Chennaiite traces back roots, spearheads project to revive rug-making pan India

When visiting India for a vacation, her father, who owns a rug store, took her to Kashmir and introduced her to the legendary rug weavers in the area who hand-weave artisan rugs and carpets that are sold all over the world. 

Nisha and her brother Zeeshan were both impressed, but also shocked at the plight of these famed craftsmen. “It was disheartening to see their condition. The decline in the industry was leading to their historic business dying. This is due to many factors: implementation of GST, machine-made rugs and so on. The art form that was being passed down from generation to generation was going to die, and I just couldn’t let that happen,” she recalls.

The youngster made a decision. She’d give up her high-flying career to come back home and start something meaningful. Nisha and Zeeshan, who is also a connoisseur of rugs, started Project Haath, an initiative to rehabilitate weavers across the country and stop their talent from becoming extinct.

“This meant making their business sustainable, giving them tools and employment opportunities, better income opportunities, spaces to work from and improve their lifestyle in general. 

So apart from employing many of them to collaborate with us (which lets Nisha source work for them), we also donate one-third of our profits from every rug sold to the project. Under this initiative, we rehabilitated 650 weavers and now sell their products under the brand name RugWeave. Apart from our own weavers’ products, we source and sell rugs from Central India and overseas to give a boost to the overall industry,” she explains.

They are also collaborating with groups like the Overseas Women’s Council and other organisations in Chennai to hold demos and showcase the skill of the weavers to spread awareness.

Nisha also says that since her father hails from Kashmir, this project is personal to her. “He made it in his life thanks to his hard work and aspirations. But there are many who suffer from unemployment and being in a politically-charged state like Kashmir, let their lives go awry. I want to prevent that from happening to the best of my ability,” she notes.