Rajasthan villager stitches own success

Dressed in a traditional skirt, her head covered with a veil, Rajasthani villager Ruma Devi does not look like a fashionista.

But make no mistake, she is among the most feted Indian designers today, known for her quintessential Barmer patchwork and embroidery designs.

Born in Rawsar, a hamlet in the border district of Barmer which is part of the Thar desert, the 31-year-old defied all odds when she created ripples of social change with her simple handmade embroidery.

The entrepreneurial movement has now touched more than 22,000 women at the village level and led to her being awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar, the highest civilian honour for women in India.

It was not all easy for Ruma. Coming from a humble background, she faced hard times following her mother's death when she was four and marriage at 17. Soon after, she also lost her first child.

As resilience took shape within her, she asked herself a question: "What can a veiled school dropout do in a small village?"

Turns out, a lot. She filled the vacuum in her life with embroidery.

Inspired by her grandmother's handicraft skills, Ruma started to create bags with hand embroidery on it.

"Barmer villages are nothing but sandy dust bowls," she said.

"With no school and ample time after housework, I looked for avenues which would bring some excitement in life.

"I thought of my grandmother who used to stitch beautiful motifs from sheep wool on clothes.

"The geometrical and floral designs, inspired by nature, were prepared mostly for a trousseau or household use. I found stitching invigorating and picked up the craft quickly."

She found solace in embroidery.

Sitting at home, she made intricate designs on pieces of cloth.

But she wanted to do more, and was soon stitching small bags and selling them.

Her in-laws were not happy. "There was pressure from all sides not to sell my work," she said.

"But I was determined that I had to do something to help the family. But I knew nothing, having not visited any place other than the two villages I had lived in."

Ruma could embroider with needle and thread, but to stitch it all together for the final product, she needed a sewing machine.

That was when she decided to gather the women in her neighbourhood, make them contribute Rs100 ($4) to buy sewing machines and start work on producing embroidered products on a bigger scale.

It was an uphill task as she had to form clusters of women by visiting village after village in the scorching heat and weathering dust storms.

"I faced flak and abusive language, and was accused of corrupting village women. But I persevered," she said.

In 2008, she gathered enough courage and joined the Gramin Vikas Evam Chetna Sansthan (GVCS), an NGO working with rural artisans in Barmer city.

"We travelled long distances to mobilise women," said Ruma.

"Our men had apprehensions about letting us work, but we still carried on."

Today, she is the president of GVCS and has 22,000 women working with her, earning Rs3,000 to Rs 10,000, depending on their skill set.

Ruma herself earns around Rs40,000 a month.

"My in-laws are not angry with me any more," she said.

"They realised that I was only following my passion. In fact, now my entire household, including my mother and sisters-in-law, do embroidery sitting at home. This way, they earn too."

Ruma started designing skirts, shirts and saris with Barmer motifs. She persuaded officials at the Rajasthan Heritage Week in Jaipur to give her a show at the festival in 2016.

Her "Handmade in Rajasthan, a tribute to Barmer" at the 2017 Rajasthan Day celebrations had women artisans walking the ramp. The show was a hit.

Now, after being associated with leading Indian and international fashion designers such as Anita Dongre, Bibi Russell and Abraham & Thakore, she is planning to launch a brand dedicated to Rajasthan's handcrafted textiles by the end of this year.

"Ruma Devi is a change-maker in every sense of the word," said Vanita Bhandari, president of Mumbai-based IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Ladies' Wing.

"She has transformed the lives of hundreds of women artisans by providing them with financial, educational and health support and more importantly giving them the confidence they need to become successful small-scale entrepreneurs."

Indo-Asian News Service

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