The Kumbaya Story

Thirty years ago, Kumbaya started with 12 tribal women who wanted to learn sewing. We began with a box full of scrap and three borrowed sewing machines in a mud house in Neemkheda
village. Kumbaya came into being while looking at the women examining a patchwork cushion cover made from small scraps of fabric cut from hand-me-down clothes. In the dry village
landscape where there was no money and no shops, it is these small scraps, almost debris to be swept away, that sparked a deep regard for saving materials so that women could learn to stitch them together and earn money. At that time, I had no idea that the humble sewing machine would become a symbol of resistance and transformation, stitching our lives together.

What started as a simple attempt to learn stitching has grown into an ethical business, a social enterprise breaking barriers of patriarchy and poverty in small rural area of Central India. Every
piercing stitch represented a stubborn resolve - to overcome all odds. And so Kumbaya has been standing up for the right to skill development and paid work for women, seeking to transform
and strengthen women's lives through the power of design.

This film explores the journey and stories of extraordinary women who own Kumbaya, whose courage and resilience made Kumbaya a Producer Company today.