From a small town famous for its craft, to nine million bags.
Pipili has stitched Odisha's famous appliqué chandua for centuries. Haastika carries that same needle-and-thread heritage into modern manufacturing — led by the women of our community.
An IT professional comes home to Odisha's craft
Founder Biswajit Swain, a software professional like many engineering graduates, spent months with Odisha's artisans — understanding their lives, their craft, and exactly what they needed. His heart was always at home, in Odisha.
Taking Odisha's artisans to the nation
Biswajit left his job and, with his wife Arpita Swain by his side, founded Haastika — launching on Amazon in March 2016. The venture grew 10X, taking stone craft, jute bags, terracotta, palm-leaf work and more from 27 artisan categories to buyers across India.
From craft store to women-led manufacturer
Haastika Handicrafts Pvt. Ltd. set up its own manufacturing in Pipili — training local women as skilled operators on Juki and Brother machines. That December, Amazon featured Biswajit's story in a national campaign across The Times of India, Hindustan Times and The Hindu.
Institutions at home, customers abroad
Indian Railways, SBI, NALCO, Coal India and more chose Haastika as a manufacturer — not a trader. Newspapers across Odisha told our story, and when the pandemic hit, we turned to the world: Haastika products reached customers in the UK, USA, Germany and Canada — including innovations like laptop bags crafted from banana fibre.
9 million bags, and recognition that follows
25 stitching lines run by trained women operators. Amazon lists us under its Karigar programme, and Haastika stands honoured among the Brands of Odisha — each bag still carrying a piece of Pipili's craft and a woman's earned pride.
Amazon printed our story on lakhs of boxes across India.
For its StoryBoxes initiative, Amazon chose Haastika's journey — printing our founder's portrait and story on delivery boxes travelling to homes all over the country.
