Differently abled tsunami survivor knits together a bright future

It was her birthday on December 25 and she had gone to Pattinapakkam to visit some relatives. “My family was at Thoraipakkam. I rushed home and thankfully my family was safe but we had lost whatever we earned. We knew that we had to start all over,” says Swapna, who is also disabled. She had limitations and there was little she could do to help her family get back on their feet. This was in 2004. Cut to 2016, things are different and the art created by her are finding place on the shelves of urban stores and even on the walls of star hotels. 

“After the fateful event, we started living in the Kannagi Nagar settlement meant for the tsunami survivors. Deep down inside, I wanted to be part of a change,” she says. “Things changed when I met Alka, a transgender who informed her about an organisation looking to empower women from the locality,” she says. She then came in touch with Inklink Charitable Trust, an organisation that extensively works with the residents of Kannagi Nagar. 

Shaswati SenGupta of Inklink Charitable Trust says that they came across several cases of women in the locality being abused. Their aim was to enable them to be empowered. Swapna had the spark. Though she had only one leg, she managed. For certain techniques, one needs to use the feet but she was sure that she would manage. She made coasters, tablet covers, phone pouches and other accessories. 

“I was one of the six women who was selected for the programme. First we were taught the techniques of knitting, where we were required to wash the discarded plastic, dry and then strip them into threads. We then knit using the same material. I have become independent now. My disability doesn’t get in my way as I earn for myself,” explains Swapna, who is glad that she was setting an example for many women like her.