"The fire bends to my will. But life? That has always been harder to tame."

I was ten when I first touched fire. Not out of mischief, but out of duty. My father was a metalsmith, his father before him, and so it was written—I too, would learn to shape metal. But learning was never easy. The first time I held the tongs, the heat bit my hands so hard I swore I’d never touch metal again. But my father just smiled and said, "Real work leaves scars, but also strength."

I didn’t understand it then, but I do now.

For thirty years, my hands have worked with fire, molding brass and copper into something that graces homes, temples, and now, across the seas. But there were years when my hands barely earned enough to feed my family.

The world has changed. Machines now do what took me days to perfect. Cheap, fast, and soulless. Many of my friends left the craft, seeking work in factories, in cities. I stayed. Not because I had a choice, but because this craft is all I know. It is my blood, my name, my very existence.

Then Namastey came. Not with promises of riches, but with something I hadn’t felt in years—hope. They saw value in my work, in my people, in our hands. Orders started coming in, not just from traders who haggled us down to pennies, but from people who truly appreciated what we do.

I now teach my son this craft—not as a burden, but as a gift. A gift that, thanks to Namastey, has a future again.

Saubhagya – The Fire Bender

"A hammer, a flame, and a vision—this is all I have ever known, and all I have ever needed."

I was born into the rhythm of hammering metal. Before I could read, I knew the weight of a hammer, the smell of hot brass, the song of metal meeting fire. My father’s hands, thick with calluses, shaped idols for temples. I thought he was a magician. How else could a block of metal turn into something divine?

I wanted to be just like him. But magic, I learned, comes with a price.

By the time I was 18, my father’s eyesight had faded, his hands no longer steady. The work fell on me. The money never stretched far enough. Some days, the fire in our workshop burned bright; other days, it barely flickered.

I thought of leaving, of finding work in a factory, but how could I? How do you abandon a craft that flows in your veins?

Namastey found me when I was on the edge of giving up. They didn’t just give me work; they gave me dignity. They told my story, shared my craft with people who cared. Now, my hands still hold the hammer, but with pride, not just survival.

I don’t want to be the last in my family to do this work. I want my son to see, to believe, that there is still magic in this world. And that it can be shaped with fire and love.

Rajesh – The Magician of Metal

"Where others see brass and copper, I see elegance waiting to be uncovered."

People don’t expect to see a woman in metalwork. I see it in their eyes when they enter our workshop—the flicker of surprise, the hesitation. They expect a man with sooty hands, not a woman in a crisp saree, sketching designs on paper.

My journey wasn’t easy. My father was a metal artisan, and my mother was the strongest woman I knew. But even she told me, "This work is not for girls."

I didn’t listen. I studied design in the city, far from the world I grew up in. But the more I learned about modern design, the more I longed for the old ways, for the raw beauty of handcrafted metal. I returned home, determined to blend the old with the new.

But change is not easy. Convincing my own people that a woman could lead in this craft was harder than learning the art itself. Work was scarce. My ideas were different. Traders wanted bulk, fast, cheap. I wanted perfection, patience, beauty.

Then Namastey came. They didn’t ask me to change. They embraced my designs, my vision. They gave my work a place, my voice a platform. Now, my pieces travel far beyond our town, finding homes in places I’ve never seen.

I don’t just want to make metalware. I want to change how people see it. And maybe, just maybe, change how they see women in this craft too.

Megha – The Woman Who Sees Beauty in Metal