My tryst with My destiny

My tryst with the artisanal sector started in the year 1986 when my classmates and I from NID went on a craft tour in Udaipur. We were en route to this quaint little town called Nathdwara, when we crossed a tiny village of terracotta mural artisans. They were running behind our cars to sell their produce. We stopped to see what they did and loved their artistry and skills. What stayed with me was that one of the men was a master craftsman, who had traveled to various parts of the world as a part of the festival of India, and yet, here he was scrambling to make ends meet. He was gifted a cassette player but had no money to buy tapes. I decided that day, that my life would be about working with artisans and helping them build their businesses through design intervention that would open up markets for their products.

It’s’ been a long and wonderful journey, working with so many different artisans from around the country. I feel happy to see that every artisan, who I have worked with has done very well for themselves, and more importantly, their children continue to carry their legacy forward.