Monsoons in Udaipur are quite a pleasure. The sky shoots regular sprinklers on the moist lands, with the pleasant sun occasionally peeping out. As the City of Lakes gets soaked, a breath of fresh air encases it. The quietness of the city turns into joy, as the populace crawl out of their houses to pocket a blush or two from the rainbow.

In Udaipur, this is about as majestic as it gets!

The open sky becomes their canvas as they paint their thoughts onto it in a bottomless reverie.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true.

With this spirit, Sukumar fries some hot pakoras and everyone reminisces the last showery season here. The gang may be linguistically and culturally diverse, but they all agree on one point- “Everybody loves rain!”

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 Britishofficers 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”.

The Mala or Japa Mala as it is correctly called is a Sanskrit term meaning garland or necklace.  It is a string of beads used to facilitate a state of concentration while repeating a mantra or prayer.  Each time the mantra is repeated, the fingers move to the next bead.  According to Hindu tradition the correct way to hold the mala is in the right hand.  The mala should be draped over the middle finger and the thumb is used to flick to the next bead.  There are 108 beads in a mala; this number being sacred to Hindus (the 12 astrological houses multiplied by the 9 planets equal 108).  There is an additional 109^th bead which is called the guru bead.  This serves as a reminder to respect the many teachers in our lives. 

When the Roman explorers came to India they discovered the mala.  They misunderstood the word to be jap mala rather than japa mala.  The meaning of jap is rose.  The mala was carried back to the Roman Empire as a rosarium and into English as rosary.

Knock Knock.

Who’s there?

Owls from Kerala!

A nicely wrapped golden package from Kerala has arrived, courtesy our friends down south. The milk white kasavu (golden thread embroidery) sarees, mundus and other fabrics for us to transform into our signature clothes.

Here at Adivasi, we are all very excited!

We began Adivasi sixteen years ago, with big hearts and good intentions.

It evolved from a great respect for the indigenous artisans of Rajasthan, India.  Over the years we have devoted ourselves to collaborating with these artisans; allowing them to sustain both their crafts and their way of life.  In the early 1990’s we found that as they were losing their livelihood there was an alarming increase in the migration from their villages to the cities. They went in search of work and primarily found low paying manual labor jobs and poor living conditions.  If you’ve ever spent the night out in one of their villages staring up at the stars while everyone gathers around a fire singing and dancing then you know this is something to be preserved!  Innately we already understood the concepts of fair trade and sustainability.  It is called integrity and it is simply the right thing to do!

We began to form relationships and to acknowledge our new found interdependence in a respectful manner.

Initially we were supported by numerous fair trade stores in and around New England who began to sell our goods.  This allowed us to develop our creativity.

During these early years we experimented and began to understand what is appealing to the Western market.  Over the years we have continually collaborated with a multitude of designers and artists from the US to refine our product lines.  And most importantly we have learned how to work with the artisans themselves.  We have provided them the opportunity to cultivate their own talents and expand as artists while also integrating a touch of the Western aesthetic and quality.

On the Fourth of July 1995 we opened our own retail store in downtown Brattleboro, Vermont.  We were greatly encouraged by this unique artistic community; so much so that we decided to base ourselves here and raise our family.  We enjoy our role as the conduit between the talented artisans of Rajasthan and the wonderful people who enjoy the beauty they have created.  Currently we employ artisans who produce exclusively for our store in Brattleboro.  We began with big hearts and good intentions and we have been true to these ideals.  Today we have a family; a collection of people who believe in a lifestyle of artistic expression and environmental sustainability both in Rajasthan and Vermont.

We are grateful to all the people who have joined us on this journey and we look forward to the adventure ahead of us.

We all have created quite a ruckus here. We’ve always liked to have more on our platter than we can hold. But now, we are juggling. And it has never been better!

Our workshop is spreading out. After a bunch of constructive attempts, we are all neck deep in wax! Yes, batik art is what we are treading on now, and we will keep you posted with its advancements.

We are also working on some new clothing lines, ari work, mirror work, stylish metal belts, more jewellery, art pieces, chai-stuff, and .. growing up. Or, well, as the kids put it, “the usual”.

So The Wanderlust Festival has been taking place in Vermont for the past four days!

This is a festival dedicated to creating community around the shared values of yoga.  Thousands of people came to participate in yoga classes taught by the best teachers in the US.  There were workshops, lectures and music. Deepak Chopra gave a talk and Krishna Das led kirtan.

Adivasi was approached by the creators to help them transform a Vermont ski lodge into sacred space for the occasion.  We donated Hindu statues, tapestries, wall hangings and more.  The result was beautiful and much appreciated by the participants.

It was a delight to be involved and to meet so many people whose lives are dedicated to the healthy lifestyle of yoga.  We were happy that our things brought joy to so many people!

It’s that time of the year again when the lovely products we have worked on and developed are all set to reach you.

It’s the time when everyone here at Adivasi gets together to place and pack each creation skillfully and fondly, when time comes to a standstill and fun time is on a spin. It is rather a droll if you see the boys so delighted at work.

We are impatiently waiting for the boxes to arrive and get started again!

Let the video, literally, do the talking as we cut this short (pun intended).

Do take pleasure in it.