Who Are We at Manas Ghorai?

It's December. A time when the world around prepares to slowly bid farewell to what was and looks forward to what’s to come. There’s a slight nip in the air, and the winter chill is preparing to ease into the city. As I ponder the year that has gone by, a question begins to play in my head - Who are we at Manas Ghorai?

As a multitude of possible responses cross my mind, I realise that the answer to this is too layered for a single word.

Am I a brand? A designer? An artist’s impulse made tangible? Or perhaps a living, breathing movement shaped by the hands of Bengal’s weavers? A quiet moment of introspection, and the jumbled thoughts begin to give some clarity — Manas Ghorai is all of these things, and yet something more profound.

It is the quiet hum of a loom in a village courtyard and the cotton being spun between familiar palms. It is the scent of natural dyes steeped by families who have inherited craft as one inherits memory and the belief that heritage is not meant to be preserved behind glass, but worn, touched, lived in, and carried forward.

My vision for Manas Ghorai is more than just a name; it is a collective heartbeat. A vision rooted in research, experiment, recreation, dignity and design. A journey where tradition and modernity are not opposites, but partners. And at the centre of this journey sits a simple yet powerful question: Who am I?

Am I a brand?

For me, a brand is not only a cleverly crafted name with a logo. Instead, it is a lens, a way of seeing, making, and speaking to the world with clarity and conviction.

For almost a decade, I’ve devoted myself to a slow, handcrafted textile tradition that carries its own quiet rhythm and unmistakable sensibility. And over the years, my creative philosophy, evolving aesthetic, and an in-depth approach to textile research have woven themselves into a language, one that people have come to recognise even before they see my name.

So, yes, I am a brand. Not because I chose to call myself one, but because my work, its values, its intentions, its textures have spoken for me. People recognise who I am through what I create, and in that recognition, the brand Manas Ghorai lives, breathes and exists.

Am I a designer?

A designer, at heart, is a problem solver. He is someone who shapes answers through form, technique and innovation. My tryst with design didn’t start in some classroom or follow the familiar route of formal training. Instead, unfolded on the ground, beside the looms, within the weaving clusters, through years of observing, experimenting, failing, and learning directly from the textile itself.

Every piece I create begins with a few pertinent questions — What can this yarn become? How far can a technique stretch? What story can a fabric tell if I listen closely enough? And with each attempt, each trial, each small discovery, the textile responds. That is my design education; one built not on theory, but on touch, intuition, and relentless curiosity.

For me, every product I make is an experiment; a dialogue between my imagination and a weaver's skilful hand & endless possibilities. So yes, in a way, I am a creative designer. Not just because of the weight of the title, but because my work insists on reimagining what a textile can do.

Am I an artist?

An artist is someone whose tools or titles can’t be defined. It comes from an inner pull. A need to express what words alone don’t have the capacity to. Art begins where emotion meets intention, where culture becomes tactile, where stories travel beyond the tongue and settle into form, colour, and texture.

When an object of creativity carries within it a feeling, a memory, a philosophy and a fragment of lived experience, it doesn’t remain an object any more. It becomes art.

For me, that space between the seen and the felt is where my practice begins. My work does not emerge simply from craft or technique, but from an inner calling, the instinct to translate the world around me and within me into something tangible and real.

An emotion that one can carry with them, that becomes a part of who they are. The loom becomes a medium, the yarn a language, the textile a canvas for this very expression.

So, when people ask what ‘art’ is, I say —

Art is the courage to reveal your inner landscape through a material world. It is culture woven into form and an emotion made visible. Art is a story that chooses its own shape.

And in that very sense, Manas Ghorai is, undeniably, art.

Am I a boutique owner?

This is a question that always leaves me a little thoughtful. Whenever someone asks, “Do you have a boutique?” I can’t help but pause a little. Not because I’m trying to conjure a complicated answer or because I don’t have an answer. But because of the true identity behind being a ‘boutique owner.’

Yes, I design. I present and bring my work directly to people who make it a part of their very being and live with it. And in that sense, a part of me inevitably overlaps with what one might call a boutique owner or curator.

But that isn’t a label that quite fits. Because what I do goes far beyond arranging products on a shelf or managing a storefront. This isn’t a business role for me. It is a continuation of the same soulful, passionate journey that begins at the loom and travels through the hands of weavers, before finally and finally reaching the person who chooses to make the textile a part of their life.

So, while the world sees a boutique, I see a bridge that connects stories, craftsmanship and emotions with their rightful home. And if that makes me a boutique owner, then so be it. But it’ll never be the definition of who I am, in its entirety.

Am I an entrepreneur?

Absolutely. I like to take risks rooted in conviction. I’ve self-funded my own vision for years, choosing to walk a path where every experiment, every new textile, every unconventional idea is born from belief rather than backing. I create value where none existed before, and I sustain an entire process chain from raw fibre to finished fabric in a market that grows more competitive every day.

This isn’t just creativity. It’s responsibility and resilience. A desire to wake up every morning, wanting to build something new, exciting and challenging; it’s what fuels my passion and hunger. And in many ways, that is the truest definition of entrepreneurship, the courage to invest in your own dream and the persistence to carry it forward even when the world doesn’t immediately see its shape.

So, I am an entrepreneur. Not because I set out to be one, but because my journey made me one.

Am I a business owner?

Anyone who creates something and brings it to the market, while taking into account strategy, pricing, customer relationships and financial planning, is by definition a business person. And in many ways, I do all of that. I navigate numbers, seasons, market shifts, and the realities of running an independent label.

But for me, these are not the heart of my identity, but simply the tools that allow a deeper purpose to survive. Because what I hold in my hands is not just a product; it is a cultural heritage of Bengal, a lineage of textile wisdom, a tapestry of histories and hands. As a brand with a unique identity, my responsibility is not just limited to sustaining a business. It is also to represent and preserve Bengal’s rich and vast weaving traditions.

So while business keeps the engine running, heritage is the fuel. The commercial aspect is necessary, but the cultural mission is what drives me. It is my enabling force, the reason the work matters, and the reason it must continue.

So, who am I, really?

Team Manas Ghorai has never been just one thing. We exist at the crossroads of many identities, shaped by every thread we study, every experiment we attempt, and every story we carry forward. Within our journey lives the curiosity of a textile researcher, the freedom of a designer without formal boundaries, and the sensitivity of an artist who creates from emotion and memory.

We are a brand in the making, an entrepreneur driven by passion and a business owner, learning through experiences. Our strength has never been in identifying ourselves as a single label, but in embracing a multitude of identities all at once.

We are multidisciplinary, self-taught, and deeply rooted in a craft tradition that continues to evolve with us. Every step of our journey is self-crafted, informed by intuition as much as by research, and held together by the belief that heritage and innovation can coexist.

If I were to truly describe myself in a single line, it would be —

“A self-taught textile researcher and creative entrepreneur exploring the space between design, craft, art, and sustainable business.”