How Himalayan Blooms empowered women in Uttarakhand to use their knitting and crocheting skills to earn an income

As she entered her thirties, Pratibha Krishnaiah experienced a life-changing epiphany. The Bengaluru-based software engineer was working with Thomson Reuters when she found herself asking some existential questions.

“They were simple questions about life, and what I wanted from it. It was very clear that I didn’t want to wait till I was 40 or 50 or till I retired and then regret not living in a village or doing something meaningful in life,” she tells SocialStory.

Krishnaiah was already volunteering as a mathematics teacher in a Kannada-medium school in Bengaluru, but the pull of plunging into social impact full-time proved stronger. In 2014, while she was wondering whether to move to a remote village and opt to work from home, her brother sent her a link to apply for SBI’s Youth for India fellowship.

As part of the programme, she moved to Khetikhan village in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand—a far cry from her home city Bengaluru.

“It was very cold, there were no heaters then, and the electric lines were so weak that the power would shut down if you switched on one. Despite the initial apprehension, I fell in love with Khetikhan,” she says.

As part of the fellowship, Krishnaiah had to work with an on-ground NGO partner, and the village threw up many possibilities for growth and development—right from forestry and education to healthcare and jam making.

However, she found it disconcerting that there were few opportunities for women to participate in, despite doing backbreaking work—in the fields, milking the cows and tending to the cattle, selling the milk, and then taking care of all the household chores. The men would come back in the evening from their jobs and often resort to physical violence in several cases. 

Bringing women’s skills into the forefront

But one thing Krishnaiah noticed was that the women were knitting and crocheting all the time.

“They were knitting in the cold or while attending mahila sangeet. Once I went to the jungle and saw a group of women with knitting needles in their hands, while carrying heavy loads on their heads. Their hands were always moving as if they were on autopilot,” Krishnaiah notes.

She wondered if their skills could be used to get them an additional income and help them be financially independent.

When Krishnaiah broached the idea with the women, she was met with a resounding yes. After receiving approval from the NGO and Youth for India, she rallied 12 women in 2014 to start the project that would later turn into Himalayan Blooms, a social enterprise.

“In the first year, I worked extensively, walking three to five kilometres into the mountains to reach villages to distribute yarns and show women videos of designs. The area had a 2G network, and it was a challenging time,” she recalls.

The first batch of knitted and crocheted products were sold at Sunday Soul Sante in Bengaluru, and 80% of the exhibits were sold out. 

An article about the enterprise published on Rediff received a lot of traction, and soon people were writing to her from all over the world asking how they could help. Among them was 70-year-old Joginder Kundra from New Jersey who offered to visit the village to understand the venture and also fund it.

“I was apprehensive about it as I didn’t want to take funds at the time. I was not sure where the project was going and whether the NGO will take it forward at the end of the fellowship,” she says.

Krishnaiah invited Kundra to the village to see how things worked on the ground and emphasised that she was looking for long-term commitment. 

“He visited us and, instead of funds, I asked him for help in securing orders from the US, as the crux of the enterprise was sales. He got us a big order from the US for two lakh rupees and kick-started our project in a big way,” she says.

For women, by women

At the end of her fellowship, the partner NGO Krishnaiah worked with told her that it would be difficult for them to sustain the initiative as a long-term project. Back in Bengaluru, Krishnaiah made the decision to take the road less travelled and push the project forward. She registered it as ‘Himalayan Blooms’.

In the past 10 years, over 250 women from 40 villages in the Kumaon region have joined its fold. It has three centres in Ketikhan, Lohaghat and Champawat, all 15 km from each other, where distribution of raw material and collection of finished products take place.

“When we started, we mostly knitted with acrylic yarn, but now we have shifted to cotton. We make apparel for both summer and winter—tops and dresses for urban youth, crocheted toys, and we are also working with natural dyes,” Krishnaiah elaborates.

The women formed self-help groups of 9-20 women each where members support each other. Payment is done for each piece. The products are sold through their website, exhibitions, and bulk orders.

Krishnaiah works with a staff of 12 local women who oversee the operations—buying raw materials, distributing them, managing accounts, and liaising with vendors and customers.

Twenty-year-old Priya crochets for Himalayan Blooms while studying for a BA degree. 

“After my father passed away, I helped my mother with household and agricultural work to support my four younger siblings. I earn Rs 5,000 crocheting for Himalayan Blooms. This income helps me study and also covers some household expenses. I plan to join the venture full-time after I complete my degree,” she says.

Several women have come together recently to form a for-profit entity called Pahadi Artisans Private Limited. They have invested their money in the entity and hold stakes in it as well. 

Himalayan Blooms will continue to offer skills training and support and equip women with technology to set up and manage more businesses, apart from knitting and crocheting.