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Bharti and Ritu

Bharti and Ritu share a common vision; they wish to rejuvenate India's traditional arts. They first met in 2000, through a mutual friend.

Ritu has a bachelor's degree in Architecture and works freelance. She has designed the interiors for many individual homes and showrooms, as well as business establishments. She has also been unendingly working in different projects as a designer of arts and crafts all over the country. She worked for several NGOs as consultant designer and as a researcher for many projects across India. Ritu is proud of the work she did as a consultant for OXFAM, researching a study project on craft-based livelihoods.

In 2004, Ritu and Bharti decided to join forces. "We were both keen on starting something to preserve traditional Indian art," recalls Bharti. "While Ritu is a hardcore arts and crafts enthusiast, I have good marketing and sales skills. We were keen to share our interests to benefit something, and that was promoting the traditional crafts of India, which are richly varied."

Ritu and Bharti work with artisans from different parts of India, promoting their skills and creativity. Their hard work has started to pay off, and in the first year and a half, they were able to participate in several exhibitions, including the India Habitat Center in Delhi, as well as in Mumbai and Bangalore.

"It is motivating to receive such good response. It really motivates us to do better and more, "confides Ritu. "It is amazing to see how the phenomenal skill of Indian artisans and the creativity of designers comes together in the creation of a beautiful article. We really appreciate the people we work with for all of their hard work in bringing such exquisite products to the world.

"Our product lines are utility items. We want to popularize the use of hand-crafted products, so that more and more people appreciate and use these them, thereby promoting traditional crafts again. This is why we are happy to be associated with Novica."