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Vashi2Panvel.Com: Navi Mumbai: Sept 13 : Ever wondered where Bani Thani’s beautiful and ethnic looking paper bags come from? The Mentally Challenged children of the Skills and Ability school in Nerul make them. These children though unable to coordinate their thought processes with the movement of their limbs, make an effort to learn and accomplish the task set before them. These children make a regular supply of Paper Bags for Bani Thani, a Handicrafts store in Sector-17, Vashi. Mudita Govil, owner of the store says, “I have never believed in donating money to help the poor or the physically challenged, instead I feel that it will be much better to teach them a trade that will help them earn their bread and butter. We teach them to fish instead of giving it to them, which will be very useful in the long run.”

When Mudita first set up her shop she had the bags made by the children of Arambh slum in Turbhe, but found that these children were not very serious about their work and tended to take things for granted. That’s when she decided to shift her attention to the Mentally Challenged children. Now for the last five years she has been going regularly to motivate and encourage these children, who are very enthusiastic about their work. “These children are very eager to learn new things and constantly improve. Though they spoil a lot of bags due to lack of coordination, we still encourage them to do better,” says Mudita.

The teachers of the school say that there has been a remarkable improvement in the children, not only are they able to concentrate better, they are also able to coordinate their movements a lot better than before. Even parents are thrilled with the improvement in their children. “My child is a lot more calm and since he is kept busy with this work it is a lot easier to manage him,” says a parent.

Mudita says, “These children are very special. They are much more dedicated towards their work than the other normal children. They realize that they lag behind the other kids and in order to keep up with them, they take their work more seriously and work very hard. This shows in the end result. Who can tell that these bags have been made by Mentally Challenged children?”“We provide these children with the paper and dori and also patiently teach them how to make the bags. Also for Diwali we get them to paint diyas and then we sell them. The money earned is then given to the children, for after all it is their hard work,” adds Mudita.


When asked why she chose to use Paper bags instead of the more economically viable plastic ones, Mudita says, “I am an environment friendly person myself and besides when I set up my shop I knew that it had to be very different. The thought of using plastic bags did not even cross my mind. Besides these paper bags look a lot more ethnic and traditional and this goes with the image of my shop. And if in this way I am able to help some children create their own identity in this so-called normal world then why not?”

Ranjani Rajendra