Life is what happens to you when you are planning something else.
Just back from a month long vacation in February this year, I had planned our months and quarters, but life had planned something else !
The year has been challenging and how!! It was just the beginning of a year and without realizing , we are at the end of it! But the year taught us well! It taught us to move out of comfort zones, to never ever give up, to know that sky is the limit! and to top it all, to believe in your self even when people around you wont!!
Somewhere in March when we were planning new clusters and projects , many hopes and livelihoods connected with ours!
And suddenly , something that usually happens in movies , happened with us all. A wave that swept of many dreams , plans and hopes.
We usually work from home and so do the artisans ! So initially it looked like we will overcome it. But slowly it seemed difficult.
As a collaborator to our artisans , it was a challenging time for us to keep them motivated. To keep them going. Corona was doing its bit to the handloom industry too.
Trust me, the maximum meetings I have had during the year is with my artisan network.
So we came up with an idea! we asked them to revisit their childhood and gaze through what all they had been missing.
Some spoke about knitting during winters , and some about sipping chai sittin on the cahrpai! ! Voila.. We had an idea !
I told them how the charpais also reminded me of my dadi , and how we spend our early evenings with her o these charpais. In a city scenario these are just a dream! but how about making them a memoir !
We told them pick up the bamboos and the jute from around.. And start working on a sample of Charpoy! Initial few pieces were not what we could sell . They still are a part of my apartment balcony ! But these Charpais are and will always remind me of to make a yummy lemonade when Corona throws lemon at you!
These Chapais have become a popular balcony and Home décor with our Instagram Family ! I am sure we all will never forget the year 2020, and in same way Forsarees team will never forget how this Charpai was born!
Our endeavor to keep artisans busy and engaged during tough time gave us a product that we will cherish forever!