Stitching Futures: Masuma Khatun’s journey from artisan to community leader

Affectionately known as Masuma di, she joined the Udyamini Project on March 2, 2025, carrying with her a quiet determination.

Masuma Khatun of Jagnanagar, Birbhum, began her entrepreneurial journey with just ₹20,000 from a self-help group loan and a lifelong love for Kantha embroidery. Today, she stands as one of rural Bengal’s most inspiring women entrepreneurs—a creator, a leader, and a mentor whose story mirrors the evolution of heritage itself.

Affectionately known as Masuma di, she joined the Udyamini Project on March 2, 2025, carrying with her a quiet determination.

She wanted to understand how traditional craft could find space in modern markets, how pricing could be fair and sustainable, and how her designs could travel beyond the weekly haats.

With curiosity guiding her and the Udyamini team supporting her, she immersed herself in training sessions, exposure visits, and one-on-one mentoring.

Slowly, her world widened. What once felt distant—Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp—soon became powerful platforms where she showcased her craft. She began browsing global patterns, experimenting with colours, and introducing new motifs while keeping Birbhum’s artistic roots intact.

Her work evolved, and so did her confidence. In time, she wasn’t just learning—she was teaching, helping other rural women diversify their designs and express their stories through needle and thread.

Her talent quickly drew the attention of government bodies and cultural institutions, who began inviting her to national exhibitions. There, her Kantha was praised not merely as embroidery but as narrative art, carrying the soil, memory, and identity of Bengal.

With rising demand, her income surged to ₹50,000–60,000 a month during peak seasons, complemented by an additional ₹20,000–30,000 from online customers. This stability allowed her to buy land near Santiniketan and build a home that doubles as a creative sanctuary. Here, women gather to learn, innovate, and strengthen their skills—a testament to the circle of empowerment that Masuma has nurtured.

Today, she leads a network of over 200 Rural Women Entrepreneurs (RWEs). To them, she is not just an artisan but a catalyst—someone who proved that tradition doesn’t fade when women innovate; it grows stronger.

Masuma is among the many remarkable RWEs who will participate in the Rural Udyamita Conference 2025 on December 12 at NEDFi, Guwahati.

The national event is set to bring together women entrepreneurs, policymakers, financial institutions, and grassroots organisations working to build a stronger, more inclusive rural entrepreneurship ecosystem.

The conference is being organised by the Council for Social and Digital Development (CSDD), Digital Empowerment Foundation, North East Development Foundation, and Unifiers Social Ventures.

These organisations have been key drivers in strengthening rural innovation, digital inclusion, market access, and community-led development across India. Their commitment is anchored in a shared belief—that rural women, when supported with skills, networks, and digital tools, can transform local economies.

The event is co-organised by the Udyamini Rural Women Entrepreneurship Programme (RWEP)—a four-year collaborative initiative (2023–2027) implemented by five Indian non-profits and supported by technical partners.

Working across Assam and West Bengal, Udyamini focuses on agriculture, horticulture, handicrafts, handloom, tea, micro-businesses, and emerging sectors such as clean energy. Its goal is to build a thriving community of digitally empowered RWEs who uplift one another, create livelihoods locally, and become leaders in their value chains.

Institutional partners such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission (ASRLM) further strengthen this ecosystem, bringing global frameworks, local insights, and long-term sustainability planning.

At the Rural Udyamita Conference, stories like Masuma’s will take centre stage. Her journey—from a ₹20,000 SHG loan to becoming a national exhibitor, digital entrepreneur, and mentor to hundreds—captures what is possible when rural women are trusted, trained, and given room to lead.

Her message is simple yet powerful: “Kantha is my identity. Every stitch tells a story of our land and women’s strength.”