What an art!
Met Mr. Kedar, the Director of Darbar Sahitya Sansad (DSS), at his office at Balichandrapur. His office set up was very informal. His colleagues are either on an official visit to the field or are taking care of their own fields where they had grown paddy and vegetables. Back at the training center, 4 women had gathered to finish off the patchwork they have been designing since last evening.
I asked if we can have locally cooked food. The kitchen is not a regular affair in the office, so it took some effort to get together the raw material. They all gathered around mid-noon when we had a chat where it was apparent that each was a poet or short story writer in school and college days who have formed the organization.
When the college days were over, they thought of contributing to social upliftment. Obviously, it required finance. So they had to apply for grants and loans. Instead of hiring staff for the day to day activities, the members were assigned responsibility according to his/her aptitude, rather than the educational qualification.
A silent setup by nature, DSS looks for catering to the catchment community in small installments rather than quick growth. This approach has its own repercussions on sustainability. However, the promise of big growth hovers in the horizon, with cementing few gaps like online marketing and marketable designs.