BTB: What inspired you to work with crochet as the main medium for your brand?
ANANYA: My mother, who is also the co-founder of Kalaa, was working with Indira Kalyan Camp, an urban slum in Delhi, where women skilled in crochet and macrame were being given income opportunities. One day, she brought home a crocheted blouse made by our master trainer, Rita ji. I fell in love with it and posted it on Instagram around May 2022. It got a lot of attention, and by August, I started thinking about Kalaa as a social enterprise. At the time, crochet clothing wasn’t common in India, and people didn’t realize they could wear it. So we saw a gap in the market that we wanted to fill.
As we expanded the project, we discovered that many women, especially in Bihar and UP, already knew crochet, as the skill is often passed down through generations, particularly in Muslim communities. In many homes, women make crochet items for bridal trousseaus, like thali covers or TV covers. Around Janmashtami, women make little crochet clothes for Kanhaiya (the idol). In villages, we saw crochet cloths being used during wedding ceremonies to cover Matkas and Prashads. We saw its potential in the market.
The essence of Kalaa is to provide women with flexible, work-from-home opportunities, and crochet felt perfect because it doesn’t require equipment or machinery. Women can sit with their babies on their laps—nursing and crafting at the same time. It’s a craft that blends seamlessly into their daily lives and often doesn’t even seem like 'work,' which can be beneficial in highly patriarchal societies where there might be resistance from husbands or household heads.
BTB: Kalaa is addressing the critical issue of women's employment through the Kalaa Sakhi initiative. You’ve been able to impact hundreds of women across three different locations. Could you share more about this mission and the impact it has had on these communities?
ANANYA: One crucial aspect of working at the grassroots level is creating systemic change through workshops and training. We offer financial inclusion workshops to help women manage their bank accounts, savings, and inter-loaning. We also hold nutrition workshops to address issues like anaemia and iron deficiency, particularly important for pregnant women. These sessions may go unnoticed on the business side of things, but nurturing communities in this way creates lasting change. The impact compounds across generations, families, and villages, and that’s what we aim to sustain.
The impact varies in every community we work with, depending on the cultural and geographic context. For example, we collaborated with large organizations like Netflix, who invited us to the screening of Bhakshak. This exposure helped the women see the broader value of their craft.
The direct economic impact has also been significant. One of the first things we noticed was that as soon as these women started earning, 100% of them enrolled their children in private tuition, using their income to even provide private tutors. Now, their children have much bigger aspirations—all while balancing caregiving and family duties.
In regions like Nuh, despite being India’s most backward district in Haryana, there is complete coexistence within the craft communities. In Neemrana, Rajasthan, where women are often seen in ‘ghoonghat,’ our workshops are a release for them. They relax, chat, work, and sometimes even sing and dance. We’ve opened over 60 bank accounts for women there, teaching them to manage their finances for the first time. Craft has become a tool to tie communities together, uniting people through shared creation and economic opportunity.
BTB: Your experience working with ASHA workers in Assam inspired your focus on women's empowerment. How has that experience influenced the ethos and operations of Kalaa Sakhi and Kalaa Store?
ANANYA: During a 10-day fieldwork project, I was deeply inspired by frontline worker women (Anganwadi and ASHA workers). These women, as caregivers, would wake up each day, go from one river island to the next, set up camp, and provide care. In emergencies, they were the first responders. Women bring qualities of compassion and care, which allow them to truly connect with people at the grassroots level. However, as you move up the hierarchy, there are very few women in leadership positions.
After this experience, I had a review meeting with a female IAS officer, the district collector. I was in awe of the way she led the team with compassion and care, pushing them to dedicate themselves to individual patient care. That’s when I knew my goal was to ensure more women are in the workforce, contributing these feminine qualities to their workplaces.
At Kalaa, this ethos is central to our work. When you visit a village workshop, you’ll notice everything slows down, and women work together in harmony. That harmony became the foundation of why gender is so central to Kalaa. Through Instagram stories, postcards, and products, we try to spread love and compassion into the world.
BTB: What are some non-commercial victories you have achieved that have helped your business?
ANANYA: Conceptually, tying communities together has been the most empowering victory. From women not earning anything or having exposure to seeing their products loved by people globally—it’s deeply fulfilling. Even when my friends buy Kalaa products and go on holidays, it feels like a piece of me is with them.
The non-commercial victories go beyond financial independence. At a more abstract level, being able to connect communities across time and space has been incredibly meaningful. It’s a beautiful thought to sleep on every night.
Read the full interview on Blur The Border.