A cut above

Kriti: Action, doing Kalā: Art, craft Enter the Kritikala store in Hyderabad, and if you are silent, you might hear each product — the Kalamkari skirt or the Mangalagiri laptop sleeve—echoing the laughter of the women who made them. Take, for instance, 34-year-old Shabnam, who works as a tailor at Kritikala for the past three years, supplementing her husband’s income. “I look forward to coming here every day. It’s like a family—we laugh and play, and pull each other’s legs,” she says, peppering her entire conversation with laughs and giggles. It is tough to believe that before joining Kritikala, she had never gone anywhere by herself, forget bringing in income.