Author:
Publication: The Times of India
Date: November 23, 2006
URL:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/OPINION/Editorial/QA_Crafts_as_means_to_economic_spiritual_freedom/articleshow/530065.cms
Deep in the arid reaches of Kutch, thousands
of women embroiderers are ushering the vibrant colours of their folk craft
into their once monochromatic lives. For nearly four decades, Chanda Shroff,
the 73-year-old founder of Shrujan, an organisation scripting development
for these craftswomen, has worked relentlessly to revive the fading art, helping
rural women create sustainable income, find better markets, broaden their
skill base, and become entrepreneurs. The first Indian laureate winner of
the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, Shroff speaks to Harsh Kabra about her mission:
Q.: What drew you to Kutchi embroidery?
A.: In 1969, I, along with my husband, visited my hometown in Kutch as part
of Ramakrishna Mission's drought relief initiative and was mesmerised by the
traditional embroidery on the women's clothes there. Kutchi embroidery is
quite unique and variegated, rich with intricate and minute details. Sturdy
and long-lasting, it never gets old or worn out.
Q.: What problems confront this art and your
efforts to revive it?
A.: As a highly artistic handicraft, it requires tremendous handwork, dedication
and patience. This makes it time-consuming and expensive. It is difficult
to identify customers who understand this logic. With Shrujan, my idea was
to use this art to nurture these women economically, emotionally and spiritually.
Today, artisans associated with Shrujan don't face a dearth of sufficient
income. Shrujan pays them immediately, irrespective of whether or when the
article sells. The system pioneered by Shrujan is such that we work in a decentralised
manner, where we reach out to women spread across 114 villages over 500 sq
km, so that they can work as and when possible. The problem we face is that
of marketing. Promotion by way of advertisements or hoardings is prohibitively
expensive. As a result, our organisation and its goods depend entirely on
word-of-mouth promotion.
Q.: How has your mobile resource centre made
a difference?
A.: Our mobile resource centre called Design Centre On Wheels has a collection
of 1100 panels measuring 30"x40", which have been prepared by 500
master artisans of Kutch in 15 distinctly different styles of embroidery.
Around 30-50 panels from this collection travel to different villages, which
enables the new generation of artisans to learn not only about their own tradition
of embroidery, but also about that of the region's other communities. This
helps preserve the art and inspires them to imbibe newer colour compositions
and improve their quality of work. The superior quality of our products is
the reason why our customers continue to be with us for years.
Q.: What is your future plan?
A.: We plan to set up a resource centre that would allow designers and artisans
from all over the world to come on one platform, interact and prepare new
designs and products according to the changing needs of the contemporary world.
This will be a continuous process and will go on for years to come.
