Bagru Chhipa Hand Block

In Bagru, an hour from Jaipur, my community — the Chhipas — has hand-block printed cloth with natural dyes for over 300 years.

We carve our own teak blocks, ferment iron and jaggery for black, and dye with indigo, madder root and pomegranate rind. The river, the sun and the syahi-begar mud are all part of the recipe.

Fast fashion nearly ended this. I stayed because a metre of true dabu-print cloth carries the hand of six people and the patience of a whole season.