Some beautiful paths can't be discovered without getting lost!
I've had this love for travelling ever since I was a child. Going to new places, meeting the locals, understanding their culture, their life has always excited me. And if you have been to India, you would know how diverse the country is. There are 29 states and 7 union territories and each place is culturally so different from the other. This cultural diversity reflects in everything from language to food habits and cuisine to art and craft.
Getting married to someone who shares the passion, we travel together, mostly
by road and without a fixed itinerary. A lot of times we have just followed a broken road to explore the town without knowing where it will lead us. It was during such travels to various villages in India that we met many interesting people, many craftsmen who despite being hit by low demand and declining interests due to easily available cheaper mass produced items have been carrying forward centuries old traditional craft and art techniques from one generation to the next. As the whole process of making these handcrafted pieces is an elaborate and expensive affair, they are struggling to make ends meet but it is their love and passion and respect for their craft that keeps them going. Their stories always left me teary eyed. I watched them, spent time with them, learnt a lot from them.
Women sit under the shade of a tree or on their handwoven cots (called 'charpai' in India) and intricately embroider beautiful patterns or print lovely motifs on pieces of fabric. Then her child comes running to her tired after a day's play, climbs on her lap and her hand shakes to create a variation in print/embroidery teaching me that just as in life these variations can be perceived as an imperfection or could be treasured as a unique moment in the story of the creation of the piece.
I saw that just like my travel diaries, handcrafted pieces have a story to tell, a story about the origin of the craft, about the maker of the piece, about what happened while making the piece. But this is just the beginning in the story of its journey. You take it and give it life by making it part of your journey. You continue the story the creator of the piece starts. It then also starts telling a story of you..the occasions when you use it, how it makes you feel. You complete the journey.
I decided to start working with these beautiful people and called my shop Brishty. Brishty which means rain in an Indian language Bengali was born with an idea to create awareness about traditional crafts and techniques from different parts of the country and revive the dying crafts. Every shower of rain brings joy and colors in our life..also a promise of hope and a new beginning. Brishty(which means rain) aims to be this hope for the all of us to make and buy handmade in whatever little way possible.
Today, I work with these artisans to create hand printed and hand embroidered items. I am involved in the entire designing process. My love for interior decor and designing since childhood is now my work and I couldn't be happier. It gives me immense happiness and satisfaction to do something I love doing, to contribute to the lives of the artisans and help keep the traditional art and craft alive.
