BHARATI PAWASKAR
Holi, the festival of colours is one of the most popular festivals of India and is celebrated by young and old in equal fervour across the country. However, some amount of cautiousness is observed while celebrating festivals as people are increasingly becoming environment conscious. And appeals regarding ‘not to use’ chemically manufactured, artificial and harmful colours on each other are seen commonly circulating on social media.
Even the doctors admit of registering several cases of serious allergies after Holi. Itching skin, watery eyes, headache, nausea, cold and cough, stomach ache, difficulty in breathing etc are common after playing Holi. Khushi Gawde is one among those who are terribly allergic to colours sprinkled during Holi. So what’s the option for Khushi? Should she lock herself inside her home to stay away from colours or could she play a colourful, but safe Holi?
Meet Suryakant Gaonkar, an environment friendly gentleman from Bhuipal who is offering a healthy solution for those who want to play a safe Holi. And this is his sixth year of making organic colours that are totally harmless to use on body. “A lot of research has gone into the making, and I have spent few thousand rupees too just on experimentation,” shares Suryakant who created 14 types of plant based colours to play Holi.
“I used flowers, fruits, roots, leaves, bark and seeds of various plants and trees in the process of experimentation and finally arrived at few organic colours which are safe to use on body. While other safe colours in the market may be available for Rs 400-450 a kilo, I am offering my colours at Rs 200 a kilo, keeping a margin of just Rs 30 for me,” maintains Suryakant who has a total of 600 kilos of green, yellow, orange, blue and pink colour. And in case the demand goes up, he is fully equipped to make additional 400 kilos, too.
Suryakant began making organic colours for sale in 2014. He made 20 kilos in the first year, gradually increasing the quantity year by year and in 2016 he made 100 kilos. But he could sell only 30 kilos as there was not much awareness about these organic colours. “However I didn’t deter and increased my quantity each year, making it 150, 400 and 500 kilos. This year I made 600 kilos and can make more if people ask for,” smiles Suryakant who is aware that chemicals are harmful to health and can cause serious damage to body.
But how on earth did he learn the art of making plant based colours? Suryakant narrates, “I am, basically a nature lover. I greatly respect Mother Nature. Environmentalist Dr Rajendra Kerkar inspired me to make organic colours and guided me to Sachin Madge, a researcher in history. Sachin briefed me how to make natural colours out of plant based raw material. I tried at home. Then one of the members of Nisarga Mitra, a Kolhapur based organization shared their way of making organic colours. I read some books too. With trial and error method, I kept doing my experiments. I learnt a lot of things in the process. I made 14 different colours out of 25 plants but finally concentrated on five colours, out of which pink is light. So I am still working on making it few shades dark. Once that is done, I will publicize my work.”
Suryakant who works in a chemical factory at Pissurlem for the past 17 years is the eldest of six brothers and hence had responsibility to educate his siblings. Even though the education system did not reward him, he went on to do something different in life. A self-taught artist, he carved a niche for himself in the craft world - initially sculpting in laterite stone and then carving in wood. He has many sculptors in stone and wood - that of Deepaji Rane, Dada Rane and Lord Ganapati. He has bird and animal carvings in wood. He also does decoration for wedding venues with natural, wild flowers and leaves. All of this is from cheap, waste material. Lack of academic education did not deter him from learning new crafts on his own. And he has become master in them. Yet, his experiments are on.
All that he has not yet added to his organic colours is smell. “I don’t want to make my colours expensive by adding saffron, kasturi or sandlewood to it, all of which are natural perfumes. I am looking out for some cheap option,” says Suryakant who takes school children and youth to forest tours through his organization ‘Vivekanand Paryavaran Jagruti Fauj’ that he formulated with Dr Rajendra Kerkar’s guidance.
His study and research on plants is on too and by now he has written 120 articles in his daily column in one of the vernacular newspapers in Goa. He also conducted 80 Eco craft events to teach natural craft and decoration work. People travel from as far as Margao and Canacona to Valpoi to buy organic colours from him. If the order is big, he delivers it personally. Some of the stock of his organic colours is available at Patanjali outlets and through school teachers.
“I aim to get the darker shade of pink so that I can offer it to people participating in Zambaulim Gulal festival. Once that’s done, I will open a Facebook page and let the world know about my Holi colours,” concludes 40-year-old Suryakant who is an ideal example of ‘out of school’ learning. His dedication and devotion has gifted Goans with natural, organic, safe colours to play their Holi.
