‘Classroom on Wheels’ is one project JWB is going to be proud for eternities to come.
With this campaign, our team dreams to provide a mobile truck with studying facilities for school going slum kids who can’t study at night because of lack of electricity.
To collect funds for the cause, we have asked city-based internationally acclaimed designers to support us. We’ve given them old, torn, unused, thrown-away school bags; asking them to create masterpieces using the fabric and motifs of bags. By the end of September, JWB is organizing a grand event ‘Classroom on Wheels’ in association with Social Entrepreneur, Mr. Sudhir Mathur, where these artworks will be put on sale for general public. The amount generated will help us hire a mini-truck, furniture like study tables and chairs, and a full-time teacher who will help these children with school subjects.
But before all of that, let us talk about our first challenge – finding such school bags!
Every kid is obsessed with his/her school bag that is decorated with numerous stickers, drawings, cool one-liners and badges. No matter how much we had detested carrying that heavy school-bag, we equally disliked mom giving it to maids.
So when we asked Jaipur parents to give-away old school bags of their children, we knew the fight wasn’t going to be easy. We salute the following brave ones:
Manisha Nowlakha
We entered this Zumba instructor’s class unannounced. Thankfully she cooperated. Love you, Manisha!
Sana Soni
She gave us her brother’s old school bags before he reached home. We have no idea what happened after that.
Kavita Pardal
Fondly known as Babli, she gifted us old school bags on behalf of her friend, Kavita Pardal. Yes, these bffs even have same names!
Swati Ubroi
Babli’s neighbor, Swati, happily posed with numerous old school bags with the kids of her house. It took some time for our photographer to capture this precious moment, all thanks to the notorious kiddos!
Shan Bhatnagar
Shan happily posed with old school bags of his six-year-old daughter. No wonder, all of them were pink!
Check out this precious moment when our blogger turned Santa Claus after all these days of hard work. So proud!
And it’s time we unveil the names of the participating designers. This is how they were given the old school bags – we blind-folded and asked them to choose one of their favorites, using their ‘creative-instincts’. See how well they did:
Fashion designer Pallavi Jaipur:
Pallavi is a fan of Rajasthani dyes. No wonder she chose a blue-dye back-pack.
Fashion designer Hemant Ambwani:
Hemant is obsessed with bright colors, and so his instinct asked him to pick up hot red! BTW, can you see how beautiful his showroom looks in oxblood color?
Jewelry designer Sonal Sawansukha:
Sonal is known for creating outstanding jewel art pieces, drawing inspiration from everything around her. Everything. We can’t wait to see what will happen to the huge school bag that she selected.
Painter Surbhi Soni:
The ‘Floral-queen’ of Jaipur took up a small bag. Her instincts drew her towards an off-white base, so that she can paint her trademark colorful flowers on it.
Fashion designer Swati Ubroi:
Swati is famous for giving a hippie-touch to ethnic wear. When she chose a jute bag, we weren’t surprised at all. Can’t wait to see golden gota-patti doing wonders on it.
Artist Shan Bhatnagar:
This orange back-pack grabbed Shan’s attention. Though he has given us a hint of what is going to create, we are not disclosing it now! *evil grin*
Fashion designer Kirti Rathore
Bollywood’s who’s who wear brand ‘Kirti Rathore’. Let’s see what magic she spreads over ‘Classroom on Wheels’ with the velvet Tom & Jerry bag!
Fashion designer Pankaj Kothari
We would be lying if we say we don’t have a thing for his men’s brand ‘PKIN’. So happy that he’s a part of the campaign.
Fashion designer Nilam Arya
Our oh-so-cute aunty Nilam, while sipping her hot cup of coffee, chose a school bag with fun-prints. She totally loved our idea and wished us good luck!
And finally, fashion & jewelry designer Manali Bothra
Her husband, Upendra, picked up the bag for her since she was out of town. We can’t wait to meet you & your artistic mind, dear Manali!
We’ve got these 10 brilliant designers, and once they will start working on their masterpieces, we will bring you a teaser story telling about their experiments. Get ready to witness elements like paint, embroidery, sequins, gota-patti, brass, copper, stones, etc transforming these old school bags into a painting, hand bag, cuff, head gear, shirt, or something that for sure is going to take you by surprise!
We’re excited. Are you?
Photo courtesy: Shashank K Tyagi & Pallav Bhargava