BREAKING
TRADITION
through traditional craft
Breaking the rules of tradition is no accident. Our founder N.K. Chaudhary not only tossed traditional business methods to the side, but made a point to throw old ways of thinking aside as well. Removing the middlemen and direct relationships with the artists is not the norm; but it does make for a brave new way of understanding our social impact and responsibilities to those we connect with. It’s all about turning artisans into owners allowing them to become self-sufficient in the modern world through their traditional craft.
IN THE BEGINNING
Rather than working with external channels N.K. in the beginning traveled to the weaver’s homes to get to work with, train and figure out what was needed to begin. He spent time getting to know them as people, not just producers of goods. This new way of thinking didn’t come without consequence to him. As a man supposedly form a higher caste his interactions had him ostracized and criticized by his community. N.K. knew something needed to change when he realized no one else around him seemed to believe “people have the right to fulfill their innate potential, no matter what circumstances they have born into” and so the journey began.
CHANGING WAYS
Becuse N.K. believed that women should not be oppressed simply because of their sex, he packed up his life and moved across India so his daughters could have the same chance at full, unrestricted lives. While living in a state in India where women were, and still often are, treated as second class citizens N.K. instinctively knew this was worng. Not wanting that life for his daughters, he made a decision to be progressive in changing mindsets. The decision to move would ultimately be what changed not only his daughters’ lives but also the lives of women weavers and family’s all across India.
