Voices for Local with Monisha Singh Katial

This week, on Voices For Local , we have Mandavi Kanchan, the Founder and Creative Head of Bruijn on the show. Bruijn offers nourishing, gourmet delights which are modern interpretations of classic dried fruits & nuts. Mandavi tells Monisha more about growing up around her family’s homegrown small business, her key learnings like perseverance, adapting her father’s traditional sweet treats for...

On this episode of Voices For Local , Monisha continues her foray into the F&B industry, by speaking to the founder of a brand that’s been on everyone’s mind, everyone’s lips and everyone’s Instagram feeds. We have Rahul Reddy, Co-Founder of Subko Specialty Coffee Roasters on the show this week, and he opens up to Monisha about Subko was created to be a bigger movement than just a business for him...

We’re travelling in a new direction on this episode, and not just because the brand we’re featuring on the show today is based in Kashmir. Happy to announce that Voices For Local will now be eating and drinking its way into the food & beverage industry! To kick this off, Monisha speaks to Chris Zandee, the founder of Himalayan Products, who makes natural artisan cheese from fresh Himalayan milk. I...

This week, on Voices For Local , Monisha gets into conversation with Samriddh Burman, founder of The Burlap People, that works with third and fourth generation indigenous craftspeople to develop aesthetically pleasing, high quality, sustainable-crafted products made out of natural fibres such as jute and cotton, combined with salvaged leather. Samriddh gives us a background on jute and how they us...

Today, on Voices For Local , Monisha speaks to Santanu Das, the founder of Maku Textiles, a textile and clothing label that has its roots in the slow fiber movement and the use of handwoven cloth. Santanu explains his emotional connect to jamdani and Dhakai, creating a global community of clients, why he wanted to revive an artform like Tangail, having a collaborative working relationship with wea...

On this episode, Monisha chats with Tanvi Agarwal, the Founder and Creative Head at House of Ekam, that curates a catalogue of one of a kind, handcrafted home furnishings & decor directly sourced directly from artisans across India. Tanvi tells us about how her father instilled the importance of financial independence in her, on her sourcing experiences travelling across the country, encouraging t...

Monisha gets into conversation with Poornima Garg, the owner and creative head of Home Neera, a brand that creates handwoven art dhurries inspired by everyday narratives, on this episode of Voices For Local . Poornima gives us a background on what these traditional handwoven rugs really are, the moment she got her first dhurrie made, the birth of Home Neera as a brand, convincing the women of Punj...

This week, on Voices For Local, Monisha gets into conversation with Mallika Reddy, who believes cancelled plans lead to the best outcomes. Naturally, she named her sustainable streetwear fashion brand… you guessed it – Cancelled Plans. She tells Monisha what it’s like experimenting and using unconventional materials, like the time she created a jacket made out of condoms. Monisha asks her how her...

On this episode of Voices For Local , Monisha gets into conversation with Dhruva Patel. She is the founder of Studio Wildflower, a home decor and accessories studio based in Ahmedabad, that hand crafts ceramicware, rugs, scarfs, glassware, and tableware, inspired by nature. Monisha asks her about how her tryst with ceramics began, and feeling connected to nature by using the four elements in her c...

Voices For Local heads (virtually, of course) to the Northeastern state of Mizoram on this episode, as we meet Patricia Zadeng, the founder of Lapâr, a contemporary textile brand. Patricia tells Monisha more about the meaning behind the name Lapâr, the significance of the Mizo puan and how long it takes to weave one, the challenges local Mizo weaver women have to go through, and how she aims to ma...

On Voices for Local this week, Monisha is joined by Kevisedenuo Margaret Zinyu from Kohima Nagaland. She is the founder of Woven Threads, a design initiative to encourage, support and mentor the women of Nagaland to sustain their roots by preserving the unique tradition of weaving. Margaret opens up to Monisha about her move from the corporate world to home decor, gives us a look into Nagaland’s h...

Monisha speaks to mother-daugher duo Indu Menon and Chitra Gopalakrishnan on this episode of Voices for Local. They are the co-founders of Kara Weaves, a social enterprise working with co-operatives in Kerala to create fair-trade handwoven textiles. They share what it’s been like working with over 800 weavers from these local weaving co-ops across the state, how they reinvented the traditional Ker...

This week, on Voices for Local , Monisha has sister duo Divya & Pragya Batra on the show to talk about their handcrafted silver jewellery brand Quirksmith. They narrate the story behind their design philosophy " Apne jazbaat peheniye ", and why Divya zeroed in on working with silver. Pragya tells us more about their best-sellers, and they share some advice for art-oriented and creative entrepreneu...

On this episode of Voices for Local , let’s see how a Delhi-based design studio takes the humble chair and makes it into a signature piece of art for your very own living room. Monisha chats with the founder of limón, Aradhana Anand, who tells her what got her thinking about upholstering Indian handloom saris onto chairs, how she decides which weaves to patch together onto a chair, where she sourc...

This week, on Voices for Local , Monisha is in conversation with Daisy Tanwani, the Founder & CEO of Pinklay, a brand dealing in comfortable clothing and striking home furnishings. Daisy tells Monisha what it’s like to work with the director of her company (who also happens to be her husband), facing regressive gender roles and prejudice from suppliers, vendors and artisans while starting Pinklay,...

For this episode of Voices for Local , Monisha makes her way down the Malabar coast to Kerala, to speak to Sreejith Jeevan, the Founder and Head of Design, Rouka. He tells Monisha about how he started to look at a Kasavu sari through a global lens, how he aims to making it relevant in more ways than one, making Indian festivals his muse, and challenging narratives that craft should never change. S...

Today, on Voices for Local , Monisha is back with a brand that makes her favourite outfit ever - the sari. She speaks to the co-founders of Suta, Sujata and Taniya Biswas, who gave up their corporate life to pursue their passion. The sister duo tells Monisha what it was like to grow up in Odisha and West Bengal seeing women wear saris everyday, how they manage to work with around 16,000 weavers an...

On this episode of Voices For Local , Monisha gets into conversation with Shaan Shah, the co-founder of denim apparel brand FREAKINS. Shaan opens up about being an entrepreneur in his early 20s, entering the D2C (direct-to-consumer) space, and starting the brand to address the issue of denims from international brands not catering to the body type and skin tones of Indian women. He also tells us m...

This week, Monisha is looking at walls. No, really. Voices For Local steps into the world of home decor on this episode, as Monisha speaks to the Founder & Managing Partner of Kalakaari Haath, Sahiba Madan. Kalakaari Haath is a design studio that makes beautiful wallpapers, wall arts and decals in traditional prints. Sahiba tells Monisha about using design as a medium of storytelling, the story be...

On the show today, Monisha is in conversation with Saumya Somesh, the marketing coordinator of Ahilya, a hand-painted apparel brand established only last year by her mother Shalini Jain. Aiming to combine India’s century old weaving traditions with contemporary style, Saumya tells us the journey of setting up Ahilya – the brainchild of a non-profit with the aim of providing women with new skill se...

Today, on Voices For Local , we feature the first online custom shirt brand in India – Bombay Shirt Company. Its dynamic founder Akshay Narvekar speaks to Monisha about gamifying the process of custom-designing your own shirt using a unique algorithm, making it through a pandemic in which people were stuck at home not wearing shirts to work or parties, acquiring brands looking to scale up and givi...

On this episode of Voices For Local, Monisha gets into conversation with dadi-poti duo from Delhi, Sheela & Yukti Bajaj, who started Caught Craft Handed during the lockdown. Sheela knits and crochets a whole range of “handcrafted with love” products, while her granddaughter Yukti runs the business through social media. They tell me about their most popular products, their biggest challenge, giving...

This week, on Voices For Local , Monisha chats with Kena Shah, the founder of the Ahmedabad-based trendy clothing brand Inara. Kena shares stories of growing up always trying to upgrade her school uniform with folds and knots, which then manifested in doing a fashion-based project during her MBA, and finally in her own label. She also told Monisha about the emphasis on fabrics at Inara, following...

On this Earth Day Special episode of Voices For Local , Monisha speaks to Nikita Barmecha, the co-founder of EcoRight, a brand that, in their own words, makes products that make the planet happy. They use organic materials to create sustainable, trendy bags of all kinds – from totes and crossbody bags to backpacks and grocery bags. Nikita tells Monisha about how the brand’s co-founder, her husband...

On the 20th episode of Voices For Local , we’re celebrating a brand that’s commemorating its very own 20. This year marks 20 years of Kama Ayurveda, a brand that promotes India’s age-old practice of wellness through its authentically-made, luxurious products. Monisha sits down with CEO & Co-Founder Vivek Sahni, who takes her through the genesis of the brand, the extensive R&D process for Ayurveda...