Does your mother-in-law treat you well since you have only one daughter?”
Hillary Clinton’s eyes had widened when a talented Kutchi artisan of Self-Employed Women’s Association (Sewa) had posed this very atypical Indian question to her during her visit as the first lady of America.
On another occasion, Clinton — who has made several visits to the NGO’s offices in Ahmedabad and Mumbai over the past decade — returned from Sewa misty-eyed after the women sang the Gujarati version of We Shall Overcome for her. “Things come a full circle,” Clinton, who is now the US secretary of state, had said.
The artisan had asked Hillary that question because in India, if a woman does not have a son, she is perpetually ill-treated by her in-laws, Ela Bhatt, founder of Sewa, told DNA, recounting these interesting interactions. She was intrigued when Hillary said she did no problem with her in-laws.
“Hillary has taken out time for several such informal interactions with Sewa’s women over the years to understand the dynamics that affect them and to help them.”
On Saturday, Clinton will return to Sewa’s retail outlet Hansiba Creations, which showcases traditional apparels, on Napean Sea Road in south Mumbai. The US secretary of State will interact with at least five artisans brought from Kutch and Banaskantha, the Hansiba team and other stakeholders.
Sewa leaders, including Bhatt and director Reema Nanavaty, will update Clinton on the progress of Global Women’s Trade Finance Council, founded in 2007 in New York to take the work of grassroots artisans to the global level and link them to the world markets, and to improve the situation of women in underdeveloped and developing countries.
“I was not surprised when Clinton’s office informed us earlier this week that she will be visiting us. She has always taken time out of her busy schedule for Sewa,” Bhatt said on Friday.
Hillary Clinton’s association with Sewa has been long and continuous. She first visited the Sewa office in Ahmedabad in 1995 as the US first lady. In fact, an open ground in the office is now called Hillary maidan after the first lady took a liking to it and spent over two hours interacting with the women there.
“Since then, we have regularly been in touch over empowering grassroots artisans and to ensure that the benefit of global trade reaches them. She was impressed by the success of the small enterprises of rural womenfolk and their courage,” Bhatt said.
“Hillary is a very warm person, very informal, very positive. When I see her on TV, she looks very formidable. I feel this is not the Hillary I know,” she said.
