Shanti Handicrafts

Shanti Handicrafts is tucked away at 1669, Khatiwada Baba Harish Chand Marg. It’s an old part of town with narrow streets that can be a real headache to navigate if you’re driving. We mostly prefer it when people walk by. Inside, the shop is full of the smell of raw materials—wood, paint, and whatever else we’re using that week. There’s always a bit of a mess on the workbenches because that’s just the nature of making things by hand. We’ve got tools that have been around for years, some of them passed down or just picked up along the way. My hands are usually stained with something, and there’s always shavings on the floor. It’s a quiet kind of work, mostly. We don't have a big storefront with lights. It’s more of a traditional setup where the work happens right there in the back. Sometimes neighbors drop in for a chat while we’re working, and that slows things down a bit, but we don't mind. The street outside is always noisy with vendors and people going about their business. We just stay in our little space and keep our hands busy. It’s not a fast-paced life, but it’s what we know. We aren't trying to change the world, just making stuff that we think is alright.