Craftswoman (continued)

A graduate in Economics, Psychology and English Literature, Fatema was not very academically inclined, so only made it as far as her bachelors. She wasn’t even motivated to pursue a career in any of her subjects; so what to make of her life professionally remained a question mark.  Fatema is the youngest of four daughters and belongs to a family of artists. She feels that she remained an anomaly amongst them for a long time because she showed no tendency or capacity for arts and crafts. However, soon enough, she found her way and discovered a propensity for colours and designs within herself.

She smilingly recalls, “The day I got the idea to paint on wood, my mother practically shoved me out of the house to go buy paints with my father. She had done the groundwork, and had taught us the necessary skills through craft projects and stitching et cetera.”

Gradually, Fatema explored her skills and potential and was allowed to paint anything she wanted. She started with her dressing table, and then moved onto the shoe cabinet, chairs and even the dining table. Once she had started, there was no holding her back! Applying her creativity to cloth craft as well, she began designing and stitching bags and wallets.

It has now been more than ten years since she started and in this time she has experimented a lot and has developed a style of painting and creating all, her own. It does not end there, apart from working for extremely long hours, creating masterpieces; Fatema has a family to take care of, too.

Her family remains her priority, but to be able to work re- enforces her character and gratifies the need for self fulfilment. She wishes people in Pakistan would understand that and give women the support they need to explore their full potential.

She recommends, “One piece of advice I would like to give home makers is that , although house and family demands their all, they should not ignore and forget their own self and create the time and space to be able to nurture it”. 

So for all the clueless people out there:

Let the beauty of what you love, be what you do. - Rumi.