If I wanted to make money quickly, I would never have chosen handloom.

Category: 🧵 Building Handlooom

Published: July 2026

Reading Time: 10 Minutes

“Sometimes the most meaningful journeys begin with a decision that makes no financial sense.”

People Often Ask Me One Question.

When they learn that I work in cloud technology during the day but spend my evenings and weekends building a handloom business, the first question is almost always the same.

“Why handloom?”

It’s a fair question.

I could have started another software company.

I could have built an AI product.

I could have created a SaaS platform.

Instead, I chose one of the oldest industries in India.

An industry many people believe is slowly disappearing.

An industry filled with uncertainty.

An industry where success is anything but guaranteed.

Sometimes I ask myself the same question.

Why?

It Didn’t Start with a Business Plan.

It started with curiosity.

The more I learned about India’s handloom tradition, the more uncomfortable I became.

I discovered that behind every handmade product was a family.

A skill passed down through generations.

Hours—sometimes days—of patient craftsmanship.

Yet the person doing the work often earned the least.

Meanwhile, machine-made products designed to imitate handmade textiles flooded the market.

Most buyers couldn’t tell the difference.

Some didn’t even know there was a difference.

That stayed with me.

I Could Have Walked Away.

Like most people, I could have appreciated handloom from a distance.

Bought a few products.

Shared a social media post.

Moved on.

Instead, I kept asking another question.

What if technology could help preserve tradition instead of replacing it?

That question eventually became Handlooom.com.

Not simply another online store.

A platform built around transparency, authenticity, and respect for craftsmanship.

Building Something Nobody Asked For

Starting a business is difficult.

Starting a business in a traditional industry is even harder.

Starting one that insists on authenticity in a market full of shortcuts is harder still.

There were moments when the obvious choice would have been to compromise.

Use cheaper materials.

Follow fast fashion trends.

Reduce costs by sacrificing quality.

Those decisions might have made the business easier.

But they would also have changed the reason I started.

So I chose the slower path.

Not because it was profitable.

Because it felt right.

Entrepreneurship Isn’t Instagram

Social media often celebrates the finished product.

The launch.

The funding announcement.

The success story.

Very few people talk about the quiet months.

The unanswered emails.

The rejected proposals.

The difficult conversations.

The nights spent wondering whether you’re building something people actually want.

Those moments don’t usually appear in highlight reels.

But they’re the moments that shape entrepreneurs.

Why DMZ International Exists

Many people know Handlooom.com.

Fewer know the company behind it.

DMZ International Imports & Exports Pvt. Ltd. wasn’t created simply to sell products.

It was created to build a business that could prove ethics and sustainability are not obstacles to growth.

They’re part of the foundation.

Will that approach be slower?

Probably.

Will it be harder?

Definitely.

But I believe businesses should create value beyond financial statements.

A Business with a Bigger Purpose

As this journey evolved, one thing became clear.

Some goals couldn’t be achieved by a private company alone.

That’s why the Save Handloom Foundation became part of the story.

Its purpose isn’t to compete with businesses.

Its purpose is to preserve knowledge, support artisans, raise awareness, and encourage future generations to value India’s weaving heritage.

If Handlooom.com is the commercial journey, the Foundation is the social commitment behind it.

Both matter.

Success Looks Different to Me

People often measure businesses by revenue.

Revenue matters.

Without it, businesses don’t survive.

But I’ve started measuring success differently.

Did we help someone understand the value of handmade craftsmanship?

Did an artisan feel respected?

Did we preserve one more traditional skill?

Did we make one customer stop and think before buying another mass-produced product?

Those victories don’t always appear on a balance sheet.

Yet I believe they matter.

Why I’m Documenting This Journey

One day this business may become everything I imagined.

Or it may become something completely different.

I honestly don’t know.

But I do know this.

I never want to forget what the beginning felt like.

The uncertainty.

The excitement.

The mistakes.

The lessons.

Because someday, someone else will stand exactly where I am today.

And perhaps these journal entries will remind them that uncertainty isn’t a sign to stop.

It’s often a sign that you’re building something that matters.

Looking Ahead

The next journal entry might be about cloud engineering.

Or another lesson from entrepreneurship.

Or a conversation with a weaver.

Or an idea that failed.

That’s the beauty of this journal.

It follows life, not a content calendar.

About The Nishani Journal

The Nishani Journal documents real experiences from my journey across engineering, entrepreneurship, sustainability, and social impact.

Every journal entry is based on something genuinely lived, observed, or learned.

This isn’t a collection of success stories.

It’s a record of the journey itself.

Until the Next Chapter…

“If today taught me something worth remembering, it’s worth documenting.”

— The Nishani Journal

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