Indore-based Rang Rage employs housewives, gets them international exposure
Rang Rage is a hand-painting design studio based in Indore. A niche design studio, Rang Rage decided to tap the hitherto unnoticed talent of housewives and the latter are now their most loyal employees. What’s more, their art is now travelling the world.
90% of Rang Rage’s total workforce of 60 in-house artists are housewives with a track-record of the most professional, the most dedicated and the most dependable employees. Take for instance, 31-year-old Manisha. She wakes up at 5 am every day to prepare meals for the family since she also has to leave at 8 am for school. She gets a call from Rang Rage about a last-minute order at 11 pm. Manisha stays awake until 2 am to finish it and gets it delivered on her way to school at the workshop.
How did Rang Rage find their stellar workforce?
Rang Rage founders Neeti and Gagan Jain, in an interesting twist in their lives, decided to delve into the business of hand-painted apparels and home décor. It was completely self funded. YourStory covered them back in 2013. Until then they had completed their first lot of orders with the help of a handful of Jaipur artists. However, the artists often lamented the plight of art in India and soon drifted away. When the couple moved to Indore, they had little hope of finding the right kind of artists for painting their range of apparels and home décor. But when their classified ads came out in the newspapers, they were surprised by the number of housewives who applied. What’s more, the women spread the word.
Each employee at Rang Rage has a heart-warming story of social stigma, oblivion and internal struggles. 40-year-old Nidhi Jain hails from a traditional joint family where women are not allowed to do any jobs.
When her children grew up, she returned to her long-lost love of art. However, she soon grew weary of the indifferent attitude of her family. And so when Rang Rage happened, she was ready to face opposition. Eventually her husband understood her passion for art and the recognition she received at the workshop. “Since Rang Rage pays me for each hand-painting assignment, even my relatives have started treating me with more respect,” testifies Nidhi.
“At these workshops, the women feel a sense of belongingness. We organize monthly gatherings and have inter-personal interactions to encourage them to come out of their shell and feel free,” shares Neeti.
Then there’s 26-year-old Divya who is usually found painting an apparel or a table clock while the rest of her family watches television. “Rang Rage allowed me to take work home. Ever since I have started waking up earlier than usual so I could finish my chores quickly and get back to painting,” she shares.
The Rang Rage model
Rang Rage sells hand-painted apparels like denims, tee shirts and home décor goods like table clocks, decorated bottles, cushion covers, mini paintings and accessories like sling bags, passport holders, handbags, clutches etc. through an e-commerce website. The artists are either paid on the basis of each assignment or they can choose to be on the rolls of Rang Rage on a monthly salary. What makes it exciting for the artists is that their art travels across the globe. They have found willing takers in Dubai, Oman, Singapore and the US. When a product is delivered at the doorsteps of a customer, he/she also gets a tiny card that tells the story of the artist who painted that particular product.
So who are their competitors? “Really nobody. There are a few Korean and Japanese professionals doing hand-painting on denim and other items but nobody has a business model like ours. This is a market that remains untapped and unorganized,” informs Gagan.
Other unsung artists and the social impact
Housewives are not the only artists here. And there’s no dearth of inspiring tales. One of the most remarkable ones is that of 39-year of Ramadal Tripathi, who hails from Satna district in Madhya Pradesh. Earlier, he earned his living by painting large advertising hoardings.
His finances were always dwindling. But because he had to continue his son’s education, he shifted to Indore. When he came to Rang Rage, he saw for the first time what a white collar job looked like. “I don’t have to go out in 44 degrees to paint a hoarding anymore. I sit inside this cozy workplace surrounded by what I love most – art,” he says.
At Rang Rage, Ramadal has the distinction of having the most controlled and balanced brush strokes. In addition, he is now a trainer who recently trained more than 100 artists in a series of workshops at a nearby village, Manawar.
Rang Rage has wall putty painters, peons, fine arts students, computer graphic designers in their team of artists who now have a respectable job and actual recognition. This kind of social impact couldn’t have happened overnight. “It takes 15-days to several months for a walk-in artist to really become good at hand-painting. We work with them through positive motivation. There have been times when Gagan and I would pack our dinnerbox, take our two-year-old daughter and deliver order parcels at the doors of our artists. We assured their families and counseled husbands,” recalls Neeti.
“From the time we employed these amazing artists, it ceased to be a business for us anymore. Our greatest reward is after a day’s work we hear some amazing tale about a certain artist or when we see the transformation of these hobbyists into professional painters,” concludes Gagan.
