Established in 1999, the Nari Shakti Puraskar is the highest civilian honor for women in India, which celebrates the efforts and work of individuals and organizations towards women empowerment.
With International Women’s Day being celebrated across the world, Sandhya Raman, the recipient of this year’s prestigious award, is indeed an exemplary person, setting a benchmark in her field both locally and globally.
She has worked in the field of costume designing for more than 30 years and her most popular work includes making ‘recyclable clothes’. These clothing lines, created from Raman’s consciousness of reducing the waste generated by the fashion industry, are made from cotton fabrics.
Keeping in mind the rapidly changing trends, these ‘recyclable fabrics’ including jackets, lehengas etc. have also been made reversible to enhance their utility and longevity. In addition, Sandhya also created a special type of face mask with interchangeable filters, called AARMR masks, during 2020 to reduce the waste generated from single-use masks.
Talking to India Today, he said that in today’s world everything is influenced by trends and so is our appearance. Hence it is essential that the apparel we wear is not only fashionable and trendy but also utilitarian, so that it can be used in more than one way.
Apart from advocating for environmental protection through her work, Sandhya has also been providing work opportunities for marginalized communities and differently abled people.
She has long been a proponent of encouraging local artisans and craftsmen and through her work, has been trying to introduce many tribal and lesser known textile prints to the global stage.
For her constant and unrelenting efforts, she has also been recognized on the global stage by organizations like Bharat Kala Academy, Atlanta, Chicago Dance Academy, etc.
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