I created a global brand
“I lost my father when I was 10. We are 3 sisters and the villagers told my mother that her future was doomed with just girls. I was the eldest & mother couldn’t support my primary education, so she taught me Dhebaria embroidery–a traditional Kutchi craft. She taught me the basics so I can support the family but over time, it became my passion!
I’d spend hours embroidering but before I could master it, our Panchayat banned embroidering for unmarried girls. They felt it led to late marriages as girls couldn’t find time to learn ‘domestic duties’. I was heartbroken!
At 17 I got married & thought this could be one way to continue practicing embroidery. Fortunately, my husband was supportive of my passion. “Our village needs such passionate artisans like you”, he told me–which is very rare for our village men to say.
I joined the village women’s council in 1998, & in 5 years I was declared the master artisan. We’d design traditional Kutchi wear & sell them to retailers, but for a meager amount of Rs.10 per piece. I wanted to oppose this but I was stopped.‘They’re our only support’, the other women of my community told me. ‘Why can’t we sell directly to customers?’,I thought.
So, in 2015 I decided to create my own brand. My husband helped me get guidance and raise funds from NGOs.
‘This is the doom of humanity’, taunted the villagers because I ran a business as a woman. It was hurtful but I didn’t let that get into me.
I’d never been to the city, but I’d heard from the retailers about how urban women liked carrying purses and wore ghagras under shirts. It sounded weird to me but they were my consumers. So, I invented a form called ‘Hari Jari’ - crafting Dhebaria embroidery using modern ribbons & trims, to make fusion products. But, I wanted more women on board.
In 2020 I launched my e-commerce website & taught women to register their products on it so they could earn directly from the sales.
Today, I have more than 300 enthusiastic women creating lifestyle products which are sold all over the world. But do you know what’s similar in us? None of us are formally literate! But yet we’re here - building a global brand.”