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Society
Runa Banerji
The Woman Behind SEWA
by
Rajsaran Varma
Do aspirations and dreams translate into reality ? Can a social movement
actually snowball into a profit making industry? Ask Runa Banerji these
question and she nods an emphatic and loud "yes". Dressed in a cotton
saree, wearing her trademark large bindi, the Lucknow chapter
Chairperson of SEWA seems extremely humble about the fact that she has
been nominated this year for the Nobel Prize or that 'her girls' have
already sold Chikan garments worth Rs 3 crores by June 2005. She
attributes these achievements to victory of thousands of women artisans
who have dared to dream, step across the threshold of their homes, dug
their heels and stared at the dangers and challenges in the eye.
The story goes back to mid seventies. This was the time when the fine
Mughal Art of Chikankari was almost becoming in death throes. This fine
filigreed needlework worked upon gossamer muslin, crepes and chiffons,
is supposed to have been brought from Persia by none other than the
Empress Noorjehan herself. What makes chikankari such a distinctive
needlecraft is that it is the only embroidery in the world which is so
special in its discipline that each stitch is used only for one purpose.
This art was limited to a fast depleting community of Chikankari
artisans, mostly Muslims concentrated in muhallas of old Lucknow.
Exploitation was rampant as the middlemen grabbed the profits, giving a
pittance to the 'kaarigars'. A day of back-breaking labor would yield
just about ten or fifteen rupees!
Since the payment was per piece the workers would try and turn out as
many as they could, greatly compromising the quality of work. A lot of
fine traditional designs and stitches were being corrupted. From among
32 known stitches merely six were in common uses. The good artisans were
abandoning the trade for more lucrative zardozi. Crude and substandard
shadow work was sold even in Lucknow's posh market Hazratganj in the
name of Chikan.
It was in this scenario that Runa Banerji and her friend Sehba Hussain
(who later became the State Representative of UNICEF in Lucknow) came to
Lucknow to work on a UNICEF aided project on child labor. "What we saw
here was so shocking that both Sehba and I lost our sleep. Young
children were employed by these contractors, made to work ten to twelve
hours and paid as little as five paise per piece. They were people
living in abject poverty. Prostitution, alcoholism was common. Many
children were suffering from malnutrition even tuberculosis. The living
conditions were miserable and we felt the women were the worst
sufferers" recalls Runa.
"We took up the challenge of helping out these hapless people and both
of us decided to stay and continue working with the artisan community
even after the project ended," says Runa, sitting in her office on
Sitapur road, taking a break to speak to a prospective buyer over the
phone.
To begin with they started a school in Daliganj area of old Lucknow
where for a long time Runa was the only teacher! The eye opener came
when they organized a health camp in the school. Just as the doctors
began to speak, a group of women asked them to shut up and leave! "I was
astounded, embarrassed and livid! Then one of them told me that they did
not want doctors. What they needed was daal-roti at the end of the day.
I went home and thought about it through the night. By morning it began
to make sense. Roti first, rest will follow"
With the mothers who came to school Runa laid the foundations of SEWA in
1984. Though they share the name with Ahmedabad's famous NGO, their
working and management is entirely different. They both, however, are
registered under the umbrella organization SEWA India.
With the beginning of SEWA came other problems…lack of funds. "We
decided to pitch in Rs 8,000 from our own pockets and bought the cloth
from a whole-seller in Chowk. As the artisans trickled into SEWA,
paranoia gripped the established traders. They began to intimidate the
karigars, even tried to physically stop them, but it had become
impossible for them to cage hopes and dreams. The tailors and workers
came to work in the nights on the sly.
Another hurdle that Runa and Sehba faced was lack of knowledge about
Chikan embroidery. "We conducted extensive research on designs and
traditional blocks .We rummaged through old Chikan garments in private
collections and learnt from the experienced karigars. Restoring Chikan
to its original glory, in the best way we could, was our sole purpose,"
says Runa.
What was their biggest challenge? Says Runa, her kohl-lined eyes
reflecting her determination, " It was an uphill task to initially
organize women. SEWA teams went door-to-door persuading women, in the
bargain inviting the wrath of their families. Constant interactions with
the community, however, helped to clear the air of suspicion around.
"Our mission for fair wages and living with dignity slowly began to melt
the initial resistance," she adds.
Banerji then set up training centers to involve more women Experienced
artisans would teach novices the various stitches. Instead of teaching
the entire process to each person, Runa decided to divide workers into
skills they were good at. They were separate departments for fabric
cutting, block-printing, and for each stitch like murri, shadow, tepchi,
phanda, hatkati and jaali. The marginally educated girls were to become
accountants and man the counters. As an artist excelled in her work, her
status would be elevated to that of a supervisor and a trainer. Women
began joining SEWA in hordes.
"Marketing what we had produced was our next step. The city was already
crowded with Chikan garments. Our work was fine and exquisite. We were
also paying our workers a lot better wages. Both these factors made our
garments more expensive." says Runa. In 1985, with a few women kaarigars,
Runa decided to register the organization with the Cottage Industry in
Delhi. She was carrying Chikan garments worth 35,000 at that time. The
entire stuff was sold out and SEWA registered its first profit. "This
greatly boosted our confidence and also gave me the idea that our
product had a large market in the Metros." Says Runa.
Then followed annual exhibitions in Delhi and Mumbai which became
socialite's hub. Variants of chogas, jamas,and angarkhas found their way
into the celeb circles. Haute couture had finally arrived with it's own
distinctive Lakhnawi flavor.
SEWA opened it's first emporium in Lucknow's upmarket Hazratganj area in
1985. Similar centers came up in other smaller cities too. Recently SEWA
opened a centre in Delhi from where Chikan garments are sold to both
Indian and foreign buyers.
With success came other problems. Fake brands. "At least four emporiums
in the city were already plagiarizing our products and misusing our
brand name," recalls Runa. It was a case of unhealthy competition. "They
had adopted names such as SEVA etc. So we could not do much. However, we
have lodged a complaint with the Registrar of firms. We have also
applied for patent in the name of SEWA. It should come through any day,"
Runa assures.
As SEWA's popularity grew many good Samaritans extended help. Mr. K.
Khannan, the then Chief of the Bank of Baroda extended a generous loan
of Rs 25 lakhs from his bank in 1994. He loaned the same amount in 1997.
" Says Khannan, "SEWA paid back the money before the stipulated period
proving itself a model creditor." It also allowed SEWA to display its
banners in all the branches of the Bank of Baroda in Mumbai.
What actually set SEWA on course was a grant from a German organization
EZE that gave Rs 60 lakhs for three years. EZE also paid salaries of 18
staffers and donated a car. Then came help from Ethel Grant, renowned
social worker and wife of James Grant, global chief of UNICEF. This
grant was bequeathed by Ethel to SEWA and was donated by James after the
former's death. "It helped us raise our office building and have a roof
over our heads," says Runa.
SEWA stirred a movement of sorts in other parts of Lucknow also. Says
Bhagwan Das, who runs a hundred year old Chikan emporium in old city in
Lucknow, "SEWA's exquisite work forced us to produce better quality
stuff. Our workers too, began demanding better wages. On the flip side
we also began to market our products at SEWA rates."
Since they do not have a well-developed marketing department, as part of
its strategy to find markets in big towns, SEWA began participating in
fashion shows organized by Femina in Mumbai featuring exclusive bridal
wear collection. "This has helped give a real fillip to our marketing
campaign and we bagged big orders. One of our regular clients is film
star Shah Rukh Khan. Shabana Azmi also visits our Lucknow outlet
regularly," informs Runa. " They are good marketing symbols for us," she
says.
"We are employing the same strategy in boosting our sales abroad," says
Ashish Chakravarti, SEWA's senior spokesperson. SEWA has stormed the
international arena by participating in the Silk Road Campaign in
Washington, MACEF-AUTUMN-2003, Milan, Brides of the Orient in Melbourne
as well as holding exhibitions in Barcelona and London. 75%-80% of the
annual turnover of SEWA comes from these exhibitions which are attended
by internationally known fashion houses . While 18 exhibitions have
already been organized inside the country this year, SEWA is also
planning three more exhibitions this year in Karachi, London and Paris.
However, her greatest achievement, Runa says, has been the movement she
helped start in a small room in Dalibagh has spread to 10 districts in
Uttar Pradesh. Most of the 5,000 women have moved from slums into pucca
houses with the help of housing loans with SEWA as guarantor. SEWA has
it's own hospital and women are standing up against abuse, some even
choosing to live single.
It is these happy women which are SEWA's strength . "We scale optimum
productivity. Workers rarely take leave. They work with such zest that
most consignments are ready well before time. This is a mantra that
people should adopt - happy workers make happy business, "says Runa .
October 22, 2006
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Use TV as a Channel for Peace by Noa Cohen
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