#EmpoweringTheSpeciallyabled

since 1991

 
“The problem is not the person’s disability.... The problem is society’s view of the person’s abilities”
— Anonymous
 
 

We are a Charitable Trust dedicated to the rehabilitation & generation of sustainable livelihoods for the differently-abled children & young adults of the rural plantation community of Munnar, Kerala.

Our Welfare Institutes impart skills that will support and generate sustainable livelihoods for a better & more empowered future. 

  • The Charitable Trust was initiated with a vision to educate & provide a safe haven for the specially-abled children of the community of plantation workers of Munnar, Kerala. The vision was to empower the youth to grow and flourish in society and become healthy contributors to the community.

  • The mission, in 1991, with the foundation of the DARE School Project, was to educate, rehabilitate & generate sustainable livelihood possibilities for the specially-abled young adults who graduated from the School.

  • The graduating youth are further given the opportunity to interact & be nurtured into artists by experts in their respective craft domains from across the globe, developing unique traditional craft techniques from a world community of artists.

  • The creativity & ethical responsibility is further endorsed through the creation of a wide range of hand-made products which are curated with the adoption of sustainable production methods like recycling, up-cycling and the use of native & natural materials.

‘Creation’ | ‘Nature’ | ‘Universe’ | ‘Handiwork’

— all synonyms of “Srishti” and the foundations of our existence —

All our specially-abled associates & artists have been educated through the DARE School Project.

The DARE School enrols children with severe mental health conditions, dwarfism, the infliction of polio in childhood, hearing and speech disabilities, heart conditions among others. The children are imparted education in functional academics & trained in social & self-help skills along with vocational skills through their formative years.

The graduating youth are further given the opportunity to interact & be nurtured into artists by experts in their respective craft domains from across the globe, developing unique traditional & sustainable craft techniques from a world community of artists.

Our Natural Materials & Sources

  • Non-Wood raw materials for Handmade Paper

    “Banana fibre— Eucalyptus oils — Tea fibre — Lemon grass — Tea Tree leaves — Marigold flowers — Elephant Poop — Carrot leaves — Cosmos flowers — Natural Grass — Natural Dyes”

  • Natural Dyes & Imprint sources for Fabric

    “Indigo — Pomegranate shells — Kadukka or Catechu — Manjistha — Tea Waste — Eucalyptus leaves — Eupatorium or Nilagiri Kozha — Mulberry leaves — Turmeric — Marigold flowers — Fresh leaf Japanese Indigo — Cosmos — Eupatorium”

The specially-abled artists across our Welfare Institutes have been trained by experts and have adopted a variety of global techniques to handcrafting on textiles & create paper.

  • Shibori

  • Botanical Imprinted Paper

  • Block Printing

  • Banana Fibre Paper

  • Batik

  • Pressed Floral Paper

  • Tie & Dye

  • Elephant Dung Paper

  • Yarn Dyeing

  • Natural Grass Paper

  • Smocking

Connect with us...

We handcraft wood-free paper from natural sources & create beautiful stationery & packaging options from a variety of paper sheets….

  • "Forest Botanicals" - A collection of natural imprinted paper

    This collection of vibrant paper is inspired by and embodies the spirit and soul of the forests around us here in Munnar! Our papers are a great option for Brands & Businesses seeking sustainable packaging options.

  • Stationery Gift Boxes

    We have a standard selection of gift boxes that come in A6 size, A5 Rectangle & A5 Square. The boxes some with an assorted selection of diaries, tear-away to-do notepads, letter paper with envelopes, Thank You cards with envelopes & writing pads.

  • Paper Bags for Gifting & Brand Packaging

    We craft paper bags in small, medium & large sizes along with Wine bottle bags for individual gifting needs.

    We also customise bags to size and theme for your brands packaging requirements.

  • Boxes for Gift & Brand Packaging

    Our standard boxes are great for individual gifting. You can choose from our wrapping paper too!

    We handcraft boxes with precision to your desired Brand size and motif requirement on order.

  • Mini Diaries (A6)

    Our selection of Mini Diaries (A6 set of 6) comes in a delicate carry folder case. We’ve chosen a selection of papers such as Elephant Poop, Banana Fibre paper, Tea Tree Paper, Carrot Leaf Paper, Tea Fibre Paper respectively for each diary. You can choose to customise this!

  • Stationery Paper

    We have a wide selection of wood-free natural paper in varied thickness which can be used for writing as well as office stationery like files & hand bound diaries.

We enhance our fabrics with natural dyes & sources to create ….

  • Tussar silk Sarees with Shibori

    We handcraft intricate Shibori motifs on Tussar silks. We love to experiment with the Natural dyes and the gorgeous hues they render on Silks with intricate Shibori hand-work!

  • Tabby & Mulberry silk Stoles with Shibori

    We handcraft Nui, Muira, Kumo and other Shibori styles on Stoles for every occasion.

  • Printed Cotton Sarees

    We hand-block print on Cottons using a myriad of natural dyes! the effects are satisfying for us and rewarding for our patrons in glamorous ways!

  • Tussar silk Tie & Dye Sarees

    Our in-house designer carefully crafts motifs that flow through the 6 metres of a saree.

  • Linen Stoles

    We do both solid tones and selected prints too!

  • Botanical Printed Stoles

    We are blessed with nature around us that provides us with flowers & leaves which are evergreen as well as some delicate beauties that are seasonal!

  • Yards of Fabric

    We handcraft yards of fabric according to specification of colour & pattern with a minimum length of 1.5 meters.

  • Crepe Silk Shibori Sarees

    Our Shibori team of artists have been handcrafting intricate Shibori patterns on sarees for a decade now!

  • Chanderi silk Sarees

    We handcraft on Chanderi Silk fabric creating gorgeous motifs in Tie & Dye and Shibori.

  • Batik Printed Silk & Cotton Stoles & Scarves

    Our master-craftsman has a selection of beautiful prints that we curate for each collection we handcraft.

  • Exquisite Handcrafted Shibori Fabric Lengths

    We custom make lengths of fabric carefully handcrafted with intricate curated Shibori motifs. These are popular with designers to craft Kurtas, Western wear, Men’s wear, Kid’s wear and more!

  • Custom crafted Block prints for Kid's wear

    Our block printed fabric is very popular with kid’s wear brands. We design, curate and dye fabric with specially created wood-block prints for designers seeking to craft signature collections for their readymades & separates.

  • Silk Kurtas & Kaftans

    We custom craft Kurtas & Kaftans.

  • Silk Botanical Printed Stoles

    We absolutely adore wrapping, soaking & boiling fabric with fallen flowers & leaves that we collect in baskets from the nature around us to create breathtaking Stoles.

  • Home Linen - Cushion Covers

    Eye-catching motifs crafted in Shibori engulf cottons & silks which we stitch into cushions of 16”x16” and 21”x21”. We do custom sizes too.

  • Home Linen : Table linen

    We custom make table linen - table covers, napkins, runners and table mats.

  • Home Linen : Tea Towels

    We custom-make Tea towels with Shibori motifs.

  • Shirts for Men

    Our men’s shirts are crafted on custom order. They are cottons and linens with either solid natural dyes, block prints to specification or botanical imprinted motifs.

  • Pashmina Shawls

    Our exquisite Pashmina shawls are delicately handcrafted with shibori motifs or are solid natural dyed.

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