This NGO has been single-handedly empowering the women of Kutch for the last 46 years

The year was 1969. Kutch had already endured five years of drought. Famine and cries for help was everywhere.

It was also the year that Chanda Shroff travelled from Mumbai to her native place Kutch along with the Ramakrishna Mission to help in the drought-relief efforts.

However, they encountered a difficulty when they reached Dhaneti village.

The Ahir community and several other communities in Bhuj’s villages were reluctant to accept the help packages and instead insisted on being given work instead.

While trying to reason with them, Chandaben noticed the beautiful embroidery on their clothes and realised that all these communities, right from the Jaths to the Meghwaads had one thing in common- the intricate embroidery done by their women.

As an experiment, she bought 30 sarees worth Rs 5,000 and asked 30 different women to work on them as their canvas, adorning it with their embroidery.

Once completed, these sarees were taken back to Mumbai and sold at an exhibition, with demands for more.

The proceeds were given to the women and thus her temporary experiment took a more permanent shape in the form of Shrujan Trust.

For the last half-a-century, this Bhuj-based NGO has been leading the charge for women empowerment in the Kutch region.

Apart from providing the women a source of income, the trust has also dedicated itself to reviving the age-old art of making unique hand-embroidered Kutch craft. Though, the artisans in this region have been practicing this craft for generations, it was Shrujan that turned this ‘heritage into a source of income.’

“From helping 30 women, we have, over the last 40 years, helped more than 22,000 in 120 villages… and revived the art, as well. For the women the greatest advantage was that they could earn without leaving their homes. It's been more than an earning. It has helped their self-esteem, dignity, positioning in the household. Their children are educated,” says Ami Shroff, daughter of Chanda Shroff, who has now taken over the reins.

Today, Shrujan Trust is working with 4000 women from 12 different communities who are living in 120 villages.

As Shrujan’s popularity grew, they started receiving requests from many women who did not know embroidery. The organisation facilitated their training by getting none other than the women from other communities to train them. This served two purposes for them- they got more women involved in the art besides pushing the ones who already knew embroidery to do even better.

“We always push them for quality. They are made to understand that when their work is of good quality, we can command a better price for it. If the quality drops, the money they earn from it drops as well,” says Ami.

However, the sale of the products does not in any way affect the income of these women who are paid as soon as their work is completed.

Once Shrujan zeroes in on the artisans, their production team takes the raw materials to the homes of these women. "We get our raw material from the weavers directly while the embroidery threads come especially from Bombay to ensure that they doesn’t bleed,” explains Ami. After the products are completed, they are either sold in exhibitions or from Shrujan’s store.

According to Ami, these women earn anywhere between Rs 3,000-5,000 a month. “Many of these women are either farmers or cattle herders. They do not embroidery all day, every day. For them, this is an alternate income,” she explains.

They do find themselves taking on the role of primary bread winners during calamities and often earn more during that period.

That’s not all. These women who have no formal education can yet do fine embroidery work called ‘Soof embroidery’ which is based on mathematical calculations. Thus, the complete embroidery is done on calculations which they keep doing in their mind while working on multiple pieces.

Taking their initiative a notch higher, Shrujan Trust also initiated an ambitious studio called ‘The Living and Learning Design Centre (LLDC)' in Bhuj.

The nine-acre LLDC not only houses India's biggest craft's museum which displays the embroideries of the communities of Kutch but is also an active hub for crafts which are present within the Kutch region.

Their aim as always is to preserve and revive this heritage craft and give it back to the generation that has not seen it.

“We want to ensure that these women view it more than as a way to earn. They shouldn’t lose the connect that their ancestors had,” says Ami.

Just last month, Shrujan conducted workshops and got two designers to help local artisans elevate their skill of embroidery, learn new techniques and also create new designs based on their old embroidery methods. Age old designs have also been preserved from different communities of Kutch, so that these artisans learn and practice these embroideries and gain expertise.

The studio also acts as a creative place where the artisans come up with new and innovative designs never seen before. She also wishes to train individuals in the 22 crafts of Kutch at the Centre’s craft studio. At present, it runs workshops that are open to all who want to learn the crafts – regardless of whether they have a background in them.

When asked about the biggest challenge that Shrujan Trust had to face, Ami is quick to reply.

“Garnering publicity about these crafts individually and not just collectively is a big challenge, Apart from that, getting people to stop trying to bargain when it comes to prices is another problem. If you don’t argue about the prices when you go to a designer shop, then why are you arguing about the same when you are buying from these artisans?”