Pratibha Krishnaiah

Co-Founder

Pratibha Krishnaiah is a young professional from Banglore who moved to the village of Khetikan in 2015.

She has made her mission to improve the lives of women in the village of Khetikhan and surrounding villages. She is training them, organizing them and teaching them how to change their lives.

She is working side by side with the ladies and leading them to economic independence. Himalyan Blooms is as much a story of the ladies of the village as it is about sacrifices she has made to uplift the village.

Joginder Kundra

Co-Founder

There is a saying that “magic always finds those who believe in it” that is Joginder Kundra for you. Words cannot do justice to this amazing spirt. He has been a contributor to humanitarian causes for decades, and embodies the goodness that still exists in this world.

After reading an article about my work and following a few phone conversations, he had trust to visit this remote village at the foothills of Himalayas to work on a project for empowering its people. Age has never been a barrier for him, as he travels across the world, regardless of the harsh hilly terrains. In that first visit, Mr. Kundra spent ten days learning and understanding about the people and their locality. From that point forward, he has been an integral part of this project supporting it financially and spearheading it in every way possible. His selfless involvement has added both warmth and momentum, all at once.

It is tough to keep up with Mr. Kendra’s energy and enthusiasm and we, the team here at Khetikhan, cannot help but get inspired and influenced greatly by his persona. Someone, I look up to. Always.

As he always says, “Let’s all succeed together”.– Pratibha Krishnaiah

Anil Gupta

A Partner In-change

On our very first display of Khetikhan products in Houston, Texas,USA, at Arya Samaj of Greater Houston, Anil Gupta came as a customer to select few pieces for his family. Not only he bought the handmade items, he was moved by the resolve of the Himalayan women to market their generational knitting skills to improve the economic conditions of their families. The same evening Anil Gupta joined the movement to empower women.

From that day in January 2016 Anil Gupta became the team player and with team participation Himalayan Blooms USA was formed. He energized the team, injected new ideas and has been bringing in new resources to enhance the concept he strongly believes in, “Make the world a Noble place”.

In October Anil Gupta made his trip to Khetikhan. He spent few days with the knitters, and was greatly impressed by the high-quality products they were making and is all inspired. This has further motivated the ladies to continue on the path of economical independence.

After 20 years at sea Anil Gupta now lives in Houston with his wife, has five children, and two grandchildren. His family not only support his effort, but also join him to conduct sales at the exhibitions in the city of Houston to promote Himalayan Blooms products. Anil Gupta would do whatever it takes to make the change.

Dhanashree BM

A Partner In-change

While in the village of Khetikhan, in early 2016, I received a call from Ms. Dhanashree BM from my home town Bangalore. I had met her few times before, but only as an acquaintance. Dhanashree expressed her desire to visit me in the village, spend some time to enjoy the beauty of the Himalayan Mountains, seeing the village life and what I was doing away from home. Just like many other people expressing their desire to come and help that rarely matures into action, I just filed it away. To my pleasant surprise Dhanashree not just came, she spent well over a month in Khetikhan, got immediately acclimated to the place, the weather and got herself totally immersed with the work the knitters from the area doing. Dhanashree started taking the product pictures, cataloguing them into spreadsheets for generating product folders, arranging for invoicing and inventory of finished product.

She would look up for the designs from the internet, paying attention to the minutest details to help the knitters adapting to the new designs. Her attention to the smallest of the details turns everything she works on to a marvel. Her visit to the village has all the ladies going gaga over her strength, dedication and grace. Despite her fulltime job in Bangalore, she continues to support us.

Dhanashree believes, “The best way to predict your future is to CREATE it”. Since her visit to Khetikhan, Dhanashree has become a valued friend that we can depend upon for help, and a partner to change.