Vaidehi Thacker, a Vidya Bharati Alumni, promoting handicrafts of Gujarat

Handicraft reflects the individualities of a civilization and expresses the psychological vibrations of the creators.  Handicraft artists are the silent spokespersons of cultural treasures of any community or nation. Indian handicrafts are famous worldwide since centuries and Gujarat, especially, has a tremendous treasure of distinctive handicrafts. Vaidehi Thacker, a Vidya Bharati Alumni, is promoting the handicrafts of Gujarat through her work by supporting artists to sell their products.

Vaidehi is an alumnus of Shree Sahayog Sarasvati Vidya Mandir – Gandhidham, where she studied till 12th standard. After completing her schooling, she pursued a B.Com degree; post which she did a Certification Course in Library Science.

Vaidehi’s strong attachment with her school took her back to serve her school again. For the next 7 years she was doing Seva Karya at her school where he taught music, arranged cultural programs, managed office work and the school library.

“I could never part from my school. Everything I have learned there, has helped me to shape my life”, mentioned Vaidehi, who is now serving Vidya Bharati as Purv Chatra Pramukh (Alumni coordinator) from Kachchh.

Vaidehi also runs an initiative through which she promotes handicrafts from Kachchh and helps several artisans to sell their products.

“Gujarat is a land of art and craft. A great range of ethnic communities live in this region  who have  been  maintaining  traditional  culture  in  the  form  of  handicrafts”, mentioned Vaidehi.

Kachchh is famous for its handicrafts, hills, white deserts, beautiful virgin sea beaches, various forts and above all Dholaveera, one of the five largest Harappan sites and among the most prominent archaeological sites in India belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization. Till today some of the Kachchhi motifs can be traced to the ancient Harappan civilization.

“Kutch is a treasure chest like no other, where each village has a different compartment of delights. Embroidery has become a craft synonymous with Kachchh and is world renowned for its mirrored embroideries.  The other popular handicrafts include Ajrakh prints, Block prints, Bandhani and Batik prints”, shared Vaidehi, who sources these products directly from artisans and sells them through her Facebook and Instagram pages.

She started promoting and selling these products to her friends, family and neighborhood first. Gradually she started reaching out to people through social media. Currently she had around 12 people in her team.