I have been working with various NGOs as a designer in textiles and beadwork. I have also been working as a teacher trainer for rural women and have been involved with design oriented training and with the marketing of products. My work has taken me to various parts of the country such as Gujarat, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, and also to Ethiopia.
I am currently in Bangalore working with schools and doing craft work with children.
CFL allowed me to pursue my interests in a non-academic direction. It gave me various experiences in the art world and encouraged me to follow my instincts. I experienced many other dimensions of life in the school: travel, hostel life, handling problems, just allowing events to happen. We were never protected as students. We were always encouraged to go and find out for ourselves and not to be passive.
Something valuable I learned at CFL was to treat all individuals equally. This attitude helped me in my work—in a village you relate to people as they are, not as someone entirely different from you. Similarly, in schools, each child is who he or she is and is accepted as such.
This attitude helped me, in my teaching and other work, to bring every individual’s artistic ability out, regardless of his or her level.