Hema was curious, intelligent, and more than anything, open to learning. Recently married, Hema had moved into her in-laws’ house on one condition- they will let her work. She was proficient at stitching and knew how to operate a computer, which led her to open a small tailoring shop in the confines of her house. The advantage of this was twofold- a young girl claiming her independence and sense of identity, while single-handedly solving the village’s problem of the dearth of tailor in the region.
In a gesture honouring her story and determination, we painted a sewing machine on the wall of her house, captioning it ‘Hema Tailoring Shop’.