INDIA GOT TALENT

Story of Archana Kumari

Archana Kumari comes from a small village in one of the poorest and most deprived areas of India, Muzaffarpur district in north Bihar. At age 14, she left school and began earning a pittance doing the traditional sujni embroidery of the area. At age 17, her creative skills came to the notice of a local NGO, Adithi, and a Canadian textile expert, Dr Skye Morrison, who together sent her to NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology) on a scholarship.

Despite being handicapped by her lack of English and other academic skills, Archana regularly topped her class at NIFT, won a prize for the Best Design Collection of her year, and has been accepted at NIFT for further studies on her own merit. She says her hand skills and experience of working hands-on in craft have given her an edge over the other students. Her one regret is that the local school did not give her and other children the early grounding that would have empowered them to be both craftswomen and entrepreneurs.

****

The existence of unique living craft skills, techniques,
designs, and products is India’s great strength, leading to career
opportunities at all levels, not a weakness. This point needs to be
emphasized in the school curriculum, and craft should be taught
as an area of professional expertise rather than as a ‘hobby’.

To those of us now looking at the new millennium and
seeking new directions for India, the potential of crafts and
craftspeople is something to which younger generations should be
sensitized.

****

“We may be wage earners but we are still walking on someone else’s feet. Because we lack the tools of education and language, we are still dependent.” - Shiva Kashyap, Madhubani Craftswoman, Bihar

“His friends laugh at my son because he helps his mother.”
Rinjani, Embroidery Craftswoman, Indonesia (Dastkar, Threadlines Workshop, 1998)

“Tell me, and I’ll forget. Show me,
and I may not remember. Involve me, and I’ll
understand.”
- A Chinese Proverb

*Source:
Heritage Crafts
NCERT