As a tribute to women achievers from diverse fields in the city, Swayam Siddhas will be felicitated for fighting against all odds and coming up triumphs. The Rotary Club of Calcutta Metro City will be recognizing their contributions at an award ceremony on Friday.

The list includes people like Pritikana Goswami, Apala Dutta, social worker Rupashree Roy, Olympian Soma Biswas, National award winning actor Mamata Shankar, among others.

Kantha stitch artiste Pritikana Goswami, a septuagenarian from Sonarpur village, on the outskirts of Kolkata, was also awarded Padma Shri for her nakshi kantha work.

Pritikana took up embroidery and stitching as a profession 60 years ago after her father’s death to help run her family of five sisters.

After going through innumerable hardships and teaching women artisans nakshi kantha stitching, the Sonarpur resident managed to rise above odds and take care of her family. Talking about recognition and awards, Pritikana’s daughter, Mahua Lahiri says awards are a reason to be happy and the recognition is satisfying too. Mahua is now taking forward her mother’s training and work.

She said, “The greatest joy my mother gets is when she finds out that her students have found jobs and means of livelihood after the training. We grew up in a financially constrained environment.

I never liked my mother’s work because I saw that there is poor return from it and no recognition for it. For me the goal was to stand on my own and find a decent livelihood.” Nakshi kantha is a 250 plus years old traditional folk art which has now seen transformation.

Rupashree Roy Chakraborty, was chosen for her work during the pandemic when Covid-19 raged in the state. The social worker says she worked with a lot of intensity during Covid times and also faced a lot of impediments doing her work. “For me it was natural to plunge into it as I have been doing rescue work for a long time.

The Covid Care Network was an important platform for us to come together and do service. My experience of rescuing people from the streets came in handy during the pandemic time,” she said. Her IR Foundation works on human trafficking, child health and women empowerment.

“We work very closely with city police, without their help our work would be a lot more difficult,” said the social worker, adding, she had never craved for any attention in lif