Deviben is one of Kala Raksha’s youngest artisans. Born in Vandh, she grew up with the NGO. Deviben learned embroidery while attending school, but after the earthquake of 2001, when she was in 4th grade she left formal education. She attended Kala Raksha education classes and now is proficient in Hindi as well as Gujarati. An avid learner, Deviben has attended Kala Raksha design workshops with Krishna Patel, Laurance, Sangita Shroff and The Creative Thread Trust (France). She is proud that through Kala Raksha her work has found international as well as domestic markets.

Deviben is one of the few young women who embroider for sale today. She thinks independently. The future of embroidery is in commercial use, she says. Earning lasts longer than the clothes we make for ourselves. And today, Rabari fashion is about quantity. This may well insure the future of Rabari work, but Devi believes that a little good embroidery is better than a lot of ordinary work. A good artisan concentrates, she says. The ability to think and the will to do good work are the artist’s trademarks.

Deviben won the award for Most Promising artisan of the year! She went on to win a Crafts Council Kamla Award.  She has served as a mentor at Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya and was a design intern at Kala Raksha funded by COMO Foundation in 2009, and has participated in workshops to develop new products from Kala Raksha’s Museum Collections. After her marriage, she has begun a new artisan group at her in-laws’ village.