The Handmade Collective - Stories of a Hundred Hands

Winter is the time for colours, celebrations and shopping in India. With the Christmas and New Year holiday season approaching, Bangalore sees an array of small and big melas and bazaars where we Bangaloreans satisfy our shopping cravings.

A not so short stint away from this beautiful city, which had embraced me into its folds years back, had made me long and pine over the things I missed in the last 2 years. Wanna see how Bangalore welcomed me back?

This weekend saw me at one of the first events happening in the city and thereby marking the beginning of a shopping filled festive season.

Spread over 5 days(and also including a weekend), the organizers made it convenient for all those who wanted to visit.

Since the weekend was going to be full, I dropped in on a weekday. And here we go on a wonderful journey as I take you through the stories of a 100 hands.

It was almost noon when I reached. What better way to start than with a tasting session of the most wonderful homemade Hummus(no preservative yumminess..yay!!) by Beantree. After a much enthusiastic tasting session by yours truly, the two sweet ladies at the stall were happy to pose.

On to the stall put up by the inmates of The Little Sisters of the Poor Old age home. 

These souls who are in the latter part of their life were as enthusiastic as the youngsters in   unleashing their creativity. Recycled paper, packaging material, clothes and even discarded X-ray films get a new lease of life in their feeble hands and get converted to Christmas stars, decorative garlands and even children's dresses.

Meet Arati...The reason of her big smile? She knows a kind of magic...The magic of creating beautiful art with an iron box. Not convinced? Take a look at it yourself.

Encaustic Art by Aarti

A cute li'l terracotta Nandi from MAATI

 Shri Radhakrishna explains his project for reviving the HaseChithra (a dying ancient art of Karnataka). HaseChitra is a typical tribal painting from regions of Karwar and Shimoga districts of Karnataka. Earlier it used to be done on special occassions like weddings/festivals. This traditional art undergoes a transformation in the hands of Mr Radhakrishna and converts many common household things like old trunk boxes into masterpieces of art.

Aditi Babel. A graduate from IIT Mumbai, Aditi is trained in the art of making books from Florence. Her creations on paper are truly a treat to the eyes.

 A collection of beautiful and colourful stuff ranging from notebooks to stuffed toys to paper beads jewelry, block printed silk shawls, wrapping paper and embroidered clutches all created by members of the Belaku Trust. The trust works with economically weak women from Kanakapura area in rural Bangalore and helps them create a livelihood for themselves by helping them also to sell their products.

Being an animal lover, I was much in awe of these creations in Ahimsa silk or Peace silk. According to the promoters, Ahimsa silk is extracted after the silkworm has completed metamorphosis and emerged from the cocoon as a butterfly.

This sweet grandmother was there to buy some stoles and shawls for her grand daughters. She was searching for someone of their age to try them on. So,I modelled for her and when I was about to leave, she gladly obliged me with a beautiful smile and posed.

And there was Ms. Alessandra L'Abate who is an Italian by birth. Much inspired by the ideologies of Gandhiji, she has made India her home for the past 18 years. She lives and works with the cotton farmers and weaver communities in different parts of rural India. She and a team of social workers work together to initiate a process of sustainable development for these communities.

Trippy Pots by Tripthy Rodrigues

Priyanka Sikka tries to revive the age old Nails and String Art.

 The E-coexist stall was full of lovely bags with unbleached cotton and recycled cloth bits. Another interesting product of theirs is Rang Dular - Natural colours for Holi. Manisha and her team work with mentally challenged children and inmates of the Yerwada prison, Pune. The gift boxes she holds are re vamped from the extra boxes that get made for their natural colours every time. Awesome way to prevent wastage and recycle isn't it?

And just before we bid adieu for the day, here is some more awesomeness I captured

Hope you enjoyed the colourful and creative journey with stories from A Hundred Hands**

Feel free to write in your valuable comments and opinions.

** A Hundred Hands is a nonprofit trust based in Bangalore, India. Their vision is to create a world that celebrates the pleasure of handmade crafts in our homes and daily lives. 

Special thanks to Mala Dhawan and "A Hundred Hands" team for their support in helping us to feature the event.