Pondicherry Pudumai Handicrafts Artisans Co-Op. Society Ltd.

Our society is right on Beach Road, just across from where the Gandhi Statue stands. It is a very well-known part of Pondicherry and you can usually feel the breeze coming off the ocean which is nice during the hotter months. Being the Pondicherry Pudumai Handicrafts Artisans Co-Op. Society Ltd. means we have a lot of different hands involved in what we do. The building is an old one and it has that specific coastal feel to it. You can see the tourists walking by the statue all day long while we are inside working. We have a lot of local artisans who come through the doors to bring their work. The space is filled with all sorts of things they have made. It isn't a very organized place, to be honest. There are boxes and piles of crafts in almost every corner. We spend a lot of time just sorting through things and talking to the people who make them. The atmosphere is pretty relaxed and we don't have any of those corporate rules you find in the city. We open the doors and let the sea air in and just get on with the day's tasks. Sometimes it gets a bit crowded when a lot of people visit at once, but we just make room. It is a community thing more than anything else and we’ve been part of this street for a long time. It is a busy life but we enjoy it.