Two decades, one unbroken thread
How one woman’s passion became a craft, and a craft became a livelihood.
It began with one quilt.
Mrs. Chinni Swamy, an artist from JJ school of art, taught a village woman to stitch, and gave that first quilt to her granddaughter.
The craft travelled village to village.
Word of mouth carried it across 40 villages in Dehradun and Mussoorie; more than 170 women joined to train.
The pandemic almost ended it.
Unfortunately, at 76, Mrs. Swamy was forced to think of disbanding the outfit because of COVID and due to lack of grants in March 2020.
Three ex-Purkal designers revived it instead.
In July 2020, they decided to bootstrap and revive it, with the blessings of the mother founder.
Today it runs as a social enterprise.
Led by the three co-founders, with 50+ artisans — thirty at the workshop, the rest stitching from home.
Most are the sole breadwinners at home.
That income raises their children and keeps them in school — their daughters especially.
A zero-waste ethos.
Every piece is thoughtfully crafted, ensuring every offcut is put to good use.
Turn it over. Her name is on the back.
The Didi who made it embroiders her own signature — the moment a product becomes an original.
