Sakib Ansari and his family weave beautiful cotton-silk and silk sarees in the region of Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh.  Here's what he has to say:

"The craft has been passed down in our family for generations. We have been making Chanderi sarees since 1980. Our grandfather used to weave the sarees, then our father learned the craft from him, and eventually he taught us.

Chanderi is not just the name of a saree:  this saree is the pride of Chanderi.

Each saree is made very carefully and patiently, and it takes around 8–10 days to complete. Both the warp and the weft are made from silk. The saree is woven using very fine threads, and it takes two people working together to complete one saree.

This is how the tradition of weaving Chanderi sarees has continued in our family from our grandfather’s time, and we hope to carry it forward for generations to come.

We are weavers ourselves. We make the sarees and sell them directly from our home."

As told to Tanvi from team TC - translated from Hindi.