Journeys and Jottings
People Make Places - Issue 20
“The rooms were very still while the pages were softly turned and the winter sunshine crept in to touch the bright heads and serious faces with a Christmas greeting.”
Louisa May Alcott
Season’s Greetings to all of you. The last issue of 2021 is here and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year well in advance. I am in this mood to just soak in the winter sunshine and embrace the warmth. I have also been my own Santa, gifting myself some lovely plants and planters. And amidst all the lush greenery, there is a dash of red in my balcony garden with the new poinsettias. When we speak of Christmas flora, we refer to the tradition of the Christmas tree, but the official flower, nay leaf of Christmas is that of the red poinsettias.
Hello and Welcome to the December issue of Journeys and Jottings. We are having just one issue this month as I am taking a break for the next three weeks and I will see you again in the next year. This issue is all about Red Poinsettias and Coloured Underwear, Christmas symbols, and New Year traditions. If you are wondering what is common between breaking plates and throwing furniture out of the window, then read on. We travel to Germany virtually as we meet the Plum People of Nuremberg. And I share my experience of the Christmas Markets there as well. And in People Make Places, we meet Sonali Pal and her husband Himanshu who manage 23 23 Design and they work with 32 groups and at any given point of time, they impact the livelihoods of over 1000 artisans, sometimes even 4000 of them across different clusters.
Legend of the Poinsettias
There is a beautiful legend behind these lovely red poinsettia flowers which are named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico who introduced these flowers to America in the 19th century. The flowers became so popular, that there is even a National Poinsettia Day celebrated in the US.
However, the story around the Christmas tradition is set in Mexico. A little girl named Papita was upset that she did not have anything to offer baby Jesus on Christmas Eve. An angel appeared before her and told her that Jesus would be happy with anything she gave with love. She sadly picked up some weeds that were growing near her home and left them in front of the Nativity Scene. Apparently, the weeds magically were transformed into beautiful red flowers that are referred to as poinsettias today. And they became a part of Christmas lore. Almost every Christmas tradition has a story and I found this fascinating article in Reader’s Digest (one of my all-time favourites - had a collection of these magazines at one time)
Breaking Plates, Throwing Furniture and Wearing Coloured Underwear
What is the common thread among them? Apparently, they are all weird New Year traditions, according to this fascinating article I stumbled upon. While I always thought that Breaking Plates was more of a Greek tradition, where they did it at weddings and ceremonies “ to apparently confuse evil spirits”, in Denmark, it’s more an activity to send good luck and vibes to their friends. So the good folks head to their friends’ homes and break plates in front of their front doors. The more number of broken plates apparently means more luck! While Italians throw furniture, even old carpets, and cushions to get a fresh start for the new year, in some South American countries, they apparently believe that the colour of their underwear decides their fortunes in the new year. Red, yellow, white - more quirky traditions in this interesting article.
Meet the Little Plum People of Nuremberg
I was at the Christmas Markets in Germany when I was introduced to the Little Plum People of Nuremberg. In a little wooden stall were small men and women, some wearing pretty hats and carrying baskets and holding weighing scales filled with sweets. If you got up close, you would notice that they were actually made of prunes and plums, raisins and figs and nuts.
These Prune Men are called Zwetcshgenmännle and they are as old as the Nuremberg Christmas Markets themselves. In the 17th century, locals believed that if they kept them at the windows of their homes, no harm would come to them. Believe it or not, the lores surrounding these little people made them more delicious.
To know more about the Christmas Markets, the lores and traditions, and the food and wine trail, read on the blog
People Make Places
I met Sonali Pal on an online session with the National Council Members of WICCI Rural Council, of which we are both members. And later I stumbled upon her Social Enterprise, 23 23 Designs, and was in awe of the work she and her husband, Himanshi Pal did to generate livelihoods and income generation opportunities for the marginalized community, especially in rural India. Sonali says it’s a “crusade” for them as the focus is on women empowerment but livelihoods opportunities are for everyone, she adds.
Sonali and Himanshu Pal are the Co-Founders of their Social Enterprise 23:23 Designs & Sourcing and they both come from a Design Industry background, with 20+ years of varied experience(Individually) in the Craft Sector, Design Academics, Fashion Retail, & Exports.
Sonali is a Masters in Design from NIFT (Delhi) with a background in Design - Training – Business, working in areas of Strategic Tie Ups in the Craft and Social Development Sector and has extensively worked with the textile weaver cluster
Himanshu is an experienced leader in building brands and in implementing project collaborations and his expertise lies in Business Strategy and Planning mainly in the Design and Apparel sector both in Exports and in the Domestic Market.
While Sonali is fond of painting and doodling and visiting craft fairs, Himanshu enjoys reading biographies, is a history buff, likes watching documentaries and war movies amd loves to travel and cook too.
I chatted with Sonali and she shared the inspiration behind 23 23 Designs.
1. How did it all begin for both of you?
23:23 came into existence when I was working with a few NGOs, who had their own Social Enterprises. I realized that the funds and the resources were not being utilized the right way. One of the biggest gaps is Market Linkages and understanding what product to be sold where and at what price. With our extensive commercial experiences, we were confident that starting our own enterprise would have a higher impact on the community.
2. Tell us a bit about the work that you do and how the project came about?
23:23 Designs is a young start-up, we started unofficially in 2017 with just me at the helm. Then Himanshu took the big decision of quitting his corporate job and joining me. Today we are 3.5 years old with three verticals of business.
-Promoting & Manufacturing Handcrafted Artisanal Products – B2B & B2C models
-Skill development & Training, Education & Pedagogy, Knowledge Transmission
-Sustainable Packaging Solutions & Products
Our Core Business has always been a B2B business, and somewhere down the line, we did want to start our sustainable stationery brand. All designing and sampling were ready and we had plans to launch our brand online, our website was in the beta stage and then COVID happened.
The world came to a standstill, but it gave us time to rethink our strategy, so instead of investing in our own product, we thought of starting an online marketplace to support other social enterprises like us, who need a dedicated platform for selling, and so in March 2021, www.2323designs.in was launched. Currently, we have 45 sellers on board, each one of them is either a social enterprise or a homegrown brand. We aggressively and actively promote all our sellers and also work in the B2B model with them. Our website has a wide range of product offerings from Food, Beauty & Care, Home Décor & Home Furnishings, Saris & Stoles, Sustainable Stationery, Toys and Games, Bags & Jewelry & much more. We will soon be launching the apparel line too.
We also have a small quaint sustainable store in Delhi. You will love the vibe and the little sustainable and organic gifts you will not find at the commercial markets. These products are by homegrown brands personally curated from Pan India.
3. What is the inspiration behind the company?
Our Motto is - "PEOPLE | PLANET | PARTNERSHIPS“
We want to empower artisans by building and improving upon their relevant capacities through skill development and training.
We are storytellers.
We believe the people, skills, and heritage behind each product are just as beautiful as the product itself. These stories deserve to be told and revisited, and we endeavor to be as transparent as possible in the storytelling part.
Our work respects people and the planet.
The use of up-cycled, handmade, and vintage materials is the foundation for our designs. We partner with a careful selection of organizations and directly with artisans to ensure we are offering livelihood opportunities to men and women equally who need it the most, and that all artisans are paid fairly and well treated.
We revolve around sustainability.
For our customers, aesthetics with sustainable solutions is the core value of our products.
4. Why 23:23? What’s the story behind the name?
What’s in a name? EVERYTHING….for us at least.
There are many social enterprises in India now, doing good and making an impact, we are one amongst them. But people do remember us, not just for the good we are doing but also for our unique name and as mentioned before, we are storytellers too…and this story is our favorite one….
23:23(Twenty Three: Twenty Three), is based on the concept of Synchronicity.
Synchronicity is a concept, which holds that events are "meaningful coincidences "if they occur with no causal relationship yet seem to be meaningfully related. The founders of 23:23 Designs saw double digits in timepieces, vehicles number plates, and many more “Meaningful Coincidences”. Synchronicity made us conscious of little occurrences and we saw them as signs of being on the right path for the greater good. The universe winks and nods at you from time to time, to let you know that you are treading on the path of doing good. Once you start noticing these little cosmic signs, you will begin to see them everywhere. We believe that our unconscious yearning to give back to the community and planet led us to a conscious effort of starting 23:23 Designs & Sourcing.
5. Share a few stories of your favourite products and artisan groups
Real Flower Petals on Wax or Paper for instance is one of our favourites. Flowers are picked from Phoolon ki Mandi and temples by women artisans, shade dried, and then meticulously with nimble fingers cut into delicate shapes to make stunning creatives on products. We got associated with the cluster around 4 or 5 years back and we are proud to say that we have supported them through tough times especially during the covid lockdown and although we have not really mapped the business worth we have given them over the years, it has definitely made an impact on their livelihoods.
6. How can people help artisan communities. .
Simple ways to begin with by buying from them and not bargaining with them on prices. They can also support social enterprises like us. But these artisans need support in other ways too. Give some of your time to teach them skills. Donate in kind, like stitching machines, raw materials, tools. Above all connect them further to people who can help in finance management, skill development, business development.
Order your Christmas gifts now on 23 23 Designs and you can follow them on Insta and FB.
Travel News and Views
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