"The kirana store didn't survive every wave of disruption because it was cheap.
It survived because it was trusted."

India's informal economy — its artisans, its kirana stores, its weavers — is not a legacy to modernise away. It is load-bearing infrastructure for 1.4 billion people.

This section documents that infrastructure: the people behind it, the craft traditions sustaining it, and the design thinking embedded in things that have lasted centuries.

Essays, artisan profiles, and field notes from the intersection of craft and commerce.

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Are you an artisan?

If you make things — textiles, pottery, block prints, jewellery, anything — I'd like to document your work. Not to romanticise it. To record it accurately, and share it with people who will understand its value.

Get in touch

Write to me with your craft, your location, and your story. I'll respond to every message.

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