Handicrafts & Me

Today morning Justyna suggested I take a Career Assessment test to find the right job for me. Normally, I would just take it. But this time, I knew what my ideal job would be - strengthening handicraft value chains to make them more viable to the artisan. Ensuring that she gets a fair share and a little more for the sweat and skill she has wholehearted put into the beautiful artifact. She created it and nurtured it - just like her own baby.

When I look back ten years, I quit my first job at Hewlett Packard. I was trying to figure out what excites me. It was this inherent love for the handmade accessories that made me pursue my masters in rural management. I was a Tier 1 city girl with hardly any exposure to the rural community. I was fascinated by the soft and subtle Mangalagiri,Kalamkari and Pochampally matched with vibrant and intricate Etikoppaka, Jute and Terracotta jewelry. This triggered my interest to dwell deeper and make a career out of it. Guess what, I didn’t even know their names or their places of origin then. That being said, absolutely all my dresses had perfectly matched earrings, bangles, bags, and sandals. Key chains, pencil boxes, pouches, ah, I can go on forever. All HANDMADE – from across the country. I was famous among my peers and colleagues for seamlessly color-coordinating from head to toe. My hostel room had my prized possessions on display. I brought a little bit of my madness to my work desk as well.

It was this craziness which pushed me to travel the country, to see for myself where the piece of cotton or the log of wood or the lump of mud takes life to be such beautiful, vibrant trinkets of joy. And also ponder on ways to keep the family guarded tradition to not die a natural death, and keep reviving them to let the profession be as professional and remunerable as the others.

While at IRMA, I was late to realize the little Garvi Gujari outlet hiding below a famous eatery. Once the treasure was discovered, all my student savings found their rightful abode. The little blue chair I bought, travelled with me from Gujarat to Kerala, to Vizag and then to Hyderabad. I still hold my Kutch leather belt as a prized possession, to be worn only on special days.  

Would you believe that I spent one-third of my salary at a Rangsutra outlet in Bikaner and still felt the need to buy more. I could have bought another Khadi kurta with delicate hand embroidery. Did I forget to mention the black saree with red handwork around the mirrors?   

And that trip to the Jharcraft store in Jharkhand. I literally had to beg the AirIndia staff to allow me to carry my coconut shell painted Warli art hanging, my terracotta tribal girl, my wrought iron sun, all carefully wrapped in kurtas and stoles (also bought in the store) and placed in the same store-bought bamboo boxes. Ah! Those days!

Another favorite is a trip to the Desi Charaka store in Bangalore. What pure delight! The soft patchwork duvets to the elegant jackets and the versatile fabric folders and wallets. What an array of useful and sustainable stuff, at affordable prices.

One of my most fulfilling projects was when I got an opportunity to pilot an Etikoppaka cluster, a Kalamkari cluster, and a Wrought Iron cluster to be sold on an e-commerce platform.  The idea was to cut the middle man and ensure the artisans get a good price for their effort. The only way forward to revive these handicrafts is to ensure the artisans are in sync with the market trends. They should use their skill to create items with a purpose. The added value brings a new life to the product and a better return to the artisans.

As the world is moving towards environmental, social and economic sustainability, these handicrafts made from natural recyclable materials play a more important role than ever before, to stay, and to rule.  Integrating them into the mainstream economy is the way forward.