Here Is How This Silai Hero From Gujarat Is Preserving Local Art And Creating Livelihood

The framework of the USHA Silai School program contributes to the restoration and promotion of traditional motifs and crafts. Women have been using their skills and creativity to preserve local art and craft and also increase their earnings. The USHA Silai School initiative enables the fusion of traditional art with modern skill and encourages women to combine traditional handwork, beading, quilting among others with machine finishing. Here is the story of Hasuben Mohanbhai Rabari from Gujarat who learnt traditional embroidery from her mother and uses this knowledge along with the sewing skills she learnt from USHA Silai School to create finished products and earn about Rs 10,000 per month.

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Hasuben comes from the Rabari community which is still far from access to education and is continuously migrating. Hasuben also could not get an education. The Rabaris are an indigenous tribal caste of nomadic cattle and camel herders, and shepherds, mostly living in North-West India, particularly what is now Gujarat. Her parents also had sheep and goats and used to migrate from one place to another in search of grass and water. They have migrated to various places of Gujarat like Vadodara, Baruch, Ankleshwar among others when she was a child. The migration occurs due to less or no rain in the district. As a child, she had to look after the lambs. During this time, she learnt handicrafts from her mother and relatives. She used this skill to earn some money. The distinctive embroidery, detailed thread work, and profusion of colours, all perfectly stitched together, are hallmarks of the Rabari tribe that Hasuben is an expert in. She got married to a shepherd at a young age. After marriage, she used to make quilts to help others, but not for money. She and her family settled in Kutch as it is their native place. She has two children - a 21-year-old daughter and an 18-year-old son.

In 2013, Hasuben was selected for the USHA Silai School training program. Training from USHA added more value to the products made by her. Now, she not only does embroidery work but also sews to make the final products. She said,

Embroidery is the art form of our Rabari community, and it is only the women of our community who can do this work. The designs that we make are inspired by nature. If we are making a tree, we think of the colours we would like to give the tree. If there are more trees around that one, then we think of what colours they should be in. If we feel those colours are not good, then we take colours from different flowers in nature.

She is also working as a coordinator of Kala Raksha voluntarily to check the quality of work being done by others. She is an expert in making designs and samples. She opened her own Silai School on February 1, 2013. Hasuben bought a new USHA machine for the daily work. Through her embroidery and sewing work, she is able to earn over Rs. 10,000 per month on an average.

According to Vijaykumar Gohel, Coordinator, USHA Silai School Program, Kutch is referred to as the hub of traditional craft. He said,

Different communities live here. each having its own identity. This craft is slowly dying out. New generations are not interested in practicing this craft. The reason for their disinterest is that it fetches a lower income.

Hasuben has passed on her skill and traditional art learnings to her daughter. She has been encouraging other girls and women to learn sewing so that they could survive even if they do not get hand craftwork. Hasuben believes that embroidery is a noble heritage. It is a symbol of trust. There are very few artisans now due to the loss of market and decline in skills. She said that as the demand for handicrafts is decreasing, many artisans are opting for labour work. Laxmiben Mohanbhai Rabari, Hasuben's daughter said,

We learnt a little bit of sewing in school. When I left school, my mother gave me the choice and said if I was interested in this work, I could learn it from her. I was interested. I would look at my mother's work, and think that I wanted to do it too. I was interested in stitching, as well as the Rabari empbroidery work. I learnt from my mother and now, together we earn Rs. 300 to Rs. 400 per day. That means about Rs. 9,000 per month. 

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