Bina Dey joined kantha Centre of Crafts Council of West Bengal when she was twenty five. Married at fifteen to a widower with two daughters, she was a shy, young woman; anxious to please others and eager to learn. Her only qualification was that she was good with her needle and her only desire was to have an income of her own. From the very beginning her natural skill drew the attention of her trainer. She was put in a group of a select five women, whose skills were above average. She was asked to embroider small motifs. She slowly blossomed under the watchful eye of her trainer. From embroidering placemats and cushion covers she moved on to bigger things like tablecloths and bedcovers. So striking was her work that one of her bedcovers was picked up by none other than ‘Galarie Lafeyette’ of Paris.
Bina turned out to be not only an expert at needlework but an efficient worker as well. She was quiet but quick. Realizing her potential, the director of Crafts Council of West Bengal, Mrs. Ruby Palchoudhuri, decided to send her to various exhibitions held in cities across India. Bina traveled with other C.C.W.B. colleagues to different metros. It was a wonderful learning experience for her. From the cocoon of a middle class joint family of suburban Kolkata she stepped out into bigger world. She learned how to pack things, deal with customers, make the display, keep an account and take orders. At first she was a little shy, a little nervous. But with experience her confidence grew.
Her family also relaxed and began to take pride in her achievements. The matters came to a head when, in 2006 an invitation arrived for Ms. Bina Dey from Santa Fe! It asked her to take part in the Folk Art exhibition with her Kanthas.
This time Bina would have to travel all by herself because it was not feasible for anyone of Crafts Council of West Bengal to go all the way to America. Bina was extremely nervous. America seemed miles away, which it is, and her English was barely sufficient. On one hand she realized it was a rare honor, on the other hand, how would she cope if something went wrong? She was in a dilemma. Her family had a hundred questions; what would happen at the airport? How would she find the hotel? What if she fell ill…. it was a never-ending list. But she decided to take plunge.
The credit goes to C.C.W.B. and specially to Mrs. Ruby Palchoudhuri who gave her tremendous encouragement and guided her all through. Mrs. Palchoudhuri took a printout of the Airport and explained each step to Bina. For Bina, who had never stepped out of Kolkata alone, to land in Avast airport in America must have seemed extremely frightening! Mrs. Palchoudhuri showed her the route she would have to follow once inside the airport and how she would reach the luggage belt, customs and immigration in short she explained everything. Bina was a good learner and had implicit faith in her Ruby Di. She followed all the instructions and perhaps felt that the only thing to fear was fear itself.
The exhibition was a great success. This year (2008) she got a scholarship to go to Santa Fe again. Her airfare and staying cost will be taken care of by the exhibition authorities. Today Bina is no longer afraid to go, in fact she is looking forward to it. From a shy young girl in the center, Bina has now become a supervisor with 15 girls under her care. But she is still as soft-spoken and quietly efficient as before.
It has been a long road for Bina, she has walked the road with Crafts Council of West Bengal and especially her ‘Rubydi’ as her guiding light. Bina is grateful to C.C.W.B. She says, “Such a miracle was possible because they believed in me and Rubydi knew instinctively when to hold my hand and when to give me a push forward! And I knew they would always be there for me.”
Bina should go a long way and hopefully she will, taking her Kanthas to distant shores. Here’s wishing her all the best for the future.
Smt. Bina Dey received the “Shanta Prasad Award for Excellence in Kantha Embroidery” at National Meet organized by Crafts Council of India, Chennai, held at Ahmedabad in the month of March of the year 2011.
She has been awarded “National Award” for kantha embroidery for the year 2014.