Help Uttarakhand

LET'S JOIN HANDS TO HELP UTTARAKHAND

Dear Friends,

Given the situation in Uttarakhand, three NGOs Karm Marg, Kadam and Samoolam have come together along with a local Uttarakhand partner, Mr. JP Mathanki of the Aagaas Federation. Their plan is to support five villages(see PPT file for details) over the course of a year in the Badrinath valley. Very little attention has been given there so far, farmlands and cattle have been washed away and the locals barely have any means of earning a livelihood. 

'Help Uttarakhand - Let's Join Hands' initiative will start with providing these villages immediate support as state help has barely reached yet because of their remote location and non accessibility due to the broken roads. Their trucks will take the supplies till Kaulagarh in Dehradun OR to Pipalikot. Distribution to the remote villages will be done by the volunteers on foot and donkey back, till the roads are rebuilt by the BRO team. 

How much they will be able to help will depend on how much funds we all can help them raise. We request you to join hands with us and help in any way possible. No contribution is too small. Donations in the form of cash or kind are equally welcome. 

Donations in kind can be dropped at:

DELHI - Karm Mard, 201, 2nd floor, Jeevan nagar, New Delhi - 110014  Tel +911143534735

NOIDA - A 30, sector 23, Noida (near Noida city centre Metro station)  Tel +919910000861

FARIDABAD - Karm Marg Home, Village Khedi Kallan, Faridabad  Tel +919899392567

GURGAON - E 903, Central Park I, Gurgaon  Tel +919810508928

All the contributions are being routed through the NGO Karm Marg's account in order to maintain complete transparency and the 80G tax exemption to donors. If you are transferring money, please email us your name, address, contact number and PAN card number for tax purposes at :
letsjoinhands2013@gmail.com

For E transfers from within India:

Account Name: KARM MARG

Name of the Bank: Central Bank of India

Branch: M-2, South Extension - II, New Delhi 110049

A/c No: 1160140210

MICR Code: 11001036

IFS Code: CBIN0280976

SWIFT Code: CBININBBXXX

Cheques to be issued in the name of KARM MARG.

For any Inquiries or updates call Pooja - +919910000861/Veena - +91989939567.

P.S. - People behind Karm Marg, Kadam and Samoolam are my friends. Be assured that your money will be used to support the 5 villages mentioned in the pdf. 

Looking forward to your support.

Warm Regards,

Swati Seth

Founder - The Color Caravan

Kantha Embroidery

Kantha hails from the regions of erstwhile East Bengal, present day West Bengal and Bihar. Essentially a woman's art, it is a form of patched, quilted and vividly embroidered textile made entirely out of used cloth.


It originated from the way in which Bengali housewives mended old clothes by taking out a strand of thread from the colorful border of their saris and making simple designs with them. Old saris and dhotis are used to make handmade gifts for family and friends.
   

Picture Credit: Katna's Katha

The Sanskrit word ‘kontha’ means 'rags.' One of the many stories regarding the origin of the craft links it to Lord Buddha and his disciples, who used to cover themselves with garments made from discarded rags that were patched and sewn together. The oldest extant Kantha date from the early 19th century and is embroidered with blue, black and red threads that were unraveled from sari borders. Because they were salvaged from used garments that had been frequently laundered, the colors tend to be muted.

The original craft process involves layering worn clothes together and binding them with variations of the simple running stitch. This process is called Kantha quilting. Even though the craft uses only one kind of stitch, it is the numerous variations and intricacy with which it is executed that make the art beautiful. Motifs used in embroidery may be geometric or very elaborate in nature. Flowers, tress, gods and goddesses make for the more popular motifs used.

Picture credit: embroiderytechnique.blogspot.in

Often Kantha tells a story through its embroidery of different tales using symbolic motifs, thereby receiving its name from the Hindi word 'Katha' or story.


Contemporary Katha doesn’t necessarily follow this process. The embroidery has been used on various products like saris, cloth, bed sheets, cushion covers etc. primarily on cotton or silk.



Picture credit: The Color Caravan

 The Color Caravan has worked to co-create Kantha cushion covers with the women of our partner NGO in Uttarakhand who are 'exceptionally' good with Kantha embroidery, patchwork & applique work.

Craftswomen at our partner NGO.

Craftswomen at our partner NGO.

Craftswoman at our partner NGO.

Our creation has adapted the traditional Kantha stitch in a more contemporary form, using  Bhagalpur silk and cotton cloth. 









Check out our complete collection on our eStore www.thecolorcaravan.com

 (The Color Caravan the copyrights for all the photographs in this post unless otherwise mentioned.)