Crafting Indian Scripts

Jaya Jaitly is a social and political activist and a prolific writer on crafts. She is the founder and president of the Dastkari Haat Samiti, and has worked with India craftspeople for more than three decades in the design and marketing of crafts and handmade textiles. She has initiated many innovative programmes to promote awareness and respect for craftspersons and help them towards self-reliance and dignity. Her publications on crafts include The Crafts of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh (1990), The Craft Traditions of India (1991) and Visvakarmas Children (2001). Bhramara Nayak is an accomplished painter in the traditional patachitra style of Orissa. He received the Orissa State Award in 1985, and the National Award for Master Craftsperson in 1984. He is the chairman of Orupa, an NGO producing and marketing crafts. He teaches patachitra painting at the Jawahar Nabodaya Vidyalaya in Bhubaneshwar, Orissa.