WUNRN
INDIA - RURAL WOMEN FIND ECONOMIC
INDEPENDENCE IN CRAFT EXPORTS
Hindu Master Craftswoman: Ninety Three-Year-Old Hansiba.
Photo: V. Sudershan
Madhur Tankha - January 4, 2010
Hansiba, the
first rural artisan of SEWA, talks about her life and how she has been
instrumental in encouraging rural women to earn their living through
traditional skills.
She is the face behind
the thousands of traditional garments that have now found their way from
villages to international retail stores. Hansiba, the first rural artisan of
SEWA - Self Employed Women’s Association, has been instrumental in encouraging
rural women to earn their living through traditional skills.
A master of 16
different types of embroideries, this nonagenarian grandmother grows her own
cotton, spins her own yarn and does her own embroidery in Datarana village in
“For centuries our
families have eked out a living from traditional embroideries. Our lives have
been hard but our craft skills have always worked to our advantage. Today,
thanks to SEWA we have a new lease of life. We feel secure about the present
and are confident about our future. Our women are stitching garments with great
care and are beautifying them with fine intricate embroidery. As they have
learned the ways of the world of fashion, our women folk are able to plan new
products, search new markets, adjust price and revise export procedures to
reach out to 18 key locations globally,” says Hansiba.
Hansiba’s life changed
completely when social reformer and chairperson of SEWA Trade Facilitation
Centre Reema Nanavaty, who left a flourishing career in civil services to
empower ostracised rural women, came to her house. “I was spinning the charkha
and preparing a traditional garment. Reemaji was so impressed by my working
style and traditional skills that she asked me to create hand-made products.
Initially, I began on my own but slowly and steadily other rural women also
started working in a professional manner. Today the Hansiba label provides us
livelihood. Our rural women have got empowered and our lives have improved.
Hansiba has married age-old embroidery with modern designs,” says Hansiba, who
was in the Capital over the weekend for the launch of Ma Dhuli collection.
The senior citizen is
confident that no natural calamity can put a spanner in her works. “Even though
the earthquake on January 26, 2001, turned the whole world upside down for us,
the village women were not disillusioned. They knew how to earn their
livelihood despite insurmountable odds.”
“During the drought,
most of inhabitants of our village barring senior citizens used to migrate to nearby
areas. Even I used to migrate to
Realising that two of
the biggest challenges facing mankind are climate change and economic crisis,
Hansiba has come out with a novel solution to tackle the two tricky problems.
“We have already made
a beginning by reaching out to our customers. They don’t have to come all the
way to us. We are also ensuring that all our products are made of natural fibre
and no chemical is used. This way we are not contributing to global warming. We
are manufacturing organic natural fabric and don’t use any chemicals in
producing our clothes. Through SEWA we have crossed the Indian border and made
our presence felt in various countries. We need to have hundreds of Hansibas.
This is a special company of illiterate rural women.”
Initially, the women
folk of
During Hansiba’s
growing-up years no priority was given to education. But she sees to it that
her grandchildren and even children of her colleagues are educated enough. “My
daughter Puri and granddaughter Hetal are following in my footsteps but know
the importance of education. Thanks to education, our women folk are working
united like a team.”
Speaking about the Ma
Dhuli collection, Hansiba says the uniqueness of the collection is that it
doesn’t go through any hard chemical exposure treatment.
“The cotton is grown
by small-time farmers using organic methods of cultivation. When cotton is
processed from fibre to yarn only hand-operated charkhas are used. As the fibre
is coloured, no dying process is required. This process eliminates a lot of
wastage of water and keeps chemicals away from surrounding environment. Thus
the entire sustainable cotton collection generates employment for rural
households. SEWA enables women artisans to become economically independent.”
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