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Jivaben
was born in
Kukadsar. Her mother died when she was seven, and her
sister was already married. She moved with her father’s
herd of sheep and goats around southern Kutch, and
education was out of the question. But Jivaben learned
on her
own to sign her name.
At sixteen, Jivaben married into
Lodai village. Her husband was educated to 7th standard
and also herded sheep. But before the earthquake of
2001, he sold the animals and purchased a truck. Today
he drives to Surat and Vapi, and comes home once a week.
Jivaben has only one daughter, who is married and has a
son.
Jivaben learned embroidery from her
sister. At first try she could not learn, but when she
really wanted to, she did. “You learn when you want to,”
she says. When she was twenty-one, the elders of the
community banned embroidery for personal use. At the
time, she thought, how can we bear this? She sold her
dowry, but was cheated by a man from the village and
received only half the value.
Jivaben worked commercially for five
years. It was hard work, she says, following printed
patterns. When the earthquake happened in 2001, she had
recently built a house. Sitting with a group of
artisans, working, she watched it fall. After that, she
joined Kala Raksha and has been with the organization
for ten years. She taught her daughter to embroider, and
she is also a Kala Raksha member.
“Embroidery is our own experience,”
Jivaben says. “We can do it on our own time,
productively. The future is in our own hands. If we do
embroidery, it will continue.”
“A good artisan does good work- dense
and even,” Jivaben says. And good design? She feels that
eight out of ten Dhebaria women are good artisans.
Jivaben’s mother-in-law graduated
from KRV in 2009 and enjoyed it. She was determined to
follow suit. Jivaben dreams not of money but of
education. Her daughter went to 4th grade but gave her
7th standard exam. She can read and write. |
