Globally inspired style for curious kids
    Globally inspired style for curious kids
    Across the Globe Tea Travels

    A Guided Tour of Rural Crafts in India

    Tea Collection
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    April 10, 2015
    2 Mins read
    Photo 7 Gouthami in Hodka

    We were very luck to find Gouthami for our trip to India. Before she started her own travel company – Travel Another India – she spent 20 years working in social development and had made many great connections with craft people all over India. Gouthami introduced us to so many artisans and we had the pleasure of meeting many President Award winning craft people in remote villages. Here, she shares her knowledge on crafts in India with our readers!

    From Gouthami:

    Craft is the second largest employer in rural India after agriculture. In most villages you will find some form of craft – the potter, the weaver, the basket maker. It is still a way of life rather than an art to be practiced for its own sake.

    Photo 1 Woman in Nuapatna
    In this picture you see just that. I visited the village of Nuapatna in the state of Odisha in Eastern India with the Tea Collection team.

    Nuapatna is famous for its intricate Ikat weaving. In the background you can see the spindles of yarn casually stuck into the pile of sand, while the woman in the picture is wearing a hand-woven ikat sari as she goes about her daily chores.

    Photo 2 Craft Workshop
    A craft workshop at Hodka village, in Kutch in Western India

    I have worked with social development organizations across India over the last two decades and have worked with several craftspersons. So when I recommend itineraries to guests, an interaction with craftspersons is inevitably on the list. It is the best way to experience another India and to ensure that the money you spend goes directly to them.

    IMG_0141
    This picture is of a women’s group connected to Sasha, a craft marketing organisation, in Kolkata in Eastern India.

    I don’t always have the luxury of traveling with guests – what made this trip different was that the Tea Collection team was eager to interact with crafts persons and understand how they came up with design ideas – what was their inspiration?

    Photo 4 Weaves of Bengal

    A trip to India is always full of surprises. I hope the next time you visit, you spend some time discovering the crafts of India like the Tea Collection team did.

    Photo 5 Pottery in Pranpur
    What’s a trip to India if you don’t dirty your hands? A guest trying her hand at pottery in Pranpur, in the heart of India, Madhya Pradesh.

    Yes, there is a lot to see in India – however, the real charm of India is in its people and how they express themselves through craft.

    Photo 6 Crafts of India

    Come, allow me to host you, while you travel another India…

    Photo 7 Gouthami in Hodka

    Gouthami

    gou@travelanotherindia.com

    +91 9923 407 110

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    Tea Collection

    Katy designs graphics and textiles for Tea and is a self-proclaimed wildlife conservationist. She loves discovering beautiful things and finding inspiration in unexpected places. When she is not working on one of her too many creative projects she enjoys rollerblading to musicals, pretending she can surf and watching Disney movies. Katy has traveled around the globe to work with creatures that have lost their homes to rainforest destruction. Her most memorable trip was to Malaysian Borneo working with orphaned orangutans, next up is sloths in Costa Rica, and hopefully one day Mountain Gorillas in Uganda.
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