Apeejay India Volunteer Awards

Shamlu Dudeja
Shamlu Dudeja , kantha revivalist and social entrepreneur has through her 'dwar pe rozi' project created income generating opportunities for women hailing from very low income groups, who have no acquired skills and no independent opportunity of work. Shamlu has revived and revised kantha, the quilting stitch of rural Bengal, in its new avatar, as a decorative stitch, to bring it into the portals of haute couture fabric decoration in India and abroad.

Through the NGO, by the name of SHE (Self Help Enterprise) Shamlu helps to train more and more women, as the popularity of kantha spreads. SHE also helps hold seminars on topics such as health and hygiene and the need for self protection. Women are given loans when necessary. A number of health camps, especially eye-camps, are held in the villages to help keep these artisans in a state of good health.

Shamlu is also the charter member of the Board of Trustees of the NGO , CALCUTTA FOUNDATION (since 1994) and has been its Chairperson since 1997.

Shamlu Dudeja has also authored several text books in Mathematics Primary Schools, published by Oxford University Press, India and Pakistan:She has been a Columnist for children's educational and entertainment pages in local dailies, since 1984, namely the WIZBIZ CLUB, The Telegraph, Kolkata.

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