Plants & Paper Bags To Diwali Hampers: Buy All Things Handmade From This NGO

Located in Madurdaha behind Kolkata's Ruby Hospital, Dakshini Prayash is an NGO that provides skill training to the women of the community in an attempt to make them financially independent.

The organisation calls in experts to train these women to make sustainable products like dusters, paper bags, cards, cushion covers, different kinds of plants, envelopes and wrapping paper. They've got a Grow with Love initiative that promotes plants as gift options. From indoor air purifying plants like sansevieria and money plant to beautiful marigolds, they've got it all set in sustainable and beautifully designed plant holders made of paper, tin, jute, bamboo, plastic, brass, cardboard, wood and cane.

I also loved the handmade cushion covers and the bags with attractive patterns and floral designs on them. Find a handcrafted range of kantha and jute tote bags, potli bags, jute wallets, multi-purpose ones as well as different kinds of paper bags (rice paper, handmade, craft, brown paper, newspaper) at pocket-friendly rates. The paper bags have hand-block printed or screen printed designs on them while the cloth bags and cushion covers are hand embroidered.

Prices start as low as INR 10 for the paper bags and INR 250 for the cushion covers and planters. The cloth bags start at INR 150.

This year, the NGO has come up with boxes of love priced at INR 650 for a green and sustainable Diwali. These boxes contain four plantable diyas (that grow into beautiful plants like calendula, wheatgrass, sunflowers and marigolds), two upcycled bandhanwars  (handmade organza flowers) and two DIY reusable rangoli kits (comprising two big yellow flowers, one medium pink flower, six leaves and one small flower) that you can use to create rangoli on table tops, window ledges or on the floor.

They deliver all products, except the plants, all across India. Want to buy their products? Get in touch via email (dakshiniprayash@gmail.com) or Instagram. You can also call them on +91 9830949705, +91 9831364696 or +91 9831713504 for deets and orders.