Wooden Ganesh – intricately hand
painted – stands 4 inches tall – $30 includes shipping in US

A mantra to invoke Ganesh; the  Remover of Obstacles.

VAKRATUNDU  AMAHAAKAAYA  SURYAKOTI  SAMAPRABHAA

NIRVIGHNAM  KURUMEDEVA  SARVAKAARYESHU  SARVADAA

Salutations to the supreme Lord  Ganesha

whose curved trunk (vakra-tunda)

and massive body (maha-kaayaa)

shines like a million suns (surya-koti)

and showers his blessings on everyone (sama-prabhaa).

Oh my lord of lords Ganesha (kurume-deva),

kindly remove all obstacles (nir-vighnam),

always (sarva-)

and forever (sarvadaa-)

from all my activities and endeavors (sarva-kaaryeshu).

You can hear it here….http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEnU_V8QuN8

The seeds of Adivasi were planted in 1989 when I traveled to India for the first time with the School for International Training’s Semester Abroad Program. We traveled in northern India but spent most of our time in the town of Udaipur, Rajasthan. I was immediately drawn to the Indian culture. I was thrilled by the beautiful and colorful chaos of it and also intrigued by the deep peace I found within this ancient culture. Living in Udaipur was a bit like stepping back in time. The streets were filled with bicycles rather than cars. Televisions and telephones were a rarity. Vegetable carts and bangle sellers roamed the neighborhoods. Neighbors spent time together and people slept and awoke with the sun.

Two years later I returned; a recent graduate from the University of Vermont’s Environmental Studies program. I was ready to “save the world” and began working for a reforestation project with a non-governmental organization based in Udaipur. Our job was to “teach” the locals not to cut their forests while they were being replanted. The fact of the matter was that people had been living harmoniously with their environment until industries harvested their trees for cricket bats. They knew each tree; their medicinal properties and how to care for them. They had been living in a delicate balance with their harsh environment for multiple generations. I did not have anything to teach them.

Quickly I became disillusioned as I saw organizations fighting over villages, forming alliances with people that disrupted the local form of governance, even building helicopter pads in remote villages to take their donors on tours. I wanted to find a way that I could make a difference in a respectful way. It was at this time that I met Shram. He had a deep understanding and respect for the tribal communities; having been raised by a mother who was an incredibly devoted and powerful social worker in the villages. We shared our frustrations and agreed on the importance of helping tribal villages achieve financial viability and stability. This allows communities to develop in ways that best suit their circumstances and eases the pressures of migration to larger cities in search of work.

For twenty years we have worked with families of traditional artisans, women’s cooperatives and those supplementing their incomes through cottage industry. We have developed long lasting and equitable relationships that continue today.

This beautiful larimar pendant recently arrived from our studio in India. Fifteen years ago we bought fifty pounds of rough larimar from a friend in Vermont. He had brought it from his homeland; the Dominican Republic. This was one of the first batches of stones we had custom cut and polished for our own designs. And this is one of the finest stones to emerge from that batch. Larimar is very rare as it is only found on the southern coast of the Dominican Republic; a region that is fairly inaccessible. Locals thought the stone came from the sea and it wasn’t until 1974 that a Peace Corps volunteer and his local friend discovered that it was in fact a stone and it began to be mined. The name larimar was given based on the local man’s daughter LARissa in combination with MAR the Spanish word for sea. The pendant is accented with star rubies along the side from Mysore, India.

Here is a recent letter we received from “Sarah”

Is it possible to have you ship me an order of chai?
If so, please explain the process. Thanks!
PS Your chai is the best on the planet

!

Wow best on the planet huh?

and you can order our chai on our site; aptly named:

www.bestchai.com

The best chai….we agree

The Adivasi brotherhood has grown extraordinarily tight with time. Every new person engaged is encompassed into our family by default. So for us, it is naturally a big leap forward.

Simple absurdities of life may sometimes turn out to be the silver lining you had always hoped to see in the clouds.

Such is the story of Sahadev Malik, who mistakenly landed in Jodhpur to seek us.  But he joined us soon enough and since the artistic advance has been mutual. After a series of diverse jobs, his exposure to Ari work was purely coincidental. To some extent, one can say it was destined.

Brought up in Calcutta, he went back to his roots after 24 years in search of work. He had already done his share of odd jobs. So when a friend, who owned a karkhana with 25-30 people including ladies and men, required assistance he was only too glad to help. He worked on the place’s purchases and accounts. While he helped the friend, the ladies were kind enough to expose him to their part of the work too. He dexterously learnt the art of needlework. Where people generally take 1 ½ to 2 years, he picked up in 3months.

Sahadev Malik is not only a fast learner; he is also a keen observer.

He saw the karigars of his village sweat is out on all the heavy embroidery work, without much thought. They worked day and night without any form of money or job security while the crafty middlemen had a joy ride. Sahadev recognized the situation and saw the plight of the artisans.

He pulled himself out of it and set up a footing in this field with a will to learn.  His wife and his kid joined us in Udaipur a year later.

Here he faces new challenges everyday in his work, as we root on him to become a master. Unlike his older jobs, here it requires for him to think, create and judge design. And under Rizwan’s mentoring, he yearns to improve.

He shyly says, “..all through a man’s life, he learns. He never stops.”

Further, he is learning to enjoy his work.

He wishes to one day set up a business of his own. Every man is a born dreamer. Sahadev Malik acquired his dream through what his days have brought to him; his experiences.  He wishes to bring an experience like his to his village, and fulfill them with the knowledge of innovation and design.

Each day in the city of Mumbai 175-200,000 tiffins are used to deliver fresh homemade food to the workplace.   An organized network of 4-5 thousand dubba wallahs (one who carries a box) pick the food from homes and deliver them to their respective destinations.  It is believed that the concept of tiffin delivery began when British officers preferred their own food to the local food available.  It started in 1880 with 100 men and today it is a high functioning organization called the Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association.  Dubba wallahs have been studied by top business schools of the world. It has been estimated that only one mistake is made for every 6 million deliveries.  This is a remarkable fact when one considers that the majority of carriers are illiterate.  Each tiffin is marked with specific colors and symbols to signify its place of origin, sorting station and final destination.  But really the tiffin system depends on each carrier being unfailingly present and punctual.  As their code of ethics states, “every tiffin wallah should have his customer’s confidence and remain well behaved at all times”.