Nearly 25 women turned the aisle at the hall in Guild of Service into a ramp as they flaunted dresses marked by mirror work, sequins, zari and beads.
The judges looked closely at each participant’s sari and blouse to see what made them special.
The show, organised at the Guild of Service (GOS) as part of the valedictory function of the ‘Sari and blouse embroidery’ course raised confidence levels of these less-privileged women, who are getting ready to start their independent units.
Under the Nutrition on Wheels programme, sponsored by Association Dupatta, France, women in the age group of 25 to 50 years were taught hand embroidery. Some of them had never held a needle before. By the end of the four-and-a-half-month programme, they could turn a plain sari into a designer piece.
Thirty seven year-old M. Latha, mother of three, did not know even the basics of stitching before enrolling for the course. “I was always busy attending to household chores. Now that my children have grown up, I wanted to supplement the family income,” says Latha, who has already received orders for hand embroidery. C. Prabhavanthy, an old student of the Guild, was the instructor. “Hand embroidery is a time-consuming, but a sought-after skill. I charge Rs. 4,000 for every blouse. With the training, these women can also earn so much,” says Prabhavathy, a resident of Arumbakkam. Nearly 50 designs were taught to the participants.
In contrast to the other courses under the Nutrition on Wheels programme, this course did not have any dropouts, says S. Gopalakrishnan, vice-chairperson, GOS. At the event, Himani Datar, honorary secretary GOS, expressed the hope that more volunteers come in to help the Guild carry forward its activities at its twenty-two units, which are spread across the city.
Chief Guest Swarnalatha Jothikumar, Chairman of Inner Wheel District 323, extended support to the Guild. Its next programme will be on artificial jewellery and blouse embroidery. Website: >www.guildofservicecentral.org
