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Zishta : Our Story
Zishta was started with a vision to revive traditions from where it originated centuries earlier and those that have immense utility value in our day to day lives. Our approach is to leverage traditional wisdom in making our homes more environment friendly and holistic. Zishta is authentic to the traditions by working with the same cluster of rural artisans who have been hand crafting these products using traditional techniques mastered by their ancestors and passed along.
Zishta is about building a family of believers who will be the future "Guardians of Traditional Wisdom". We travel to nook and corner of our country, spend time with the artisans and the local people, understand the traditional value & authenticity and document to make sure such wealth of knowledge is available for everyone.
We take the authentic traditions to the next level by testing the products for its purity in the modern world. We test all our products in an independent NABL accredited lab and all the traditional products brought out by Zishta comply with RoHS standards (Restriction of Hazardous Substances).
We have revived over 100 products today and work with artisans from across the country including, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, West Bengal, Assam and Manipur. Examples are: Tin vessel from Kumbakonam in Tamilnadu, copper water pots from Maharashtra, Sengottai dosa tawa made of first grade iron, handmade Uruli from Alappuzha district of Kerala, natural river grass mat called Madur mats from West Bengal, Vetti ver (Lavancha) curtains from Karnataka, lamps made as per vedic scriptures from Nachiar kovil in Tamilnadu, Iron rich vessels called black pottery from Manipur, kansa or bell metal serving utensils from Orissa, Neem wood cutleries from West Bengal and many more.
Our approach to reviving traditions
- We do not work with manufacturing units or middlemen. We directly work only with the artisans who make the products by hand in a traditional way. And we have been able to trace their work to at least 7-8 generations.
- Our Journey starts with documenting traditional knowledge from different communities, spend a lot of time on research to understand the traditions in depth, its value and relevance for our times.
- The next phase involves extensive travel in search of the original artisans who have been involved in making these products for generations. This is most extensive phase of our work so as to maintain the authenticity and stay true to our brand promise.
- We test these products at our homes to understand usage and make sure it passes our home test. Only those that pass our home test gets tested for their purity and launched under the Zishta brand.
About the founders of Zishta Inc
Archish Mathe Madhavan has years of experience as a marketing professional working with large Multi National giants in key leadership roles. His passion for travel and hiking got him hooked to the idea of reviving traditions and create sustainable living for a better environment and a better world for the future generations. He along with like-minded individuals founded Zishta. He loves to work with different artisan communities to catalog and preserve the traditional knowledge. He is passionate to travel to the rural areas, document the details of the artisans and their work. His vision is to make Zishta "the knowledge" repository of all traditional knowledge that resides with different communities and make it available to everyone.
Meera Ramakrishnan : after 22 years in corporate, and having held senior leadership positions in leading MNCs decided to step out and learn something completely different. I owe my independence, strength, boldness, capability, knowledge and much more to my 2 decades in corporate. The thirst to do more, learn more, create something more meaningful was the seed sown for a venture outside corporate world. The trigger for bringing back traditions was born while on a trip with my parents to villages near my hometown. My father, who was 70 years then, narrated stories about the villages, their culture and how the traditions are getting lost over time. That was my inflection point to realize that our culture is built on our traditions and there are people like me who value such traditions and would want to embrace them even today. And that's how the new journey began with 2 likeminded people. .
Varishta Sampath is an avid sportswoman who dreamt of being an entrepreneur and Zishta gave her the right impetus. At 22 and fresh out of college, she was very clear that she did not want to do anything mundane and a desk job but wanted to pursue something in her life that makes her days more interesting & useful. She decided that her path is not the regular corporate world but took the bold decision to become an entrepreneur as her heart lies in the idea of preserving our traditions. Passionate about preserving our traditions, she tirelessly works towards building a strong network of artisans and works with them in improving their capabilities. A live-wire who fuels Zishta with her energy and enthusiasm. She manages entire operations to make sure the best products reaches your home.
Company Name : Zishta Inc