I never use plastics in any of my works, and I keep it as traditional as possibleYoganand Palkar
Born in Savoi-Verem a quaint village in the Ponda taluka of North Goa, 41-year-old Yoganand Palkar assists in customer handling at a jeweler’s store in Marcel.
He loved participating in fancy dress competitions since a very young age aswell. ‘On occasion of Navratri, for example my grandmother would weave a lot of flowers at home, and I would assist her with that. That is how I learnt to weave flowers on my own since a very young age’, mentions Yoganand. He got into doing flower arrangements in a small way somewhere in 2009 and started accepting orders for occasions since 2014. Further, Palkar mentioned that in 2016 he participated in two competitions namely ‘Urba’ and ‘Lokh-raang’ held in Ponda where he secured the first place.
Looking at his work presented at the competition, people approached him asking him to make the ‘faanthi’ for them andgradually by word of mouth he gained popularity. Mr. Yoganand is a master at what he does and does it independently without any kind of assistance from anybody. ‘The work I do is time consuming and a well woven piece takes nothing less then three hours to complete’, he says.
If the flowers are woven for temple use then the weaving is done using traditional Banana stem fiber (Kelli-cho aavo or Dhor), in addition to using locally found ornamental leaves. However, if it is for non-temple use then cotton thread (sooth) is used as a substitute for banana stem fiber with innovative ideas like use of ribbons and colored paper. Palkar makes three types of floral arrangements namely, Haar (garlands), Vinni and Faanthi (hair adornments).
Mr Palkar generally uses locally grown flowers like ‘Aabolim’ and ‘Rozam’ in his works.However, if needed he makes use of other flowers like Chrysanthemums which are sourced either from the market in Ponda or Panjim. As of now Yoganand does not supply flowers to any local vendors on a regular basis but makes stuff only on commission for weddings, temple poojas etc. Temples like the Ananta and Khamini temple in Savoi-Verem buy flowers from him. ‘I do not have a vehicle, hence the persons ordering from me, come over to my residence to collect their order’, mentions Palkar.