Sanjiv Phansalkar
Sanjiv Phansalkar is associated closely with Transform Rural India Foundation. He was earlier a faculty member at the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA). Phansalkar is a fellow of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad. Views are personal.
September 18, 2019
The craft of Kuthampully weavers in Kerala faces an uncertain future (Photo by Remya Padmadas)
Categories

Are handlooms in rural India only capable of weaving poverty?

We need to reflect why once handlooms wove joy, culture and incomes but today weave only poverty, unable to sustain livelihoods of people in our villages, except for a few outliers

Do you like it?0
Read more
September 24, 2018
Women of Diezephe craft village make traditional and contemporary clothes on the traditional loin looms (Photo by Ninglun Hanghal)
Categories

Naga villagers revive traditional crafts and weaves

Villagers of Diezephe near Dimapur have revived their traditional crafts and weaves by adapting to market demands and by using modern tools, and have found themselves an ecofriendly livelihood

Do you like it?0
Read more
April 9, 2018
Chitrakoot’s traditional wooden toys slowly lose sheen due to lack of market demand. (Photo by Jigyasa Mishra)
Categories

Toymakers of Chitrakoot struggle with declining demand

Cultural changes and urbanization have led to a shrinking market for Chitrakoot’s wooden toys and a decline in the number of traditional toymakers, yet a few carry on, hoping for the best about the craft’s future

Do you like it?0
Read more