subhas Chandra Bose came for a visit. With the world war in 1939 there was a resumption of police torture. This forced people of Aamar Kutir to go in hiding again. But clandestine attempts for village development and manufacture of swadeshi goods remained unabated. Challenges continued to ravage Aamar Kutir even after independence as it lost its founding father Sushen Mukhopadhay in the year 1955
Aamar Kutir is still a name to reckon with. It is an instance of self-sufficiency through Tagore's ideals. The first institution in West Bengal for the commercial production of leather goods stands high near Tagore's Santiniketan-Sriniketan. At present about 65 expert leather craftsmen are engaged at their wares in Aamar Kutir shelling out designer bags along with taant goods, boutique goods, and intricate kathas, employing at about 100 people. The association also markets products of other independent craftsmen. Aamar Kutir has its own palatial showroom for the goods to be displayed which creates a platform for many craftsmen from adjoining areas. The institution gained government recognition in the year 1978 as a "Society for Rural Development" whose founding president was late Pannalal Dasgupta. It is an instance of self sufficiency of cottage industry all by itself. The association also runs rural health clinics. Trade at Aamar Kutir runs for 364 days a year excepting the yearly death anniversary of its father, Late Sushen Mukhopadhay. Food items like jam, sauce, pickles besides khadi and cotton clothes entirely made by rural artisans are available here. Aamar Kutir also runs an afforestation programme and has tasted much success in agriculture.
- Article: Sujit Sengupta, English Version: Kush
( Sep 2010)
