Women making Karatcart Jewellery
Yes, you read that right. But how? Let me tell you
I am Kriti Chadha and have founded Karatcart brand with my husband, Anubhav Alwadhi. About 10 years back, we started from scratch in a tiny room at my home and started putting up small exhibitions. I used my passion and knowledge in jewellery design and my role was the lead designer, while Anubhav took care of marketing, logistics & finance.
From day one, we made our products in house. Initially, we had only one Karigar/Artisan and were basically a three-member team. Given the great feedback we received for our products, we decided to build our own website to increase our reach by going online.
Karatcart.com was up and functioning and we started getting orders. We were so small in size and so low on funds that we couldn't even store inventory of the products that we were selling. We used to get orders which were assembled within a day and sent out the next day.
As the company grew, we started hiring people. We hired people who were living closer to our setup. These people were not skilled and did not know anything about making jewellery before joining us. Along with my first artisan, I used to teach them how to handle a plier, how to put thread in a needle etc.
In order to recruit girls, we contacted a tailoring school who used to teach girls of low-income group. When these girls started working with me, they experienced some resistance by male artisans who felt that girls would not be able to do the job. It was my first experience with male chauvinism. But as it was my company, I took steps to ensure that everyone was treated equally. Those girls became one of our best artisans in future.
But that's not all. These girls were only 24 years old when they joined us. They got married and started leaving. If at all they could work after marriage, they would still leave due to pregnancy and didn't come back because of obvious reasons like no help at home to take care of babies and sometimes their husbands not allowing them to travel during pregnancy. I felt very bad as they wanted to work but couldn't. So, I thought if they cannot come to work, let the work go to them. That's when our social impact journey started.
We started sending small parcels of job-work, so that they could do it at home. They could take care of their kids and home and still earn. Additionally, women who were coming to office also started teaching other women at their homes to make jewellery. I encouraged that and we started sending stuff to even more number of women who wanted to work and be independent. Sometimes these women did the work to fulfill needs of their children and contribute to their husband's earnings.
But sometimes the picture was not so perfect. Unfortunately, household abuse is not very uncommon in our country. I used to hear really sad stories from these women but still they would come to work with a smile on their face just because they were now earning on their own and were able to send their kids to school. To address this problem, I contacted a friend who runs an NGO, Ruh, in a slum area and teaches kids so that they have a good education.
Children of RUH NGO
I asked her how can I help? After making some efforts, we were able to train many women who were mothers of these children to make jewellery so that they could be independent and be able to break free from the abuse.
Training the women to make Jewellery
Today 90% of our inhouse employees are women and we are able to touch the lives of over 200 women who are working from home. They are not dependent on anybody for their life and happiness. We realize that there is a lot more we can do, and we are trying to do a bit more every day.
As one can see, Karatcart is not just a Fashion Brand. It is a brand which epitomizes these women's journey of self-respect and self-reliance. So, whenever you buy from Karatcart, know that your purchase is directly helping someone make a better future for themselves and their kids. Be proud that your Fashion is helping someone somewhere get an education or at the very least someone is smiling because of it.
Fashion can drive a positive social Impact and Karatcart is a living example of it. We are grateful to you for being a part of this impact as without your purchase and support, this wouldn't have been possible.
Thank you,
Team Karatcart
