15 years back, she first started a social welfare organisation for artisans in India which now has its member network of around 50,000 artisans. Her strong determination and dedication has resulted in building the foundation for brand Deshaj. She is a writer, researcher and social reformer who has actively worked with women artisans of India, supported by the Government of India. Her vision is to create strong and self sustainable models for the deprived and backward classes of the society, especially women artisans.

Kolkata based artist & designer, Gopal Poddar was always passionate about Indian Traditional art and culture. This even led him out of his home comfort at times and travel to interior parts of our country to explore the richness of these traditional art forms.

With an experience of 25 years in the field of art and craft, Gopal is a well known artist and architectural designer from Kolkata. He has travelled every corner of India in the search of rare crafts and master artisans belonging to the cultural roots of this magical land. He is also the Chief Creative Director for brand Deshaj and looks after the product development and design management process. His vision for the development of Indian art and craft has been the cause for multiple livelihood generation models for artisans, specially women.
 

He is an award-winning bilingual Sri Lankan novelist, poet and blogger and the only Sri Lankan writer to receive the Sri Lankan State Literary Award for the best English novel thrice and was awarded the SAARC Literary Award in 2013. His association with brand Deshaj started with his creative and philosophical interpretation of the name ‘Deshaj’. He has been a wonderful friend and guide towards creation a social revolution, reforming justice and dignity for artisans of Deshaj family. His love for pure, organic, handmade and eco-friendly traditional products is truly unconditional.

An art connoisseur, antique crafts collector, film maker, product designer and most interestingly a spiritual guru who has been travelling the world extensively. His experience and knowledge is like an ocean which helps sail Deshaj to reach new destinations and horizons. His spiritual insights and lessons have been an integral part in building the core values, ethics and principals for brand Deshaj. As a true guide, he shares the responsibility to develop Deshaj globally and generate numerous livelihoods for artisans throughout India.

A true follower of Kabir; the 15th-century Indian mystic poet and saint, Debji is one of the most passionate and dedicated weaver artisan whose love for craft sets a true example for others. His brilliance and skill has been recognised by the Indian Government with the National Award in Textile Craft. Being the Principal Artisan for brand Deshaj, his expert suggestions and skills are like a treasure trove for developing various high quality products.

A project director’s vision enriches the aim of the project. As a student of philosophy her thought process, monitoring and keen interest for traditional art and craft has helped the brand. She has been a strong pillar for this organization. She is currently applying her experience and knowledge in implementing and developing the lives of the thousand artisans, with the vision to promote handicraft and handloom in every corner of the world.

Playing the most important role isn’t easy. He has been a strong pillar in the construction of brand Deshaj, starting from merely nothing to something. He takes care of all the accounts management, financial planning, budgeting and e-commerce. He also plans for the socio-economic development of the backward classes and rural artisans associated with brand Deshaj and it’s various self-sustainable models.

We have a strong social media Team that handles our media content and promotes reach.We want our work to reach to as many public as possible. A strong social media presence can boast our sale and in turn help our artisans. 

Plays a significant role in digital media strategising. He has become an important piller of the organization. He takes care of all digital marketing strategy and helps to promote reach in media platforms. He takes care of our digital media planning and execution to bring potential customers and promotes our products to larger audience.

She has been working as an integral part of the team since 2016. She first came as an intern. She started as our  photographer and content creator and later as a videographer.

 She has documented several craft oriented programmes for SC ST and OBC Development and Finance Corporation of West Bengal and has made documentaries based on our training programs in CFC(Common Facility Centre) Debanandapur, Bolpur, Birbhum.