New Year High!!

We are not even a month into this New Year and I am ready to announce it as the best year so far. So much positivity I tell you! We began with introducing our latest range of Wooden chests for which we received an overwhelming response; which was then followed by some really touchy answers to our New Year's Contest; then of course, my birthday; and finally meeting a lot of new artisans, understanding their craft and spreading the word louder.

Each time I meet a new craftsman, I fall in love with my work all over again. The insecurity in their eyes, pulls me closer to them. I can feel their concerns, the discrimination and exploitation they are going through and the sheer helplessness for being unable to save their heritage, their ancestral skill. And for me, the feeling that I want to stand up for them and change their world becomes stronger and stronger. If I could, I want to personally go upto each person shopping in the malls, spending lavishly in their pursuit of branded goods and shake them up, to remind them of what India has to offer and that these goods, if not branded, are still at par. Rather, most of the times, more attractive, colourful and with unique characteristic features.

Today, I am very proud to announce that this month will see us adding a lot more to our range... Because this means catering to a lot more people and a lot more job satisfaction...

 
Woohoo... Cheers to that..

Just a sneak preview ... Minakari work on copper .....

Do leave a response ... It's the appreciation that matters the most...

It's been really long... no posts and no updates!!! But that doesnt mean we have been lazying around. Diwali and Christmas have kept us so busy exhibiting at various places that it simply left us with no time. But that's definitely no reason to not update the blog... Sincere apologies!!!

But have you noticed? We celebrated our anniversary this month.... Woohoo... It's been a year, and we have indeed come a long way!!

If not much, let me give you a sneak preview of our latest arrival - Wooden Chests with Ceramic Drawers. This has been their season 2 of sorts actually.

To pick one of these now, visit http://shopo.in/shop/fusionroots and pick the colour you love the most. HURRY!!!!!!

Discovering DOKHRA JEWELRY

 

Little did we know while walking into the Nehru Exhibition Centre that day, that we were going to find our bestseller today. We were at that Jute Exhibition only to pick more of those beautifully handcrafted Jute Lamps(will discuss more about it in my future blogs), but what caught my attention was the uniquely hand crafted neck pieces.In spite of not being a jute product, they were a part of the exhibition because they were from West Bengal.

That was the day when we first met Mr. Ratan Shan, who has now become a part of my speed dial list. When I went to his stall, I instantly fell in love with the jewelry that he was selling. It was the most unique jewelry I had ever seen. Didn't bother much about asking him on the details of the art, but just quickly picked up 25 pieces of every product he had. On a very bad day at an exhibition, he was ecstatic to have found us. But it was only later that we realized that it was we who were lucky to have found him. We always have an order for him, and he never fails to please us with new designs or color combinations. 

But what is this jewelry ? And why is it named Dokhra? 

The Dokhra system of metal casting is one of the oldest form of metal casting and is technically known as ‘cire perdue’ or lost wax process.  The nomadic tribes which have now settled in Burdwan, Bankura, Birbhum and Midnapore districts of West Bengal use this system to make tribal jewelry and provide a living for themselves. Under the guidance of Ratan Shah – a local artist himself, we have a group of displaced tribal women working for us. It is he who has gathered these women, trained them (though most of them inherit the skill from their mothers) and marketed them and this form of art.

As he often tells me, each of these women have some or the other problem in their personal lives. And the fighters that they are, they manage their households as well as earn a living for their families with always a smile on their face. Women in the rural India go through a lot more than us and are way more capable of dealing with such crises. Though we often say women are becoming equal to men.. But if we were to just peep into their lives once, we would never deny that they aren't becoming equal but are obviously superior.

Just to help you with the list of products and their rates :

Earrings : Rs. 100 a pair

Judda pins : Rs. 100 each

Threaded neck pieces : Rs. 250 onward

Chunkier Necklaces : Rs. 350 onward