Newsletter: November 2022
Another exciting month gone by... here we are again!
Hello everyone. We are back with our monthly newsletter where we revisit last month’s happenings and shine the spotlight on council members. Walk down the lanes of pottery craft of Haryana and read our new column on social media by Ruchika Verma.
Hope you enjoy this issue. Happy Reading!
Komal Gupta
Council Member Spotlights
Samhita Weaves by Neelam Singh Bisht: Bringing Indian Textiles to the Fore
This month we published a feature on Samhita Weaves (www.samhitaweaves.com), an exclusive curated platform founded by Council Member Neelam Singh Bisht that brings Indian textiles to the forefront, with a focus on supporting artisans and weavers by promoting their crafts and skills.
WeWomen, a thriving Facebook community by Swati Jain, selected for Facebook’s Community Accelerator Programme
Swati Jain, a social entrepreneur and community builder, began her career as a Facebook Community Manager in 2014. Swati created WeWomen with a simple agenda – to connect with her highschool and college pals where they could engage and support one another's professional and personal growth without judgement. What began as a small, closed community had grown to 4.5K members by October 2019.
Then, a session at the Facebook India Gurgaon office in 2019 changed Swati’s entire perspective on the group. ‘It was an insightful session, where we were educated on how to help members mentor one another and find more ways to expand the community,’ says Swati.
‘We currently have more than 71K members and manage approximately 20 city-specific subgroups with help of our moderators. I appreciate how my moderators, who come from many places, work together to support urban women.’
October 2022 marked another pivotal moment for the group, when WeWomen was chosen, along with 14 other communities, to represent the Indian subcontinent in Facebook’s Global 2022 Community Accelerator Programme.
‘Less than 3% of the 4.8K applications received were chosen for the four-month programme. Featuring over 140 community leaders from all over the world, the programme will help us develop our leadership abilities and use Facebook’s capabilities to further the influence of our local communities. We are all extremely proud of each other,’ adds Swati.
‘I'm looking forward to your love and support since it will help us make a bigger impact and provide a lot of exciting new prospects for our internal team and all of the group members.
‘You are welcome to join us on Facebook and Instagram.’
Stories from Haryana
In the continuing series of bringing stories from around Haryana, here is a story by author and poet Vandana Bhasin that will interest you…
The Wheel of a Potter’s Life
It was dark after the storm. The entire village had slowed down and there was an eerie silence all about. Ram Vilas Chacha quietly turned on the light of his small room, carefully ensuring that it didn’t disturb his sleeping wife. He took some paints, brushes and two bowls of water and put them on the floor in a corner of the room. He then sat down with a pot in one hand and a brush in the other. He knew he had to finish a dozen pots by next morning as promised to his customer…
Enjoyed the story? There is so much more to know… read on!
Crafts of Haryana: Pottery
Main items of Pottery: Water pots, earthen utensils
Practised in: Jhajjar, Rewari, Bahadurgarh
Pottery is essentially a village craft, and Haryana essentially a village state. The potter's wheel, dating back to pre-Aryan times, is the most common feature of any village in India.
Although numerous kinds of potter’s wheels are used throughout India, in Haryana the kick-operated type is common. With this contraption you don't use your hands to turn the wheel; on the other hand, you use your foot. The actual wheel may be either of cement or stone.
The material for making earthen articles comes cheap, and from the earth itself. While the potter works on the wheel, he has a helper (usually his son or a relative) mixing clay, while a woman (his wife or sister) makes intricate designs on the finished vessel or toy.
From utensils to toys to decorative pieces, clay forms the most essential ingredient on which the potter literally survives. Seasonal festivals call for the potter to get cracking – he has to make hundreds of toys in a matter of few days … miniature cows, horses, people, houses, sepoys, which are then sold in brightly decorated stalls along dusty lanes.
Main Areas of Activity
In Haryana, the craft is practised at several places, including Jhajjar, Rewari, Bahadurgarh and Pinjore. Not very long ago, Rohtak was the hub for a range of fancy-shaped water vessels, plates, cups, pipe bowls etc. in pale reddish-brown colour. Glazed pottery is also produced here these days.
Here is a video on clay pottery that will leave you mesmerised:
Below are some links to browse to whet your appetite for learning! These are a compilation of the many facets of the art of pottery, its economic viability and how lives are intertwined with this art form.
How Diwali lights up the lives of Jhajjar potters
Terracotta ceramics of Haryana
Through the Rabbit Hole of Time
As promised, here are some pictures and videos from SheScapes, an initiative of Delhi Poetry Festival, held in October 2022 in collaboration with WICCI Arts Council’s Haryana Chapter.
Click the picture below for more event photos.
An All New Monthly Column!
We are pleased to introduce a new addition to our newsletter: ‘SelfSocially’, a monthly column on Digital Marketing and Social Media by Council Member Ruchika Verma, a seasoned digital marketing coach and Instagram specialist. This month’s column is specifically for artists and writers. Read on!
SelfSocially
Social media today is the best medium to reach out to your audience. It's wide, it’s interesting, it's transparent and it's free. But the story doesn’t end there. As much as it's important and useful for artists and entrepreneurs to be on social media, it's equally important to do it in the right manner.
‘So what is the right manner?’ you will ask. Well, as far as content is concerned, most of it works. Everything that connects you with your audience and is relatable is the right content. However, there are some technical aspects to these as well. Especially for artists and writers, it's important to understand why you should have a professional account and not just depend on your personal profiles.
To begin with, there should be a distinction between your personal and professional life. Moreover, a professional account has a wider reach. You don’t have to add everyone on your Facebook friends list to your professional Facebook or Instagram account to allow them access to your professional work. Also, your audience can get confused with all the mixed content of your personal life and work.
So why do you need a professional account? Here are a few good reasons:
1. To create a niche: When you have a professional account you can pick your niche and post content that’s related to the niche. This will help you reach your audience better.
2. Availability of Insights: Insights are only available on business/creator accounts on Instagram and business pages or profiles on Facebook. The insights help you understand how your content is performing and what is being loved by your audience. You can use this information to create future content and grow on social media.
3. Access to advertising: You get access to advertising, which is important for a business to reach out to a wider audience in a better way.
4. Add contact information: With a professional account you are able to add contact information to your bio on Instagram. This helps your customers and collaborators to connect with you easily.
5. Post scheduling: A professional profile on Instagram comes with a post scheduling option. You can plan your content and schedule posts for weeks in advance. This process will help you be more consistent and increase your reach and connect with your audience.
Here is the step-by-step process to switch to a professional account on Instagram:
If you don’t have an existing profile on Instagram, you can sign up using an email address. All new profiles are personal, so you will need to follow the steps below to switch to a professional account.
Step 1: Go to your Instagram account settings
Go to your profile, then tap the hamburger menu in the top right corner of the app. Tap Settings and then tap Account to get started.
Step 2: Switch to Instagram professional account
Once in the account settings, you will see a blue call-to-action at the bottom of the page for you to Switch to Professional Account.
Step 3: Choose a Business or Creator account
Selecting a Business or Creator account will allow you to start gathering insights on impressions, reach, and video views, as well as schedule content ahead of time. Choose the same depending on the nature of your work and goals. Basically, it will help the algorithm differentiate between influencers and businesses.
Step 4: Choose a category
Select a category that best defines the nature of your work. This will help you get discovered by your target audience.
And now you can connect your Instagram profile to your Facebook business page to keep it all synced.
This should be your first step to start using social media for professional growth. If you have missed doing this, it's never too late to correct the process. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments.
And as the year draws to a close, here is something we can all carry forward into the next year.
Kindness Rules!
How are you feeling today? Here are a few quotes to remind you that you’ve got this!
You’re worth taking care of, no matter what your brain might tell you.
It’s not selfish to show up for yourself.
Cry and crumble. It’s okay.
You’ve dealt with tough times before. You will do it again.
It’s not your job to please everyone. But there is one person you need to stand by: yourself.
On this note, until next time…
Ciao!
Haryana Council Team
Newsletter edited by Neetu Ralhan