Wouldn't anyone be interested to know what is Simply Indian - ethnic, warm and classy?

Is difficult to figure out what or who to title this way. Everything Indian falls into at least one of these categories. But one of things I am most familiar with is Indian Handicrafts and more so-Indian furniture of wood which is completely handmade and reproduced from old designs of the yester-years.

The Antique Indian furniture started getting noticed more than a decade back and truckloads and container loads of furniture was picked up by tourists who ventured into the interiors of Rajasthan and Gujrat, the western states of India which are rich in tradition and history. They bought them directly from the small villages and the innocent villagers had no idea about the high value of their so-called Damchi's, Thala's and Manjus'es-to mention a few!

But how could this go un-noticed by the shrewd Indian traders of the close by towns? In a short while, each prominent tourist city of these states had a flood of shops selling not only Antique furniture but also old vessels, old embroidered clothes and furnishings, old musical instruments, old books and calendars, Jewlry, Paintings and what-nots!

Of course, this could not go on forever.. there was a limit to the sourcing of these articles as the demand also grew. Thus began the reproduction and mass manufacturing of furniture, handicrafts, furnishings and jewlry. Such is the situation now that the economy of the cities like Jodhpur, Jaipur, Udaipur is almost entirely dependent of the manufacturing and trading of handicrafts. The higly skilled but un-noticed and under-paid carpenters of these regions have a new lease to life.

Over the last 20 years there has been a tremendous increase in the handicraft export from India and it is difficult to step into most handicraft stores across the world and not stumble into artifacts from India. Indian furniture is the rage and making waves in the world market!

If one compares this furniture with the ones from some other parts of the world, it is not the most intricate or classy but its demand is high becasue it can be mass produced, is extremely economical and due to the flood of suppliers the quality has improved drastically to withstand the competition. And another USP is the flexibility in designs. The carpenters are so skilled that they can modify and make as per requirements and also duplicate any design to the T.

Anuradha Kabra is the daughter of the world famous Indian classical guitarist, Pandit Brijbhushanlal Kabra of the "Call of the Valley" fame and Kamla Kabra-an artist in her own rights. She grew up with music in her ears and art in her fingertips.

Her passion for handicrafts and recognition of the arts and crafts of India multiplied as she scoured the varied Indian countryside and discovered the hidden wealth in her homeland. She supports many NGO's by promoting their products to her customers.

She has been manufacturing and exporting high quality hand-made furniture to various parts of the world, mainly Italy, Middle-East and USA. She also set up units for manufacturing of designer home furnishings and hand-crafted clocks.

Her dream is to take the beautiful art and craft of India to every corner of the world.

You can check out some of the designs on http://www.aesthetic.bz

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