Hansiba , the first rural artisan of SEWA, talks to Madhur Tankha about her life and how she has been instrumental in encouraging rural women to earn their living through traditional skills.

She is the face behind the thousands of traditional garments that have now found their way from villages to international retail stores. Hansiba, the first rural artisan of Self Employed Women’s Association, has been instrumental in encouraging rural women to earn their living through traditional skills.

A master of 16 different types of embroideries, this nonagenarian grandmother grows her own cotton, spins her own yarn and does her own embroidery in Datarana village in Gujarat. She is held in greet esteem by the new generation that looks up to her for guidance.

Written by Trent Brown

In many ways now is not a good time to be a farmer in Punjab, or anywhere in India, for that matter. Debts are high. The price of inputs is increasing. Soil quality has diminished. The development of pesticide-resistant insects is leading farmers to use more and more toxic chemicals on their crops, thus increasing the risk of cancer for them and their families. The combination of these factors has led many farmers to commit suicide. The Natural Farming Workshop, hosted by Kheti Virsat Mission from the 25th to the 27th of December 2009, showed farmers another way. It showed them a type of farming that requires no external inputs whatsoever, that does not involve violence against humans or nature and whose yields are good.

Wild typhoons have raged, both literally and metaphorically across the world over the last few weeks. Not only have we seen flooding in Southern India and heavy storms in the Philippines, we have witnessed deep thunder cracks and sharp lightning bolts shock through the international climate talks as North met South, as expectation met reality, as hope met fear, and as a yawning gulf re-emerged between the global leaders negotiating our future in Bangkok.