Chetan Patola Arts

If you walk behind the Udhna Bus Stand in the Surendranagar district, you will find us at Chetan Patola Arts. The area is always full of people waiting for their buses or coming back from work. We have been here for a while now, working with traditional designs and fabrics. Patola is something we grew up seeing, so it felt natural to make it our life. The workspace is filled with the smell of dyes and the sound of looms. It isn't a quiet place. We don't have a big corporate team, just local people who know how to handle the silk. Some of the patterns take a long time to finish, so we have to be patient. We spend our mornings setting up the threads and our afternoons checking the weave. It’s hard on the eyes sometimes, but we are used to it. The bus stand nearby means there is always a bit of dust and noise, but it also means we are easy to find. We don't put on any shows here. It is just a workshop where things get made. We drink a lot of chai and talk about the weather while we work. It’s a simple way to spend the day, and we are happy with how things are going. The sun sets right behind the building, which is the only time we really stop to look outside.