A ball of yarn rolls gently across the table as a 15-year-old crochet enthusiast settles into her seat beside her mother, Raashi Nachnani. Around them, conversations drift between stitches, laughter mingles with the aroma of freshly brewed tea, and colourful threads slowly transform into flowers, blankets and intricate patterns.

At the centre of it all is 62-year-old Rhoda Gaikwad Staneley, moving from one participant to another, helping a beginner thread a needle, admiring a finished motif and encouraging someone who is attempting crochet for the first time.

For Raashi, what began as a visit to support her daughter has become something far more meaningful.

"I think I discovered myself," she says. "It showed me a creative side which I never thought I had."

Stories like hers are unfolding every week at Creator's Hands Craft Room, a bootstrapped creative space Rhoda founded in Pune in July 2025.

Here, people gather to learn embroidery, crochet and quilting, not in pursuit of perfection but for something increasingly rare today: patience, presence and connection.

In less than a year, the intimate studio has welcomed more than 100 participants, from teenagers and working professionals to expecting mothers, retirees and grandmothers.

Some arrive hoping to learn a new skill. Others come searching for a break from routine, a sense of community, or simply a few hours that belong entirely to them. Many leave with much more than a finished piece of craftwork.

A craft room built on four decades of teaching and community work

For Rhoda, the craft room is the culmination of a journey that began more than 40 years ago.

Born and raised in Mumbai, she grew up in a family deeply rooted in social work. After studying social work herself, she spent years working with women from economically disadvantaged communities, helping them access skill-development opportunities.

Whether it was encouraging women from Mumbai's slums to attend training programmes, teaching vocational skills to children with special needs in Saudi Arabia, working with women in Qatar struggling with isolation after relocating abroad, or helping tribal women in South Africa learn skills they could later monetise, one thread connected every chapter of her life: empowering people through learning.

"Possibly I was destined for skill learning," she says with a laugh.

Yet the idea for Creator's Hands emerged much........

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