Ruma Devi is a popular traditional handicraft artisan and a social worker from Barmer, Rajasthan. She is the President of ‘Rural Development and Chetna Sansthan Barmer’, an NGO of Rajasthan.
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Wiki/Biography
Ruma was born in 1989 (age 30 years; as in 2019) in Barmer, Rajasthan. She left school when she was in 8th grade.
Family, Caste and Husband
He belongs to a Hindu family. Her father was a small farmer and her mother died when she was 5 years old. She lived in a joint family and was brought up by her uncle and aunt after her father’s second marriage. He has seven sisters and is the eldest among them. She got married at the age of 16 and had a son in 2012. Due to financial constraints, proper medicines were not provided to his son and he died when he was one and a half years old.
livelihood
He was married to a poor family, so he decided to do some work to earn. Her grandmother taught her embroidery and sewing. She formed a group of 10 local women (with the help of Mahila Bal Vikas Group) and collected Rs. Took Rs 100 from each member and bought a sewing machine. Under the guidance of a social worker named Vikram Singh, he started making cushions, bags and garments. Later, more and more local women joined them and their group of 10 members grew to 22000 women.
Ruma Devi with her grandmother
Social worker- Vikram Singh
On 14 July 1998, he started a self-help group, Rural Development and Consciousness Institute (GVCS). The main objective behind forming this group was to work for the empowerment of women artisans. The women of this group are proficient in various styles of handicrafts including Kantha stitch, embroidery, patchwork and other textile printing techniques. The president of this self-help group is Ruma Devi.
Ruma Devi’s NGO
His work has been appreciated on both national and international platforms.
The products manufactured by his group are available on the shop.directcreate.com website.
Ruma Devi doing embroidery
In 2015, her handmade apparel collection was showcased at Lakme Fashion Week. In an interview he said-
My traditional attire, my love for Barmer can never diminish. Its uniqueness has made me who I am today. I can never move beyond Barmer or my desert state. That’s why I decided to open my new shop launched last year in Jaipur instead of Delhi.
Ruma Devi in fashion show
Awards and Honors
- Shilpa Abhimani Award by Government of Sri Lanka: Promotion of Handicrafts
- Honoring Women by Wings Netherlands (2016)
- Honor in Germany and Singapore Fair (2017): Promoting handmade products
- Handicraft Export Promotion Council, Ministry of Textiles of India (2018): Exemplary work in the handicraft sector
- Nari Shakti Award (2018)
- Featured on the cover of “India Today Magazine” (2018)
- World CSR Congress (2019): 51 Most Influential Innovators (A Global List)
Ruma Devi received Nari Shakti Award
Favourite Things
- Cuisine: Rajasthani Cuisine
fact
- Famous fashion designer ‘Anita Dongre’ called Ruma to showcase her collection at Lakme Fashion Week (2012), but she declined the offer as she was not confident of appearing on such a big platform.
- Her work was praised by British Patchwork and Quilting magazines. She has displayed her work in fashion weeks held in London, Germany, Singapore and Colombo.
Ruma Devi receiving the award
- He said in an interview that his real life story is very similar to the Bollywood film ‘Sui Dhaaga’ (2018).
- Actor Varun Dhawan bought chanderi silk dupattas from her which he gifted to his sisters.
- She was featured on the cover of ‘India Today Magazine (2018)’.
Ruma Devi on the cover of India Today
- She was seen in the ‘Karmaveer’ episode (20 September 2019) of Kaun Banega Crorepati 11 (2019) in which she gifted her artwork to Amitabh Bachchan. Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha supported him in the show.
Download another TV show for Sony Entertainment Television. New Year 19, 2019
- She wants to establish a college where students can learn traditional handicraft work.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn