A silver lining for the jewellery makers

Rhea's film, India's Treasures, shines a light on the plight of silver jewellery artisans in India. Shortlisted by the NY Int'l Film Awards, it highlights the struggles of traditional artisans and the lack of support from the gov't. Rhea hopes to equip them with info on e-commerce and micro credit facilities, and to make them aware of gov't schemes. She wants to continue working for an inclusive economy and to let artisans know their efforts are being recognised globally.

The colourful and busy markets of Jaipur are a haven for lovers of silver jewellery. These markets, however, has always been extra special for 17-year-old Rhea Bakshi, an economics student at Delhi’s Shri Ram School. Rhea, whose maternal home is in Rajasthan, has been a regular visitor to these markets since childhood and was always enamoured with the silver jewellery she saw and bought.

Little did she realise that a few years on, the place would inspire her to direct a documentary film. The film, India’s Treasures, however, turned out to be more than a simple narrative about silver jewellery. With Rhea’s interest in an inclusive economy, it turned the spotlight on silver jewellery artisans across the country.

The film was shortlisted by the New York International Film Awards, a monthly Film and Script Competition, under the Best Student Film category. With a public screening held every three months in the heart of Manhattan, New York. The documentary made it to the finals early this week.

Though it did not win the final prize, Rhea is happy that livelihood issues and the plight of the artisans reached the global platform and got noticed by many.

Rhea’s interest in inclusive economy began while working with Nai Disha, a Delhi-based NGO. Being an avid lover of handcrafted jewellery, it sparked the idea in her to create awareness about a lesser spoken-about community — self-employed jewellery artisans.

“Though they contribute to the GDP (Gross Domestic Product), they get minimal support from the government,” says Rhea, whose documentary portrays the challenges of the traditional handicraft jewellery industry. Inflation, capitalisation and mass production by brands have led to the artisans losing work and revenue, she adds.

Deshraj Soni, a meenakari jewellery artisan interviewed in the film, explains how his revenue was cut by half when he had to switch from working with gold to silver due to the high price of the metal.