Aji's makers

Meet the wonderful makers of the Aji's products. They put their passion and years of experience into every handcrafted product they make.

Click here to become an Aji's maker.

Champa Devi is 78 years old and is passionate about knitting. She has been making woolen wears for the past 50 years. It helps her to forget worldly issues and keeps her mind at peace. She has five grandchildren and she loves spending time with them. Champa Devi has been featured on BBC Nepali, Nepali Times, Republica, Kathmandu Post and Nepal Television.

Products: Lumu Socks, Lumu Topi

Roop Keshari Bania

Late Gyani Laxmi Manandhar (1927-2019)

Gyani Laxmi Manandhar loved making traditional Newari pouch called Mheecha. At 92, She had been making Mheechas for over 15 years and said that it was a type of medicine that kept her engaged and happy. Every year she used to gift 500 Mheechas to devotees at Basundhara Mela, an annual festival held in Kathmandu. She remains a true inspiration for the entire Aji’s community. Gyan Laxmi was featured on Nepali Times and Setopati.

Products: Mheecha Pouch

Dil Hera has been making shawls and knitting woolen wears since she was 25 years old. She learned to craft while living in Kalimpong. Now at 84 she lives in the Ganabahal neighborhood of Kathmandu and loves to make outfits and blankets for her grandchildren and great grandchildren. When she is not knitting and sewing, Dil Hera loves to watch Bollywood movies and listen to old Hindi songs. Dil Hera has been featured on BBC Nepali and appeared on Aji’s Podcast.

Products: Dhaka Baby Blanket

Juju Ratna is 71 years old and is a skilled painter and sculptor. He worked as the artist for the Nepal Rastra Bank (central bank of Nepal) for 25 years. He retired at the age of 45 but has never stopped making art. He has a small studio space in his terrace  where he spends most of his time. Juju Ratna has been featured on Nepali Times and Kathmandu Post.

Products: Swayambhu Stupa, Dharma Chakra Magnet, Pancha Buddha Set

Ram Kumari Shrestha

82 year old Ram Kumari was born in Hyumat (हयूमत) tole in Kathmandu. As a young girl she was not allowed to go to school but that did not stop Ram Kumari from pursuing her love for learning. She secretly learned to read and write using the Thulo Barnamala book and gora-slate boards. She is a skilled seamstress who also enjoys watching Bollywood movies and strolling in her neighborhood park. Ram Kumari has been featured on BBC Nepali.

Products: Dhaka Handkerchief

Ratna Kaji Tamrakar from the Maru neighborhood in Kathmandu is 62 year old skilled goldsmith and silversmith. When he was 15 years old, he dropped out of school (8th grade) to learn the skill of making jewelry and ornaments from his father. This skill has been passed down in the Tamrakar family for 10 generations! Ratna has taught this valuable skill to his wife and sons.

Products: Vajra Earrings, Vakra Bangle

Kamala Kansakar, 69, learned to knit from her father when she was just a young girl. For 35 years she worked to keep our skies safe at the Civil Aviation Authority. First she served as an Air Traffic Controller and then later as a Licensing Officer. Today she lives in Sitapaila with her family. She spends her time knitting beautiful sweaters and dresses for kids. She is also involved in many social work activities such as supporting patients in Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital.

Products: coming soon!

Late Bal Kumari Shakya (1927-2019)

Bal Kumari was born in Patan and raised in a family of tailors. She is 75 years old and sewing is her passion. She learnt how to sew by making "putu mheechas" (traditional Newari pouch) by gathering scraps of cloth from her family tailor shop. When she wasn’t sewing, Bal Kumari loved to attend Gyanmala Bhajan (Buddhist devotional singing).

Menuka Shrestha

Menuka was born and raised in Thankot area of Kathmandu Valley. She has a son and two daughters. Her elder daughter and five-year-old grand daughter live in Pokhara and try to visit her every alternate month. Besides making bead jewelry, she also works in a hospital. In her free time she enjoys working in her vegetable garden.   

Products: Poh Bracelet

Sushila Sthapit

Sushila is 73 year old. She  worked as a housekeeper supervisor for many years. She is now retired but is continuing her interest of knitting which she learned knitting from observing her mother during childhood days. She strongly believes in not staying idle. She has three children and three grandchildren for whom she knits various products. In addition to knitting she also has a melodious voice and loves to sing old songs. Sushila has been featured on Republica.

Products: Tapu headwarmer

Dr. Geeta Shrestha Vaidya and Sharda Kumar Vaidya, both 65 years old, are a couple who share a passion for Ayurveda. Sharda, an Ayurveda expert and Dr. Geeta, a scientist have worked together for over two decades producing various ayurvedic beauty products. Their products are made with locally sourced organic ingredients. Dr. Geeta is a retired Chief Scientific Officer from Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), and a Vidhya Bhushan ~Ka (A) recipient. Sharda Kumar is a Birendra Aishwarya Medal recipient, and runs his own clinic.

Products: coming soon!

Necklace Devi Sthapit

Necklace Devi is 71 years old and enjoys cooking, especially traditional Newari food. She has four grandchildren and loves to cook for them. She also enjoys inviting friends and family for elaborate meals. She also regularly attends religious gatherings and likes to perform rituals both at temples and monasteries.

Products: Infinity Cowl, Tara Puja Set 

Ram Maya is 66 years old and lives in Sano Gaon in the outskirts of Kathmandu. She learned to make the traditional Nepali stools and mats made of straw from her mother when she was 20 years old. This skill has been passed down from mother to daughter in the Maharjan family for several generations. When she’s not working in her rice field, Ram Maya stays home to make beautiful straw stools and mats. Ram Maya has been featured on Republica and Kathmandu Post.

Products: Muda Stool, Suku Mat, Pata Coaster

Shiro is a 68 years old resident of Kathmandu. She graduated with honors in English from Loreto College in Darjeeling. She started the first Cambridge GCE and A levels school in Nepal and worked in the education sector for three decades. After retirement she is following her passion for crafting. She likes to knit, sew, bake, and make macrame products, a recently revived craft that originated in the 13th century. Shiro has been featured on Kathmandu Post and appeared on Aji’s Podcast.

Products: Dori Plant Hanger

Pragya is 71 years old and lives in the Shree Bahal neighborhood of Patan with four generations of her family. She was professionally trained to be a tailor at the age of 18 and has been sewing clothes for over half a century. She inherited her grandfather's sewing machine which she still uses today. She lives with two of her grandchildren and recently visited her 3rd grandchild in Arkansas, USA. Pragya has been featured on BBC Nepali and appeared on Aji’s Podcast.

Products: Dhaka Baby Bhoto Set

Lalita More, 62, of Balkhu Heights in Kathmandu is a serial entrepreneur who loves exploring new ideas and seeing it come to fruition. She's passionate about design and sees beauty in everything. She's a former home science teacher who taught at Rupy's International school for almost a decade. She married at the age of 23 and has been living in Nepal ever since. She receives loads of support and encouragement from her husband and children for entrepreneurial adventures.

Products: Coming soon!

Born in 1934, Bishnu Kumari of Kerabari, Morang is 86 years old. Back in the day, she used to make products using maize leaves in her village in Morang. Today, she recycles waste plastic milk and noodles packets and weaves them into beautiful baskets and mats. When she's not weaving baskets, she spends her time in her vegetable garden in Balaju, and watching Animal Planet on TV. She also loves to watch videos of Nepali songs on YouTube. She has two grandchildren.

Products: coming soon

Anita was born and brought up in Jyatha, an old neighborhood of Kathmandu where she was raised by a single mother along with her five siblings who she also helped to raise. Though she had a difficult childhood, at 62 she is a proud homemaker and grandmother of two adorable young boys. Anita is popular among her relatives for her homemade beauty products which she learned to make from her mother. She is keen on sharing their benefits of with the world. Anita has been featured on Nepal Television.

Products: Kon Organic Scrub

Siddhi Laxmi Bajracharya

72 years old Siddhi Laxmi Bajracharya is passionate about environment and travel. In her younger days, she travelled frequently to domestic and international destinations with her late husband who worked at Lumbini University. These days she spends her time making creative recycled products with old magazines and newspapers. She believes she's making positive contribution to the environment through her work. She has four children and seven grandchildren that she loves spending time with.

Products: Kagazko Purse

70 years old Gopal Tamrakar has dedicated his life to the rare traditional craft of silver writing, a process of permanently conducting silver pattern on any element. He has accumulated 35 years of experience practicing this rare skill and is still going strong today. He lives with his family in Kumaripati neighborhood of Lalitpur where he spends endless hours lost in his craft at his home workshop.

Products: Silver Buddha Statue

Usha is 59 years old and lives in the Chaunni neighborhood of Kathmandu. Her passion for knitting and sewing started during her school days when she studied Home Science. She spent her life as a homemaker which kept her busy and with little time to spend on her craft. Now that her kids are grown up, she has rekindled her passion for crafting. She now spends her days knitting, crocheting, sewing, and cross-stitching.

Products: Dhaka Summer Blanket

Rita Moktan

Rita is affectionately referred to as “Boju Ma’am” by the children of the montessori she runs in Dhumbarahi neighborhood of Kathmandu. “Boju” means grandmother in Nepalese language. Rita has dedicated the past 30 years of her life to education. Now at 58 years old, she loves knitting socks and sweaters for her 16 month old grandson who lives in Dubai.

Products: Button Cowl

Meghranjani Rai

Meghranjani Rai is 63 years old and currently lives in the Sanepa in Kathmandu. She is an emergency responder and reconstruction engineer for disaster relief projects. She also loves to knit and crochet. She also enjoys traveling to new places and reading books. Her favourite authors are Khalil Gibran, Haruki Murakami and Ernest Hemingway. Single mother and a grandmother of three, Megh believes you are never too old to be young!

Products: Coming soon!

Shakuntala Rana

Shakuntala Rana was born in Khadakpur, India where her father served in the Army. At 61, she is now retired and lives with her husband in Pattipa Chowk in Lalitpur. Growing up, she learned to knit and crochet through her mother’s knitting club within the Army Officers’ Wives Association. She spent her professional life working as a school teacher. She enjoys oil painting and making variety of knitwear for her two-year-old granddaughter.

Products: Punté Poncho

Anju Pant

Anju Pant is 58 years old and lives in Thaiba with her son, daughter-in-law and twin granddaughters. She started knitting and sewing when she was a young mother to make school dresses for her children. Later she opened her own tailoring shop at Thamel where she trained and employed 25 young SLC graduates. Though she no longer runs the shop, she continues to make new designs seeking inspiration from YouTube and Pinterest.

Products: Nyano Frock

Meena Niraula

Meena is 70 years old and lives in the Chauni neighborhood of Kathmandu. She loves knitting variety of woolen wears that she gifts to her family and friends. She has four children who are spread across the world in Canada, UK, Germany, and USA. She has five adorable grandchildren. Meena plans to donate her income from Aji's to support the education of orphan children in Nepal.

Products: Coming soon!