Mrs. Rama Satish Shah is well known artist who has been making Lord Ganesha idols since 2000, in all different shapes and sizes, without using any mould, which are beautifully colored, washable and unbreakable. Her prominent achievements is that she can make Lord Ganesha idols with her eyes closed (blind folded).
She has successfully created 999 idols in 24 hours with the blessings of Lord Ganesha. She has in-all created more than 3,78,000 Lord Ganesha idols out of which many are gifted to world renowned personalities in person by her.
In the world of cultures and refinement of human behaviour, woman plays a pivotal role. In our own country of India, the woman is conferred great honour and respect. Whatever role she plays, whether she is a wife or a mother, sister or daughter, womanhood has been recognized in our Hindu traditional ethos for special value and merit. In modern India, woman is probing into every possible field of human activity, with her intelligence and integrity, patience and perseverance, at the same time upholding our traditional values.
In this context, the following article about Mrs. Rama Satish Shah, a unique and versatile lady holds good. She prefers to introduce herself as kesarwala, as her husband has established a niche in saffron business. Mr. Satish F. Shah is beloved husband and affectionate father of three gifted children. He is quite simple and helpful to others by nature.
Mrs. Rama has been inclined to music, crafts, rangoli-art, etc. right from her child hood. She took keen interest to pursue and achieve proficiency in all these arts. She was very active in Balika Mandal (Young Girls Group) and Mahila Mandal (Ladies Group). She is the eldest daughter in the family of eleven children including her cousins, brought up in a joint family, residing at Nadiad in Gujarat. She helped a great deal in upbringing all of them. She endeared herself with one and all, in the family, through her perseverance, responsibility and activeness that she earned a sobriquet “eldest son” of the family from elders.
Rama’s marriage was solemnized at the age of 19 years and she entered into another cultured family in Mumbai. She adopted herself to the new environment with all humanity and respect to sustain the name of the new family. Satish recognized her talent and art and encouraged her to pursue to enrich her personality. As per his advice and guidance she became a member of about thirty associations such as Lions Club, Kala Gurjari, Gujarati Samaj, Triveni Sangam, Cosmopolitan Ladies Association etc. She took more active role in women’s associations either as a committee member or an advisor to render her services. The involvement in all these associations helped her gain valuable experience, display her talents and art and at the same time render her services to the community.
She was been taking part in several competitions and was lucky enough to win prizes in activities such as dandia raas, garba, drawing, rangoli, well-dressed competitions, writing articles, rendering speeches, cooking, salad decorations etc.
She came into contact with well-known personalities like Namdeo Lahute, Vishnukumar Vyas, Bakul Raval, Mahavir Shah, Markand Bhatt, Chandulal Selarka, Sarvesh Vora, Aruna Irani, Ragini, Purushottam Upadhyay, etc. who have been associated in the field of dance, yoga, literature, music, acting and personality development, and earned a healthy inspiration. Shri Ishwarbhai gave guidance in drawing. The head of Raj Rajeshwari Dance Academy Mrs. Shanti Gyan Shaker gave guidance in dancing.
Recognizing her social service to the community, the Government of Maharashtra awarded her the title of “S.E.O.” (Special Executive Officer). She co-operated police inspectors whenever asked for, specially for recording statements of burn-injury patients several times even in late or odd hours; as a part of her duty as an S.E.O. She is also included in the Police Peace and Mahila Dakshata Committee as a member in Sion Police Station.
She believes in the motto ‘Beauty lies in art and serving the art sublimates the soul’. She enjoys delight in creating art out of waste materials. Though the family obligation is quite heavy, she has been creating spare time to pursue these artistic activities and enrich her life. She is well vested in activities such as marble and metal works, ceramic pots, frames, murals, cloth printing, articles from glass, birthday presents and return gifts, rakhees, solar wood articles, meena works, glass, chip and nib painting, fabric painting, calligraphy, articles from glass, paper and thermocol and wax. She is even proficient in making rajasthani and pichhaways work, handmade flowers bouquets, mahendi work, wedding decorations (chhab, sriphal, sarees packing etc), stage decorations for social functions, paper weights, greeting cards, cane works, and also in tie and die work. She imparts her knowledge to others by conducting certificate courses.
She has been invited by educational institutions such as Arya Vidya Mandir, Amulakh School, Swadhyaya Bhawan, Vallabh Vidyalaya; Garware Club House, SIES college, Kalidas Sabhagraha to act as a judge in various art and cultural activities.
She is the promoter for ‘Camlin’ and ‘M-Seal’ hobby courses for the last several years. She gives demonstrations on behalf of these companies in various schools and institutions whenever asked for by them. She is also doing compeering work in social functions. She has also written scripts for All India Radio and Doordarshan.
Mrs. Rama Kesarwala is a symbol of dynamic and vibrant woman of modern India, cherishing a wide range of interest and real achiever. She wants to demonstrate and inspire the women of India that woman of India is not a helpless and hapless being in the Indian society. She is a potential force to sustain herself and give the society a new dimension, new drive and new outlook. We can take the Indian composite culture to a new height and flavour. Let God bless Rama Kesarwala in all her noble endeavours and fulfil her clan and calibre so that Kesarwala become real and genuine saffron (kesar) fragrance and flavour.