“I all the time beloved practising Nirmal portray, however I doubted in my thoughts concerning what the long run holds for this artwork kind? Will anybody admire it sufficient to maintain it alive?” wonders Mohammed Abdul Hakeem, a 57-year-old artisan from Telangana.
For years, he had been working as a piece-rate artisan, creating lovely wood-based work, however was uncertain about his craft’s sustainability. With conventional artwork varieties slowly shedding their place within the trendy world, the artisan felt trapped in a cycle of underappreciation and uncertainty in regards to the future.
However his story took a flip when he met Sushmita Kaneri, a software program engineer-turned-entrepreneur, who began reviving endangered crafts and bettering the livelihoods of artisans like Hakeem.
Hailing from a humble background in Pune, Maharashtra, Sushmita was raised by mother and father who had been dedicated to arduous work and self-sustainability. Her mother and father taught her the values of knowledge in decision-making and kindness. With a level in software program engineering from Vishwakarma Institute of Expertise (VIT) Pune, she was prepared to start out her skilled journey in 2020. Nevertheless, it was throughout her education days that the seed for social entrepreneurship was first sown.
In a dialog with The Higher India, the 26-year-old recollects, “Throughout my college days, I used to be the category monitor and tried to launch a crowdfunding marketing campaign, gathering cash from my classmates to donate to a trigger. We raised Rs 500 and determined to assist an orphanage by shopping for them stationery. That small gesture opened my eyes to the struggles confronted by many individuals, and it stirred my ardour for social affect and volunteering with varied NGOs.”
It was this formative expertise that led her to consider making a distinction via expertise and social affect. After finishing her research, she discovered herself at a crossroads. Despite the fact that she already had a job supply in hand, she felt a powerful pull in the direction of putting a stability between her experience in expertise along with her ardour for constructing a social enterprise.
As a substitute of selecting a secure profession in software program engineering, in 2021, she lastly launched ‘Gullak’, a crowdfunding platform aimed toward monitoring donations and their affect. Whereas the initiative offered an outlet for generosity, it additionally revealed the constraints of merely donating cash.
“I realised that simply donating cash was not sustainable. We wanted to create options that may empower individuals and assist them construct a lifelong revenue,” she says.
From coding to crafting: How this software program engineer took the leap
This realisation led the younger entrepreneur to pivot her focus in the direction of livelihood-based crowdfunding. She started her seek for options that might present sustainable livelihoods for individuals in want, notably via the lens of India’s wealthy however endangered crafts.
Certainly one of her turning factors got here in 2021 when she travelled to Telangana and met artisans practising Nirmal artwork, a wood-based craft identified for its intricate course of and storytelling via portray. “I noticed how these artisans had been practising the craft for generations, however their artwork kind was turning into more and more underappreciated,” the social entrepreneur explains.
She provides, “The artisans had been disheartened, feeling that their arduous work was neither recognised nor pretty valued. After I spoke to considered one of them and requested whether or not he would encourage his son to hold on the custom, he grew visibly indignant. He advised me he would advise his son to discover a common job as an alternative. That second was a turning level for me, and I realised we wanted to protect these conventional crafts and empower the artisans to earn a sustainable livelihood.”
Moved by the struggles of the Nirmal artisans and after spending one other 12 months travelling throughout the nation to attach with different craftsmen, Sushmita based ‘Gullakaari’ in April 2023. The platform is designed to attach artisans with clients, co-create artwork, and lift consciousness about endangered artwork varieties whereas serving to artisans maintain their livelihoods. The imaginative and prescient behind Gullakaari is to provide conventional artwork the respect and recognition it deserves.
The organisation’s mission is to protect India’s cultural heritage whereas making these crafts related to trendy shoppers. By providing a market for conventional artwork varieties like Warli, Patachitra, Gond, and Tholu Bommalata, the platform permits artisans to succeed in a broader viewers and profit from a gentle stream of orders.
When historic artwork meets AR and QR
When individuals ask the social entrepreneur the place she has used her software program engineering expertise in her work, she says, “We use tech solely the place it provides worth with out altering the soul of the craft. For instance, we skilled the Tholu Bommalata artisans to create lampshades, incorporating 3D-printed logos for company shoppers. The normal leather-based puppetry of Andhra Pradesh was as soon as a vibrant type of storytelling, however now, it has practically vanished. We have now used expertise in a method that when it’s lit, the lamp fantastically illuminates not solely the intricate artwork but in addition a 3D-printed brand, mixing heritage with trendy expertise.”
The entrepreneur provides, “It’s not about altering the craft however augmenting it with expertise to make it extra related in the present day. We deal with preserving the normal course of whereas making these merchandise practical and trendy.”
One other factor she provides, “In Tholu Bommalata, we changed goat leather-based with vegan leather-based and tailored conventional instruments with modified inks to swimsuit the brand new medium. Mixing innovation with custom mindfully, that’s the place the true problem lies, not in switching careers.”
She additionally factors out one other occasion the place expertise is enjoying an enormous position in preserving a standard artwork.
“Kavad, a standard storytelling field from Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, unfolds like a visible journey with every door revealing a brand new chapter painted by expert artisans. Crafted by carpenters, painters, and narrators, this layered artwork kind is fading as reside storytelling declines. To protect it, we launched QR code-based narration, permitting viewers to scan and uncover the story behind every panel, mixing age-old craft with digital storytelling,” she says.
Gullakaari additionally has plans of integrating augmented actuality (AR), permitting clients to visualise how conventional artwork varieties, resembling work, will look on a desk or a Pashmina scarf will look on them, earlier than making a purchase order. “That is the way forward for crafting, the place we mix expertise with authenticity to provide clients an immersive expertise,” the software program engineer-turned-entrepreneur says.
Middlemen took the cash, however now the artisans take the delight
On the coronary heart of Gullakaari is its sturdy artisan neighborhood. With over 1,000 artisans from throughout India engaged with the platform, many are receiving coaching to craft every part from coasters and tote baggage to lampshades and tableware. In simply two years, the social entrepreneur has offered sustainable livelihoods to greater than 100 artisans, serving to them use their conventional artwork kinds to make practical merchandise.
Hakeem, the Nirmal artisan who has been related to the organisation for a few years, shares, “Working with Gullakaari has really opened new doorways for me. Earlier than, we needed to depend on middlemen who usually underpaid us, however now our work reaches firms and artwork lovers from throughout the nation.”
He additionally speaks in regards to the delight that comes with recognition. “The way in which this platform presents our merchandise, with lovely packaging and descriptions of the artwork kind, makes me really feel so proud. The hassle and historical past behind every bit are acknowledged, which brings a brand new degree of respect for our work,” he says.
Savita Jadhav, 32 years previous, hails from a small village in Raigad, Maharashtra. She belongs to the Katkari tribal neighborhood, the place most individuals depend on each day wage labour or seasonal forest produce for survival.
As she is present process coaching, she says, “Life has all the time been unsure, however I’ve dreamt of making a greater future for myself and the ladies in my neighborhood. When Gullakaari got here to coach us, it gave us the hope to earn with our personal fingers. By means of the coaching, I’ve learnt candle-making, from shaping the wax to designing candles that replicate our tribal tradition. I’ve additionally learnt about sustainable packaging, which makes our merchandise extra interesting and respectful of nature.”
“With regular revenue from promoting candles, I can cease counting on unpredictable labour work. Even incomes Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 a month would carry much-needed stability. Most significantly, I need my kids to see their mom creating her identification, to allow them to dream greater and consider of their potential,” she provides.
Crafting for the long run, rooted prior to now
A key problem Sushmita confronted was overcoming the generational divide within the artisan neighborhood. Many artisans, just like the Nirmal artisan she met, had been reluctant to go down their craft to the youthful technology, fearing that it might not present monetary stability. Nevertheless, with time and success, issues started to vary.
“I keep in mind one workshop the place an artisan who initially didn’t need his kids to pursue the craft introduced his son to be taught together with others. I felt completed in what I used to be doing, and this motivated me to hold on,” says the entrepreneur.
This rising sense of empowerment shouldn’t be solely restricted to the artisans however extends to the shoppers as effectively. By making these conventional arts accessible and practical, the organisation is guaranteeing that they keep related and are handed all the way down to future generations.
The platform’s dedication to sustainability goes past the crafts themselves. The group follows eco-friendly packaging, utilizing supplies like husks as an alternative of bubble wrap to guard fragile merchandise. Moreover, the corporate is planning to include blockchain expertise to authenticate handicrafts, guaranteeing that clients are receiving real merchandise.
The founder’s imaginative and prescient for the way forward for Gullakaari is bold however grounded in her want to make an actual affect. “We’re centered on creating sustainable livelihoods for artisans, preserving endangered crafts, and connecting with the worldwide viewers. We wish to guarantee these artwork varieties stay part of India’s cultural cloth,” she says.
The platform is at present working to protect 13 endangered crafts, every with its personal wealthy historical past and cultural significance. These embody Warli portray from Maharashtra, Patachitra from Bengal and Orissa, Gond portray from Madhya Pradesh, Chittara artwork from Karnataka, Naikpod masks from Telangana, and Tholu Bommalata from Andhra Pradesh.
Moreover, they deal with Nirmal and Cheriyal work from Telangana, Kalamkari from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, hand sculpting from Bengal, Miniature portray from Rajasthan, Kavad storytelling bins from Rajasthan, and Madurkathi from Bengal.
She selected goal over paychecks
For Sushmita, the journey of entrepreneurship has not been simple, as her mother and father initially needed her to take up the secure job supply. She says, “I all the time needed to make use of my training in expertise for creating social affect. Immediately, my mother and father help my imaginative and prescient, and I’m pleased with what we’ve got constructed.”
Her father, Rajendra Kaneri (61), says, “At first, we had been sceptical when Sushmita determined to enterprise into entrepreneurship. It was unfamiliar territory for us, as our household had all the time adopted secure careers. We frightened about her monetary safety and the dangers concerned. However over time, seeing her willpower and the constructive change she was creating, we realised this was greater than only a enterprise, and he or she was working arduous to construct her platform.”
“Watching artisans who as soon as struggled now earn with dignity, and witnessing the revival of crafts we had practically forgotten, crammed us with delight. As a father, seeing her ardour and the neighborhood she has constructed has been a supply of immense pleasure. I’m pleased with the significant affect she is making,” he provides.
Once we requested in regards to the gross sales and general income, the social entrepreneur shares, “At current, our main consumers are corporates, and we’re specializing in bulk gifting for corporates and private occasions. Our product vary consists of tableware, stationery, pen stands, organisers, lampshades, coasters, hand-painted diaries, tote baggage, and extra, all fastidiously crafted, practical, and ideal for on a regular basis use. Costs vary from Rs 25 to Rs 2,000, with curated hampers priced at Rs 2,500.”
In 2024 alone, the platform bought over 4,000 handcrafted items, and in simply two years, its artisanal income has cumulatively reached Rs 50 lakh.
“We have now partnered with 15 corporates, providing not solely merchandise but in addition workshops the place artisans share their craft, incomes a coaching payment for his or her experience,” says the entrepreneur.
The merchandise are marketed via the net platform and social media, the place the group educates their clients, providing insights into the tales behind every bit. “Every handcrafted piece embodies the ability, custom, and keenness of the artisans behind it. We take immense delight in sharing their tales and craftsmanship with our clients,” concludes Sushmita.
Edited by Vidya Gowri; All footage courtesy Sushmita Kaneri
