For these women from Char Areas of the north-eastern state of Assam, the Kantha (a type of embroidery craft) making work brought them together and they extended support to each other as a group and fostered deep solidarity.
Anjuman Ara Begum, TwoCircles.net
Assam: Sixty-two-year-old Rejia Ahmed felt jittery as it was the first time that she had been to a public meeting. On March 8, Rejia was invited to preside over the daylong program to celebrate International Women’s Day in a remote Kandapara village in the Barpeta district of the north-eastern state of Assam.
International Women’s Day is a global day that celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women on March 8 every year. The day also marks a call to affirmative action for gender equality and to raise awareness of bias against women. Women gathered at Kandapara were excited to know that the day originated through a struggle for labour rights.
“I don’t know how I will perform. But I am very excited about the day,” she whispered to the woman sitting next to her. Slowly she picked up the mic and talked about the importance of women’s rights. The event was significant for the women from nearby villages – as it was the first time they had gathered to celebrate a day dedicated to women.
The women from these areas were completely unaware of such a day. On March 8, nearly forty women dressed in their best attire gathered and spent an entire day together in merriment. For many of these women, this experience was new.
The meeting of these women and sharing their life experiences was made possible by a women’s initiative called Amrapari, that creates livelihood options for women using traditional textile knowledge of Kantha making.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, the women recounted how they are struggling for survival and how they have been affected by citizenship rights issues like NRC, detention camps, perennial natural calamities like floods and the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown. These issues have directly affected their livelihood.
Amrapari provided them with a space to come together and celebrate their resilience. Apart from celebrating their togetherness, these rural women from Assam also took a pledge to not practice child marriage and to encourage the education of girl children and to work for financial independence.
Amrapari, an initiative launched last year has successfully provided income generation opportunities to women using traditional skills like Kantha making (a type of embroidery craft). Initially, twenty women formed four groups with five members and started stitching Kantha. It takes about 7-10 days to complete one Kantha – depending on the design and size. Soon, three more groups were formed as more women showed interest in taking it up as a source of income.
The Char areas of Assam have limited livelihood options for its residents. Male members of the family usually move outside as migrant workers while womenfolk engage themselves as daily agricultural labourers or engage in some small home based works.
Most of the women artisans associated with Amrapari are agricultural labourers, small fishing net makers or home-makers. Several of them are also D-voters (sometimes also referred to as Dubious voter or Doubtful voter is a category of voters in Assam who are disenfranchised by the government on the account of their alleged lack of proper citizenship credentials) and facing litigation to prove their Indian citizenship.
For these women, the Kantha making work brought them together and they extended support to each other as a group and fostered deep solidarity.
To market the products, Amrapari started to publicize its Kantha works through social media platforms in October 2020. Within a short period, it gained popularity and support. Traditional designs along with a contemporary touch is used to stitch Amrapari’s Kantha [Cotton quilt]. These are century-old designs and were used by women using old cotton clothes. Once made, it was used solely for the family members or gift items for close relations or simply used as a decorative piece.
Kantha making was not a full-time job and sometimes it took months for women to make one. The thickness of Kantha would depend on the need and factors like climate, availability of materials and economic status of the person. Smaller Kantha was used as gift items for newborn babies and highly designed Kantha with floral motifs were gifted during weddings. A table runner like Kantha called ‘Dastarkhana’ was considered extremely essential to serve food to guests. Kantha making was considered a part of the ‘responsibility of women and was not commercialized for a long time.
Traditionally, Kantha making was considered a dignified skill for women who would stitch during their leisure times and varieties of design, patchwork and motifs were innovated. Threads of several colours were used aesthetically.
In earlier days, women used to wear Sarees with well-defined border designs called ‘Pari’. Cotton yarns from the Pari were meticulously taken out, rolled and reused as a thread to stitch Kantha. Sometimes additional threads were used to give the shape of odd, even, ‘pipra’ etc stitch designs.
The durability of a Kantha depended on the density of stitches. More stitches mean more durability as well as warmth on rainy days and winter. Stitches are not drawn on the clothes. Instead, an outline is made using the needle and thread and then the shapes are made.
Women from these areas would innovate new patterns to impress family members and peers.
Amrapari is currently using both traditional as well as contemporary designs.
E-commerce provides an important platform for these rural women to sell their products and earn. Currently, Amrapri is selling through its social media handles as well as through online portals like Flipkart and Arts of India etc.
In a very short period, Amrapari became a tool of resilience for the women of Rupakuchi village in the Barpeta area of Assam.
Ujala Khatun, 19, was struggling with fulfilling her basic needs. Her father, the lone earning member is a small farmer and struggles to provide two meals a day for the family. The Covid-19 lockdown further reduced his income. Ujala, being the eldest among the children, felt the burden of responsibility lay with her. The weak financial condition and lack of social security system prevented her from continuing education after class X. She dropped from school and took up manual work as a daily wage labourer. However, she faced gender discrimination as a worker.
She says she was paid 200 Rupees while men working along with her were paid 300 Rupees. Gender disparity in wages saddened her but she continued to work due to a lack of other livelihood options. River erosion also affected her life. Ujala’s family had to move several times to different villages and it caused financial and mental trauma to the family.
During the lockdown, Ujala lost her source of income and had no means to look after her family. This is when Amrapari stood by her and trained her to learn stitching Kantha.
Ujala is a laborious and quick learner. She continues to work as a daily wage labourer and in the evening, she makes beautiful Kantha. She is now supporting her younger sisters to continue their education.
The struggles of Moyjan Khatun, 30, hailing from the same village is not any different. Her father Ajmat Ali is the main bread earner for the family and works as a manual labourer. The family’s financial condition remains weak. “I grew up in enormous challenges that deprived me of education and opportunity for a decent livelihood,” she says.
Moyjaan became a victim of child marriage and was married at the age of 15. She was married to a man from the same village, who works as a boatman on a daily wage basis.
Moyjan became a mother after two years of marriage. Unfortunately, her son died by drowning at the age of 2.5 years. Her son’s death was traumatic for her.
Moyjan later gave birth to two daughters, one of whom had a heart condition and died recently. The death of her children has left her in trauma but she continues to work and support her family.
Moyjan’s financial condition further deteriorated during the lockdown. There was no earning from the boat as all transport was suspended. Her husband was unable to earn.
It was at this time that Amrapari extended support to the family. Moyjan became an artisan and started stitching Ketha to earn a living. Despite losing her young daughter, Moyjan continues to work and make beautiful Kanthas.
Another artisan of Amrapari is the 19-year-old Narzina Khatun. She was born in Gagalmari village, Barpeta district of Assam. A 12th standard student, Narzina has three other siblings. Her father is a simple cycle repairing man and her mother is a housewife.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, Narzina said that she “loves to study and aims to complete her graduation.” She believes that only education can bring prosperity to her life. However, she was not able to procure the 1500 rupees required for her admission. Because of lockdown, her family lost income sources and couldn’t provide the amount required. Amrapari supported her to complete her admission. She then learnt Kheta stitching and now is a very skilled artisan. She supports her studies with the income from Kheta making.
The stories of the women simply confirm that women in Char areas of Assam can become economically independent and share equal family responsibility. It’s only a matter of time that these women will create their own space and become agents of change.
During a countrywide lockdown in India, women exhibited better resilience capacity than men. The women who gathered at Kandapara village in Assam to celebrate International Women’s Day are a fitting example of this.
Anjuman Ara Begum is a human rights activist and legal researcher based in Guwahati, Assam.