A Passing Face

The Elegance of Struggle

A token of traditional exotica

Rohit Chawla | 28 Feb, 2018

Thirty-year-old Krishna Devi from Manupra village in Rajasthan has been weaving carpets for more than half her life. Married at 14, a mother of four and the only stable breadwinner of her family, she earns around Rs 200 a day. Her husband is a daily labourer who usually tends to his goats as a means of subsistence. In the glitter of India Design, Devi is simply a choreographed plot, complete with the ubiquitous charkha and other tools of her trade. Unfortunately, here she is a token of traditional exotica, which belies the harsh reality that the marginalised craft community continues to struggle against.