a conversation in Bijapur

This is a long post, but gets interesting towards the end.

And what is your name?
my name is Shahjad begum

where are you from?
bijapur

how long have you worked here?
for 6 years

you do embroidery?
yes I do embroidery. I do designs on jute bags

where did you learn this from?
from sabala. First I use to tailor clothes, also crochet. Later I learnt 'kashida' at Sabala.

what did you do before this?
I used to embroider at home. I learnt at school. Later I made small gifts to give at weddings etc.

How long did you study in school?
Till the 9th standard.

why did you leave?
I got married I went to school for 2 years after that, but i left.

how many children do you have?
i have 4, 3 boys and a girl.

So you learnt this embroidery in school? not from your family?
My mother used to embroider. my elder sister used to embroider. and so did my neighbors. I watched them and learnt.

So you come here the whole day and do this embroidery? so who does the work at home?
At home my daughter-in-law looks after things. There are children.

So this is like a job? you get a monthly salary?
yes.

What do your sons do?
One son is a builder, one is a tailor here. and one works in a mobile shop. the daughter is married.

So you are settled?
My husband died 9 years after we married. I had 4 small children. I did small tailoring work, I made mufflers and fed my children and educated them. I heard about sabala, and got training in leather work. I disliked leather work, so I started doing embroidery.

Where did you live?
with my in-laws.

And they let you do these things?
yes, i had to look after my children. There were 5 of us and I did not want to be a burden on them. who would feed 5 people? I worked hard to educate my children. I got my daughter married. I worked hard, i summoned my courage to help me. What is the use of sitting still and feeling sorry, a burden on this earth? If i moved a little, some income would come.
Our 'madam' (employer) is good. I learn, i teach others. We form SHG (self help groups)

So you do that too? where are these groups?
Devarpurigi, there is 1. Singhidi taluk, bagidi taluk

So you feel that women should do some work (apart from their homes)?
yes. there is no point sitting idle. Whatever we learn, it is still less.

But you need a lot of courage to go out. everyone does not have that.
yes, but without courage, the house remains locked. courage should be our strength.

So, on behalf of Sabala, you have traveled on exhibitions?
No, I have not gone for exhibitions. But I have gone on training, with SHG groups. Just like how i work and earn my living, i want to teach others too.

At Sabala, if you have a problem, are you able to voice it? Do you have the freedom to talk?
Yes, we have meetings, and we find out what is right and wrong in these meetings, and many problems are solved. If people make mistakes, it is better not to hide them, but to resolve them collectively.

What else do the meetings resolve?
We talk about the neighborhood, water drainage etc.

Please explain a littler more about SHGs.
A few women get together and discuss common problems, we save money together. rs. 10 a week. we open a joint bank account. In times of need, when school fees have to be paid, or a child falls ill, the money helps us. We take the money as a loan.
We pay Rs. 2 per 100 as interest. every 4 weeks. we return 25 per week for 3 weeks and on the 4th, we give back 27.

where did you learn all this?
From sabala. They trained us.

How did you know about sabala?
from the newspapers, i read about them and came here.

How do you divide the time between SHG work and embroidery?
Every week, the SHG group meets once. So i go for a few weeks and train a leader for the group.

All the raw materials and thread for the group's work goes from here?
yes.
So the group does not have to invest much?
no, they dont. But sometimes they make new designs and send it here. for us to see. so we get a lot of new things from them.

So what interests you more? embroidery or SHG work?
I want to learn new things. I am willing to do anything. I want to teach other people. I want some one else to feel i taught them a useful skill that earns them something. I don't want to sit quietly, only earning my salary.
One of the things in Sabala was that earlier, only Hindu women worked here. One day Mallamma met me at another organization where i worked. She wanted to work with muslim women and asked me to join her. I said yes, and since then Sabala has worked with muslim women.

What is the proportion of hindus and muslims here?
about 50%. earlier no one wanted to work with us, even if Bijapur is predominantly muslim.

But muslims have a long tradition of embroidery....
yes, but that work is very different

how so?
This work is very fine and delicate. in traditional muslim work we use only one colour, and zari work.

Do any young people come here?
young muslim girls don't come, we don't send them. older women come here. hindus come.
They hear by word of mouth, from one another.

Most young people want to learn to use the computer...
yes, but sometimes they are poor and need to earn. they cant afford computer classes.

But still isn't there greater value attached to computer work? as opposed to hand embroidery? would you recommend this work to a 16 year old as a good career?
yes, i definitely would. you can build your life on this.
I used to think that hand work was slow, while machine work was fast.
Earlier we used to cut blouse material with knifes. now we use scissors, and have even progressed to machines to cut cloth. so we have progressed.

So this work is not less than computer work?
Americans need computers. Mine is inside my head. I have a natural computer that works better than any other. I should first use my head and then think about other things.

What do you think of your future?
I started very backward. I did not know anything of the world. I only knew my mother's and in-law's house. I had to come out because of my children, and then went from work to work, learning. It is better to learn some work, and prepare for any disaster. better to work hard and learn new things, and use my computer too. Not only look at new things, but try them out too.
Thus a future is made, from strength to strength. It is 23 years since my husband died and I am now 49. I have managed.

You speak so clearly, you explain well.
this is because of my age. There are endless things to learn.
I feel at Sabala that there are more people here like me and there is strength in being together. Our problems are shared.
My son work here too.
We are happy here.
Outside, there is no work if there is rain or there is no electricity or anything else.
Here work is available every day, only sundays are holidays.

Do you come together? from nearby?
we have a tamtam or auto, which brings us all here

Do you save money personally, not through only the SHGs?
yes, i do. it is my hard earned money and i want to save some of it.

Can anyone join an SHG group?
yes, 15 - 20 women form a group. we help them make the units by visiting their house and finding out about them. we don't take very well off people, since they spoil the group. we prefer poorer people who need the help. richer people only think of their own benefits, not about other people.
We discuss government initiatives like the polio drive. during elections people look for SHG groups to influence. different political parties come to us.

Art & Literature of Banjara Lambanis