Tilonia, a sleepy village in Ajmer district is not so overt affectionate destination but due to the proximity to Pushkar and Kishangarh, travelers sometimes give an ignored look to it. However, the people who know about the Social Work Research Centre at Tilonia are able to grasp the interest of the place. More than three decades ago a Doon School and St. Stephen’s College alumni, Sanjit ‘Bunker’ Roy was engrossed in a mission – to educate and empower rural people. In this stark village he started a small organization for rural people and now it is inflated to a big social research center, which captures even International eyeballs.
The Social Work Research Center started in 1972 and in 34 years, a lot happened in that sleepy village. Bhanwar Jat, an illiterate farmer from Tilonia, was allocated the responsibility of constructing the 30,000 sq ft campus in which no wood or cement was to be used; the raw material would be confined to lime, sand, chipped stone and plywood. Another villager named Rafiq who was a traditional blacksmith given the responsibility to fabricated the doors and windows and later using Buckminister Fuller’s design installed over 150 geodesic domes out of scrap metal, to be used as schools, dispensaries, telephone booths, community centers, and meeting places for village women. Immense hard work and perseverance brought a huge haul of awards for Bunker Roy and when a journalist gave Social Work Research Center the name of Barefoot College, the epithet stuck.
While going on the Delhi-Jaipur road and close to Kishangarh, one can find a small signboard that reads: Tilonia Crafts Shop. This craft shop is treasure house of exquisite handicrafts made by the village people. After driving roughly eight kilometres on the dirt road, one can reach Barefoot College, the Craft Shop,a domed Internet dhaba and a milk booth. In an urban world, shopping necessarily entails parking hassles, but in Tilonia you can happily park under the shade of a tree and shop till you drop dead. There’s a bedspread with an applique of a tree motif, funny figurines dance together as an appliqué on a cushion cover, and there are block-print kurtas, paper bags – some lined with zari, others with plaited handles, belled wall hangings and several others. Tilonia, however, is best known for its camel leather handicraft – purses, wallets, jootis, belts, wooden chairs with embroidered backs, small-legged stools and the most famous of all – a three legged collapsible wooden stool with a triangular embroidered seat. The camel leather products are machine embroidered using chain stitch to make flower motifs, adding a generous contrast to the beige of the camel skin.
FACT FILE
Barefoot College Crafts: Social Work Research Centre, Tilonia via Madanganj, District Ajmer, Rajasthan
Website: Barefoot College
The Social Work Research Center started in 1972 and in 34 years, a lot happened in that sleepy village. Bhanwar Jat, an illiterate farmer from Tilonia, was allocated the responsibility of constructing the 30,000 sq ft campus in which no wood or cement was to be used; the raw material would be confined to lime, sand, chipped stone and plywood. Another villager named Rafiq who was a traditional blacksmith given the responsibility to fabricated the doors and windows and later using Buckminister Fuller’s design installed over 150 geodesic domes out of scrap metal, to be used as schools, dispensaries, telephone booths, community centers, and meeting places for village women. Immense hard work and perseverance brought a huge haul of awards for Bunker Roy and when a journalist gave Social Work Research Center the name of Barefoot College, the epithet stuck.
While going on the Delhi-Jaipur road and close to Kishangarh, one can find a small signboard that reads: Tilonia Crafts Shop. This craft shop is treasure house of exquisite handicrafts made by the village people. After driving roughly eight kilometres on the dirt road, one can reach Barefoot College, the Craft Shop,a domed Internet dhaba and a milk booth. In an urban world, shopping necessarily entails parking hassles, but in Tilonia you can happily park under the shade of a tree and shop till you drop dead. There’s a bedspread with an applique of a tree motif, funny figurines dance together as an appliqué on a cushion cover, and there are block-print kurtas, paper bags – some lined with zari, others with plaited handles, belled wall hangings and several others. Tilonia, however, is best known for its camel leather handicraft – purses, wallets, jootis, belts, wooden chairs with embroidered backs, small-legged stools and the most famous of all – a three legged collapsible wooden stool with a triangular embroidered seat. The camel leather products are machine embroidered using chain stitch to make flower motifs, adding a generous contrast to the beige of the camel skin.
FACT FILE
Barefoot College Crafts: Social Work Research Centre, Tilonia via Madanganj, District Ajmer, Rajasthan
Website: Barefoot College
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