Sharana carpentry program launches “Maram” line of wooden creations

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For a few years now, Sharana has consciously tried to generate its own income, to move slowly but surely towards integrating a social business model in all programs. We believe that for an organisation to move ahead and sustain itself locally and internally in the true sense is the truest fruition of its endeavor.

In line with this ideology we have several on-going efforts in various programs including the sales of wooden articles made by the Carpentry training program, sales of Spirulina produced in our Aranganur farm, Sharana’s Kitchen–a small café restaurant on the terrace of the Sharana’s office serving thalis and take-home meals, and the sales of cookies the Supermarket Grinde.

The Sharana VTC program, training rural drop out boys in carpentry has built a small collection of furniture such as chairs and stools. We call this line of products “Maram”: Tamil for both the living tree and the wood we use. Adding to this, we decided to come out with something smart, small, affordable, useful and yet extremely local.

No easy job, but the “palette” was conceived of and created from 7 kinds of locally sourced wood by the 10 VTC boys, guided by their trainer-the ever-patient and perfectionist Mani. These woods are: the Portia tree, Rain tree, Jack-fruit tree, “Work” tree, Neem tree, Mango tree and the Country Teak wood tree.

The piece serves as a trivet on which hot food vessels can be placed in the kitchen and on the dining table. It is aesthetically modern, utilitarian, and carries all the cultural symbolism of the place from which it comes. Be sure to have all your guests swooning over this, in more ways than one.

The palette is available for purchase at the Sharana main office, at an introductory price of 300 and 500 rupees respectively. Come pick your piece today and contribute towards making our program move one step towards self-sufficiency.

Sharana’s Maram line of woodwork products express the hope that our children, our communities, and our programs can grow into more skilled, self-reliant, and vibrant futures.