Chindi - Using scrap for women empowerment - Fusion

When Tanushri Shukla saw that kilos of fabric are being wasted every day at her family’s garment production company, she decided to use it creatively for the sake of empowering women.

So she launched Chindi – a Mumbai-based enterprise which is about letting women earn a living through their crafting skill.

She wanted to empower women and make them more financially independent. She also wanted to encourage creativity among women.

Chindi transforms women from poor neighborhoods into financially independent people.

They provide training to these women and promote their skills.

Tanushri says that many women have learned to use waste scraps to create handmade products related to textile production.

Chindi was started in 2015. It works with women from Mankhurd where the Chindi Women’s Centre was setup.

These are all women from a community of migrants from north India. They are very skilled with knitting and crocheting.

The craftswomen were given training at the center. This helps them get back in to the game.

Tanushri says that it’s not just having them do work but making sure they maintain quality.

She says it was hard to convince them to do crafting by taking away time from house chores. Convincing the families of the women was also very hard she says.

In Chindi, the craftswomen are made to collaborate with product developers and fashion designers. In this way, they create unique products from knitting textile scrap. The scrap would otherwise be wasted.

Chindi now has a team of six craftswomen, a manager and skill trainer.

Tanushri says that the company makes products using raw materials from design houses and sewing units.

The products of the company are many including rugs, bath mats, jewelry, and even pouches.

Image Reference: TheBetterIndia