Hi from Kaira

When I refer to crafts in my collection, I almost always trip on the word 'product', falter for few seconds and then try to rephrase it as 'item' or 'artifact' (I must admit that you would still spot me using the word at several places in this site!). There is nothing wrong, per se, in using the word 'product'; but if you have watched a craftsman at work, you might share my hesitation to use the word.
                 'Product' conjures up an image of something made in a factory. An assembly line, where hundreds of people work on various small parts/pieces, mostly without a clue of how the final product would look like or where his part fits in. A 'product' seems to have nothing human about it, it seems like an inanimate object with no relevance in the spiritual and emotional realm of one's being. And that is probably why a 'product' is not the best way to refer to any handicraft item.
                 Craftsmen, unlike workers in an assembly line, have a very clear vision of what they are creating. Yes, every piece is a 'creation', which is first born in the mind of the artisan, then finds a physical form in the 'rupa' (shape), 'pramana' (proportion) and 'varna' (colour) prescribed by its creator; expressed in a style determined by age-old traditions, myths, rituals, lifestyle and festivals.
                 “India's rural arts are the visual expression and technological processes of people living at several cultural, religious and sociological levels. They are the art of the settled village and countryside, of people with lives tuned to the rhythm of nature and its laws, and with a central concern with the earth and harvesting....” - Pupul Jayakar