I am the co founder of Avani Society, an NGO working in the Indian Himalayas. Our work has focussed on creating livelihood opportunities for Himalayan women in remote rural areas through revival of traditional craft, promotion of appropriate technology and farm based activities. We work with reviving the traditional craft of hand spinning, hand weaving and natural dyeing.  Avani has facilitated the setting up of a producer owned cooperative called Kumaon Earthcraft Self Reliant Cooperative that produces and markets high quality hand made textiles in natural fibres and natural dyes. This enterprise has provided stable livelihoods to rural women and school drop out girls for the past 20 years. Earthcraft also produces plant based dyes with farmers including natural indigo thereby regenerating biodiversity, increasing forest cover and reclaiming wastelands. We have pioneered the cultivation of indigo in the Indian Himalayas.

We work extensively with development and dissemination of appropriate technologies like rainwater harvesting, waste water recycling, clean energy and organic farming. Our work with clean energy includes solar as well as production of electricity and charcoal with gasification of pine needles. This work addresses the problem of forest fires in the Himalayas.

Education of rural children is also one of our initiatives. We have set up a child friendly learning centre that takes care of primary schooling and holistic development of the children.