Srijata Bhatnagar studied in Kolkata, worked in Chennai and settled in Bangalore. That’s not all she has worked with some of the top corporate companies and is a “wizard” with technology. After working for 10 years, it was motherhood that took her off the corporate race track. “During my maternity leave I thought of doing something offbeat. Motherhood took me out of my comfort zone and gave me the courage to plunge into something that had to do with artisans. It had been my passion for a long time to do something with handmade crafts,” recalls Srijata, who then started an online store called EthnicShack.
“I do not believe in starting an NGO. So I started a place where I could help crafts people from around the country as well as make some money. EthnicShack is business with a cause. The aim is to popularise Indian crafts with the middle-class. I feel it is only the elite that shop at craft exhibitions, which are steeply priced. Here we offer people designer crafts-clothes, accessories, jewellery, quilts, home décor items and gifting options with handmade products in eco-friendly material, which is easy on the pocket.”
Srijata adds that she does not believe in organising exhibitions but prefers people to look up stuff on her virtual shelf and order online and she will make sure that the product reaches them in two working days. Though the store is online, she has set up a base in Koramangala, a space where she has very few select items on display. “Koramangala is the new hub of start ups. It is buzzing right now. EthnicShack is an online venture because we do not want to be constricted with the sense of space. By being online we are accessible to the country and anyone else out there interested in Indian crafts,” beams Srijata.
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She is now joined by a young designer- Ritu Arya- and together they plan to create fusion crafts collections, which they will change every season. As of now there are duppattas with ikkat, which has a painting of patta chitra, a Bengal handloom cotton sari with kanta and patch work on it and so on. Srijata adds that there is no mass production so what you see today may not be available tomorrow. She also says that she connects regularly with the craftsperson and that she also has people shopping from EthnicShack from even the Middle East.
“Right now we are working with 30 craftspeople and soon plan to expand the products and crafts. In the future EthnicShack plans to add one crafts from every Indian State.
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This column features those who choose to veer off the beaten track.