Priya is a mother of two. She is a fulltime wife, a dutiful daughter-in-law and a loving daughter to her parents. While growing up in her village, she fell in love with a young man whom she eventually married. As with most women in our country, her aspirations took a back seat after marriage. She wasn’t unhappy. She just didn’t remember what she wanted to do when she got caught up with usual domestic chores.
She is a proud mother who likes to add value by doing whatever she can. In a lot of families, women are not allowed to work outside. But Priya never lost her desire to contribute. She waited for her children to become old enough and be on their own before she started asking her husband about the options she could explore. Given the circumstances, they decided that she would choose assignments that can be done from home.
All her life, Priya’s creativity flowed through stitching clothes. Early on, she would stich her own suits, make cushion covers and do odd jobs for her neighbours without charging anything. It inspired her to convert her hobby into a paid profession. She started to reach out to the small network of people around her. She knew her husband’s employer’s family may be able to help her find these opportunities. One day she went over to their place for a discussion. As luck should have it, there was a new project that was about to begin. The project involved creating 20×20 pieces out of a muslin cloth, hemming them and sticking colourful pom poms in the four corners. Along with this, Priya had to coordinate the supply chain for materials. She asked whether she could start by exploring a few orders to begin with and her dream started to take shape.
The resulting ‘Canvas of Expressions’ resonated with the collaborating NGOs. A few corporates opened their doors. They wanted their employees to work on the canvas along with people with differing abilities under their employee engagement program. Priya’s work thus found a meaningful space in many lives. Her desire to add value to a social effort on spreading awareness about unique capacities in each of us make us at In For The Cause, proud. We feel inspired by what she is trying to do for herself. We are confident as our honest attempt at creating opportunities for employment grows over time, Priya will grow with us. Her dream has become our dream. We wish Priya success as she starts on the journey of realising her own potential.
We hope after seeing her work, you DO TOO
Written by: Minakshi Dewan
Minakshi Dewan holds a doctoral degree from the Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She has worked with various NGOs after completing her master’s degree from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. She has authored a picture book for children. She is also an expert blogger with Momspresso.