Budgam: Sozni Artist Jamsheeda Bano, 27, has a major role in making the traditional art popular among young girls in Hariwani and its adjoining village in central Kashmir’s Budgam.
Recognising her contribution to this traditional art category, the government has awarded her the state award for the year 2022after she was nominated for it in 2017.
Hariwani is a small village in Khansahib tehsil of central Kashmir’s Budgam district, where the majority of the people make a living through sozni work (needlework).
Jamsheeda told Rising Kashmir that she began this work at his home when she was only 17 years of age.
“In the year 2013, I started the sozni work by myself. “After I got fully trained, I taught this work to my brothers and sisters, so that we could earn a good source of income through this art,” Bano said.
She said that I also received a state award for my work in Sozni in the year 2021, for which I was nominated in the year 2017. In the year 2022, I also received a sozni centre through the Handcrafts department, where I provided training to the ten girls in my centre.
“Since I started this work, I have gained respect in my district. I am also earning a good source of income through which I am fulfilling all the demands and needs of myself as well as my family, ” Jamsheeda said.
She said that nothing is difficult in life if a person is willing to do the hard work in his or her life. “I am currently training ten girls in my centre. I want these girls to receive this award, which I received last year. They should also provide this training to others, so other people can earn their livelihood through this work,”she said.
According to Jamsheeda, this is one of the best ways for unemployed girls to make money. If they want to earn their livelihood from home, they can do this work part-time or full-time. This work will also assist college students to earn their livelihood in addition to their studies.
” I have trained a lot of girls in my village, as I want these girls to also train other people. So, this art could be preserved and it could be transferred from one generation to another generation, “she said
She added that most of the female students whom I have trained in my life are also studying in schools, colleges, and universities and are earning a good source of income through this work. However, some married women are also providing educational support to their children in their homes, besides their domestic work.
“I am also very thankful to the handicraft department, which has provided me with a lot of guidance from time to time, through which I have received a lot of respect and I have never left this work,” she said.
