Rani Handicrafts

Rani Handicrafts is tucked away on Umaid Bhawan Palace Road, right near the Circuit House. It is a famous part of town, so we get a lot of people walking by just to look at the palace. Our shop is full of things we've collected or had made by local people around Jodhpur. You'll find a lot of brass, old wood, and colorful cloth piled up on the shelves. It’s not the most organized place in the world, but there is a logic to it if you work here every day. We spend a lot of time dusting things off because the desert wind brings in so much sand. The shop gets quite bright in the mornings, which shows off the colors of the hand-painted items. We sit on low stools when we aren't helping customers, just talking or fixing a loose thread on a piece of embroidery. It’s a slow-paced kind of life here. We don't use any high-tech systems to sell things. We write out bills by hand and wrap everything in brown paper and string. Living and working so close to the palace means we see a lot of tourists, but we also have our local friends who stop by for a chat. It is a small business that feels more like a home than a store sometimes.