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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
Come, allow me to host you, while you travel another India…
Gouthami
+91 9923 407 110