I decided to begin this as a e-cottage industry in keeping with our philosophy of staying connected with things Indian and staying connected with people. The idea being to bring the end user or consumer up close and personal with the creator of these beautiful objects. And to present artisans who for years have worked in isolation of the market.

A store was never in our original plans  but late last summer, I was thinking of putting together a kind of exhibition cum awareness creation program on some of the exquistie arts and crafts of India. 
I chose a personal favourite: Madhubani Paintings: an art form practised almost exclusively by Women in Bihar.

As I began looking for and to collect  the art, I discovered to my horror the huge range of  paintings being passed off as "Madhubani".  Even more shocking was the fact that the paint used in many of these were synthetic poster colours. One of the distinctive features of Madhubani paintings is the fact that they are created using natural vegetable dyes.

 I decided that here is an information and education gap that I would like to plug. 

Outofindia.tv will someday web-cast an awareness and education series.
Our programme will cover Indian textiles, art and craft and will leverage the latest in technology to provide the opportunity for direct interaction (though virtual) with the artisan.

For all interested in the promotion and preservation of our heritage....
Would you not promote and buy direct from the creators of authentic products and would you not happily pass on the enormous profits of the middle man direct to the artisans to make a difference in their lives?

And think about it.

If you were the artist would you not be delighted to know the person whose home or person your work adorns?

Share your thoughts as we begin to build this store-in-progress.

Harriet Silva Vidyasagar
Managing Editor
Out of India .net