into the bejewelled jaipur

The Pink City is as much about the spectacular palaces as it is about the next in design. Navigate the chaotic bazaars to chic decor outposts in Jaipur that are a hub of craft and culture with Ayush Kasliwal, Nur Kaoukji, Shan Bhatnagar, Tahir Sultan, Siddharth Kasliwal and Devyani Singh

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AYUSH KASLIWAL

FOUNDER, AKFD AND ANANTAYA

Though I was born in Jaipur, I spent my initial years in a village in northern Ghana in West Africa. We had a guard who would come in the evening with reeds, and go back in the morning with a beautifully woven basket. It was a joy to see how beautifully made it was even back then. I went on to study at NID, and came back to Jaipur in 1996-97. It was a bit of a sleepy town back then, especially when it came to design. People weren’t even hiring architects, let alone hiring furniture designers. Discovering how and where the abundance of things were being made, all around the city, was one of the greatest joys for me.

One of my first `projects’ was for the Virasat foundation, exploring the craft of the Thatheras, in the Thatheron ka Mohalla, which was also the beginning of an in-depth engagement with the crafts of the city. Geetanjali joined me in 2001, post which we did some crazy projects, all over the world, including the Smithsonian FolkLife festival in Washington with Rajeev Sethi Scenographers, and a mosque in Boston. We worked with designers like Tom Dixon, developing and making products inspired by the craft heritage of our country. In 2005, we set up