20-Year-Old Sells Art to Fund School Fees for Poor Kids

Twenty-year-old Sumit Das was mocked in seventh grade for spending his free time crafting miniature Jagannath Raths, the ornate religious chariots famous in his home state of Odisha. Today, those same handcrafted pieces sell for as much as seven lakh rupees, and every sale helps keep poor children in school.

Sumit comes from a modest family in Bhubaneswar and still attends art college himself. But after each Rath sale, he doesn't pocket all the money. Instead, he channels profits directly into school fees, books, and supplies for kids who would otherwise drop out.

His miniature Raths replicate the towering chariots used in Puri's famous Rath Yatra festival, complete with intricate carvings and vibrant colors. The painstaking detail takes weeks to complete, but that craftsmanship is exactly what makes them valuable enough to change lives.

Sumit doesn't stop at donations. He teaches underprivileged children how to craft Raths themselves, showing them how to shape wood, mix colors, and assemble each piece. The lessons are completely free, turning a centuries-old tradition into a practical skill that kids can use to earn money.

His students learn by doing, moving from curious beginners to skilled craftspeople who can create and sell their own finished pieces. When their Raths sell, Sumit shares the profits directly with them. It's not charity handed down but earned income for real work.

The Ripple Effect

For many children in Sumit's workshop, that income covers tuition fees their families couldn't afford otherwise. Others use it to buy school supplies or help with household costs that might have forced them to quit school and work instead. What starts as learning a craft becomes a genuine path to staying in the classroom.

Sumit's Raths now reach buyers in major cities like Delhi and Mumbai, carrying Odisha's artistic heritage across India. But their real journey ends much closer to home, inside a classroom that a child can now afford to attend because someone believed in teaching them something valuable.

His resilience through years of mockery now shapes how he lifts others up.