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Smriti Rekha Chakma, the weaver from Tripura who received multiple national awards for her exceptional weaving skills, was recently conferred the Padma Shri award by the President of India in New Delhi.
With congratulatory notes pouring in from almost everyone, Chakma feels she is yet to accomplish a couple of tasks she has been aspiring for the last several years. Her first and foremost desire is to set up a training centre for the new generation weavers so that she can pass on the knowledge she acquired in her 20- to 25-year-long career. She is also willing to grow a garden that can be utilised for deriving natural colours. For the 65-year-old weaver, name and fame came from the natural dyeing process that she had mastered all these years. In an exclusive interview with ANI at her residence here in Agartala, Chakma said, "I have received enough awards and recognitions in my life. I was awarded the National award for weaving, and craft and later in 2018, I received the prestigious Sant Kabir award. Now, I have been honoured with the fourth highest civilian award for which I am very satisfied." On being asked what she aspires to do next, Chakma said, "My only dream now is to make sure more and more people can learn the art. The knowledge that I have acquired shouldn't remain confined to me or a couple of people. I want to set up a training centre where people from different parts of the state can come and get themselves trained in the process of natural dyeing." According to Chakma, she had declined the proposal to join government service just to keep herself busy with weaving. "Four of my students have received national awards for weaving in the years 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2011," she said. "Earlier, no one came to me to learn the skills. I persuaded them and later convinced their parents. When they received national awards, I was very happy," she added. Chakma also drew the attention of the government towards her dream of planting trees from which natural colours are derived. "If the government helps me to develop the garden, it will be highly beneficial for us as well as the proposed training centre we are aspiring to set up," she added. On being asked as to what trees are used for deriving natural colours, she stated, "Common trees like mango, jackfruit, berries are used for extracting the dyes." Smriti Lekha Chakma is a Chakma Loinloom Shawl Weaver, that transforms eco-friendly vegetable dyes cotton threads into traditional designs promoting the use of natural dyes. She also runs a socio-cultural organization to impart training to rural women in the art of weaving and empower them. (ANI)
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