Prabhaben Shah came from an aristocratic Gujarati family but came under Mahatma Gandhi's influence early on in life and adopted a cause very dear to the Mahatma - that of reviving India's handicrafts and indigenous technologies as part of his vision of swaraj - a life long mission.

In this work she was deeply influenced by Kamala Chattapadhyaya who led the movement for reviving India's handicrafts at Gandfhi's call by going from village to village identifying the impoversihed artisnal families who still had retained memories of their traditional crafts and encouraged them to restart producing those products for the national market. She founded the first Cottage Industries and Handicrafts Emporium at Janpath in New Delhi to showcase the handcrafted marvels of our poor weavers, potters, woodworkers, metallurgists and numerous other artisans and made the elite sections of society learn to value and patronise those products.

A profile of Kamladevi's life by L C Jain from Manushi archives is being posted along with this article.

Given Prabhaben's family background and involvement in the freedom movement, her life crisscrossed that of India's top political leaders, including Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sardar Patel, George Fernandes, Kamaraj, Yusuf Meher Ali, Achyut Patwardhan, Indira Gandhi and numerous other luminaries of the freedom movement.

In this article Bindu Desai provides us valuable glimpses of the life of Prabhaben and the momentous period of history she lived through.

The smile of a lady, seemingly quite tall though her back is bent due to an old accident, an attractive handloom cotton sari draped over her shoulder, a colourful thela too, and a warm greeting: Kem Cho? The sharp light brown eyes are intelligent and sparkling, the face angular with high cheek bones, the skin a light tan colour, I see her coming down Vatcha Gandhi Road, then a street full of charming buildings and having very few cars. Prabhaben walks in the middle of this small road to the end of the street, the main road, then called Harvey Road. She is graceful yet purposeful, I see her clearly as I write this, though I first saw her over 50 years ago.

We did not know her at all till the late 50’s. Then, suddenly, in a matter of months she became part of our lives, of the entire Desai family, from Papa now paralyzed and largely at home, to Mummy, Pritiben, Sita, Jyoti, Asit and me. Her sister Maltiben too we got to know, Maltiben lived four buildings away in Shanti Sadan. Later I realized it was named after their father the late Sir Shantidas Askuran a rich merchant who owned racehorses and had bought a splendid mansion on Nepean Sea Road “Mahendra Bhavan". I passed Mahendra Bhavan every day as I rode the B1 bus to my school on Harkness Road. It was a grand building with marble columns, now destroyed and replaced by a horrendous soulless apartment block. It was a place Prabhaben repeatedly wanted to go to after she developed dementia.

She was born at her home in Shanti Sadan, Vatcha Gandhi Road on March 6th 1920, the eldest daughter of a wealthy father. She was to die here 89 years later. Her mother died when Prabhaben was just two years old. This grievous loss must have been partly responsible for the deep and abiding bond she shared with her sister Maltiben whose voice she wanted to hear at least once a day no matter where she was. Sir Shantidas remarried and had another son. Prabhaben first studied at Vanita Vishram School, one that my mother also attended. Mummy was married and her education depended on the “permission” of her in-laws whereas Prabhaben had the freedom to pursue as much formal education as she wanted. There is a photograph that shows the two of them. Prabhaben later went to Chandaramji Girls High School and completed her matriculation.
She joined St Xavier's College and graduated with BA (Hons) in Mathematics. She described her childhood through several incidents. In those days, a "Mehtaji" occupied a very respectable position in a rich Gujarati household, the respect disproportionate to his modest salary. The "Mehtaji" was an accountant who conducted his business sitting on a cotton mattress on the floor. In front of him was a hinged wooden chest rather like a desk holding records, registers and bills. In Prabhaben's father's household, the Mehtaji was also a keen observer and trenchant critic of the Sethji's children. When Sir Shantidas, called "Bha" by his children, decided to appoint an English tutor for them, the Mehtaji was certain nothing good would come of this. Sir Shantidas had hoped it would lead them to Shakespeare and Milton. The Mehtaji remained unconvinced. Sure enough, several days later one child was heard saying "Shut up" to another and the Mehtaji reminded his Seth that the warning he had issued earlier was justified! The Mehtaji had also advised his Seth against renting a Railway saloon car of the kind used by Nawabs, Princes and Maharajahs. When Sir Shantidas indignantly asked why, for he could surely afford it, the Mehtaji had said it did not suit him as he was a merchant with money no doubt, but, Princes and Maharajahs were custodians of land. Acknowledging the wisdom of the Mehtaji’s words Sir Shantidas relented.

Prabhaben was said to be her father's favourite. They interacted as equals arguing and disagreeing about politics at that time dominated by the struggle for freedom. The Indian Independence Movement under Gandhiji's leadership shaped her life. She was actively involved in it and made lasting friendships with Yusuf Meherally and Achyut Patwardhan among others, during that period. A close bond developed with the renowned Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, her mentor, who later asked Prabhaben to join the All India Handicraft Board which was formed in 1952 at Jawaharlal Nehru’s request. In the late 40’s she set up the Prajapati Sahakari Utpadak Mandal at Dharavi, with which she was associated for more than a decade.

I came to know Prabhaben through her visits to our home. She rarely waited for formal occasions, or called before coming, rather she dropped in from time to time, sat for hours regaling us with stories of current doings or past events. Leaning back in her chair, her thela on the floor beside her, at times a leg folded at the knee as she sat, Prabhaben, merry twinkling eyes and sharp wit in full measure, would talk about so many things. From current events to wonderful stories about people and incidents that had struck her.