Every year, as the Sawan month rolls in, festival shopping picks up pace, and families start planning to buy the traditional decor and outfits that go with each celebration. For anyone willing to learn the craft themselves, this festive rush can double as a business opportunity. In Kanpur, the Canara Bank Rural Self Employment Training Institute has rolled out a free six-day course that teaches people how to make rakhis and festive dresses for Laddu Gopal, tapping directly into this seasonal demand.
From rakhi making to dressing up Laddu Gopal
Madhuri Sharma from the institute said several six-day courses are being run keeping the upcoming festivals in mind. With Raksha Bandhan approaching, the institute is training people in rakhi making, while for Janmashtami it is teaching participants how to craft dresses, swings, beds, sofas, garlands, flutes and crowns for Lord Laddu Gopal, items that always see traditional demand in the market. According to Sharma, this short course was designed for young people who want to start earning quickly and well. Women make up most of the participants, since the skill lets them build a solid source of income without leaving home. The institute offers the entire training completely free of cost, so that money never becomes a barrier to learning the craft.
Products sell for up to three times their cost
Sharma said that trainees who decorate their products neatly end up selling them for nearly three times what they spent to make them. A swing, for instance, costs around ₹80 to make but can easily be sold for ₹300 to ₹350 once finished. The same holds for beds, dresses and other decorative items made for Kanha ji, the better the finishing, the higher the price they can fetch in the market. She pointed out that people now buy swings and other decorative items for Laddu Gopal on almost every festival, keeping demand steady through the year. Earlier, buyers largely depended on Vrindavan for such items, but Sharma said Meerut has now also grown into a major market for them, giving local makers easier access to customers.
How to join, and what the institute provides
Anyone interested in this short-term training can approach the institute directly. Beyond the six-day course itself, the institute also provides free food and refreshments to trainees, and supplies all the material needed for the craft work, so participants don't have to spend anything from their own pocket. Trainees are only required to show up for sessions between 10 am and 5 pm. Sharma said several women's groups that trained at the institute are already making these products regularly and selling them in the market. That track record, she said, is what makes the course a genuinely useful option for anyone looking to start a low-cost, home-based business.
