Florine Roche

Mangaluru, Jan 25: People often take to hobbies to avoid boredom and enjoy life. But what if our usual hobbies turn out to be bores or you don’t really enjoy indulging in it? With stress becoming an integral part of our lives in today’s competitive world we need a refreshing break that comes with pursuing a hobby. May be it is time to try out a new hobby which can relaxing, distressing, enjoyable, challenging with a novelty factor to it and with loads of fun.

That is what Kusum D’Sa did. She decided to take a sabbatical from her hectic job in the academic field to give more time to her college going children six months ago. She channelized her creative impulses when she felt that she had lot of time at her disposal after finishing her household and regular chores. So she took to newspaper weaving as a hobby and in the process learnt everything from scratch to creative some attractive and colourful newspaper baskets and artefacts.

The life of a daily newspaper is relatively short. Once we are done with it occupies a corner of our homes with an occasional use for cleaning a glass or spread on floor when the house gets painted. Otherwise the heap usually makes way to the raddiwala once a while during the cleaning spree. Just think what it would be like to recycle the newspapers by transforming it something, chic, solid and sturdy storage items like paper baskets, flower holders, boxes, chests or other artefacts. They can be fashionable and can add beauty and grandeur to your homes while giving vent to your creativity and ward off boredom.

Once at home she decided to divert her energies to get away from mundane and ended up in the wonderful world of artefacts made by weaving newspapers using little bit of creativity and oodles of patience. Even before she could realise Kusum was experimenting and weaving colourful baskets, trays, boxes, holders, lamp shades and other multi use end-products of varied shapes, size and colours.

Initially it was more of a trial and error method and the appearances of the designs had a jagged look. But within no time she was getting control over the shapes, designs and appearance of the product she was intending to make. “If you ask me how I got into it I really don’t have an answer. But I have been spending a lot of time and energy in making a variety of designs and crafts from different kinds of newspapers and even magazines. It is a hobby which keeps me hooked, is sheer fun and is an easy craft for any age group” she says with a grin even as she proudly shows me the attractive white swan she has made which serves as her paper holder.

Kusum did not have any formal training in the craft but did self-learning through internet. As a child she was good and evinced keen interest in painting, drawing and craft and that helped her quickly grasp the nuances of newspaper weaving. It is quite simple she tells me and demonstrates how she rolls newspapers into tubes that form the basic material required for weaving.

She cuts a newspaper vertically and uses a broom stick to place it on the cut paper in an angle and roll them tightly into tubes that become longer than the sheet of paper. She uses a drop of glue at the corner as she finishes rolling to hold the roll together. Plenty of paper tubes are required to make a basket. Once she has lot of tubes she is ready to weave the product. A cardboard can be used as a base or even the hard cover of the note books of children can form the base. The required number of tubes depending on the size of the basket is then glued to the base which is then covered with another cardboard piece to keep the paper tubes firm between them. Then the tubes are weaved into whatever she intends to do. Once the weaving is complete she slides the end of the tube into another to convert it into a long tube. This process is repeated till the whole basket is weaved.

Kusum has experimented with different weaves, shapes, sizes and designs. She also had to try-out a lot on the paints used to give a glossy and attractive look to the final products. “The biggest challenge was to zero in on the right kind of paint to use on the newspaper tubes. I had to keep experimenting and that entailed numerous visits to different hardware shops”, she explains. Finally she settled for wall paints used for painting walls and is happy about the result.

For a more colourful look the tubes can be painted by immersing them enblock in colour and then use the coloured tubes for weaving depending on the colour combination required. There is also the option of painting the end product once the weaving is complete. Paper baskets can also double up as unique gifts items for those who fancy being trendy and different.

Kusum now plans to come out with items she can use in the kitchen for various uses. She also plans to make Christmas or baskets. She also mulls making a Christmas tree by recycling newspapers. So for next Easter, Deepavali or Christmas we can expect some stylish custom made newspaper baskets for those who want to give gifts to their loved ones along with the basket to make it more memorable.

“My basic idea is not just to have eye-candy items but products that are beautiful, functional and environment friendly. Giving gifts in these baskets or trays will have a personal touch to it and will also be functional”, she avers.

Though her family is not able to help her much in terms of rendering a helping hand they all support her and tolerate the mess that comes with the hobby. She says her husband Dr Alwyn D’sa who is the Dean of Humanities at St Aloysius College Mangalore has been very supportive of her hobby. He even helped arrange a workshop-cum-exhibition at Aloysius College to demonstrate the art of newspaper weaving.