Shrujan founder, Chanda Shroff is the first Indian Laureate to be honoured with the prestigious Rolex Award for Enterprise. This historic event of 2006, that put the crafts of Kutch on the global map, can be traced back to two loves of her childhood. From her mother, whom she lost at age nine, came the love for the handmade. From her freedom-fighter father, she learnt the joy of being of use.
Both these loves informed Shrujan, the social enterprise that she founded in 1969, to empower embroidery craftswomen of Kutch to use their skill to earn a home-based, dignified livelihood.
Chanda Shroff’s care and concern for craftswomen, her passion to safeguard a living heritage led her to initiate large-scale, visionary projects such as the Design Centre on Wheels and Pride and Enterprise. Her most ambitious project however is the Living and Learning Design Centre, a rural-based institution in Kutch dedicated to preserving and promoting all the crafts of Kutch.
Kaki, as Chanda Shroff was affectionately called, was a risk-taker. She loved challenges and treated them as puzzles to be solved. Her favourite line was, ‘There will always be problems; the fun is in finding a way out.’
Kaki passed away in 2016 at the age of 83. Her legacy is simple and radical: love your work; be mindful of each person’s dignity and self-respect; stay relevant and forward thinking and, find excellence and joy in life and work.