As pride month comes to an end and the burst of events celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community wraps up, CE brings you five homegrown small businesses owned and operated by members of the community. From trendy handmade jewellery to deliciously scented candles and yummy podis and pickles, you can indulge in these businesses’ offerings year-round.
If you want to spruce up your home with curated and handcrafted decor items, then this business has artisanal soy wax candles in delicious scents and unique shapes ranging from cacti and puppies to laddoos along with delicate jewellery plated in gold. “I’ve always been drawn to creating things with my hands. During the pandemic, I started experimenting with candle-making to manage stress and bring a sense of calm into my space,” explains founder Jesmin Ahmed. She adds, “All of our pieces are gender-neutral and handcrafted with a focus on sustainability. Our most loved products are our iced coffee candle and our delicate, minimal jewellery.
Details: www.quirestudio.com
For many millennials and Gen Zs, stickers are a statement of individuality you make by decorating your books, laptops, and workstations, and this business embraces that with unique illustrated stickers. “I was actively working in the field of mental health and helping design products for the startups I interned with. That experience, combined with my growing love for design, inspired me to start building my brand,” says Laksha, the founder, adding, “We primarily sell stickers centred around themes of mental health, self-care, queer pride, and nostalgia that reflects what I love and connect with personally.” They also offer other products like lapel pins, earrings, notebooks, and more, designed in-house.
Details: @sassage.stickers on Instagram
With a cheeky name that makes Kannada-speakers immediately do a double take, this business by Abhiram Sridhar sells a variety of traditional podis or pudis “They’re all my grandmother’s recipes. I’m also a one-man army, making everything in my home kitchen. There are five varieties of podis and some are unique, like horse gram, moringa, flax seed, peanut and garlic podis” explains Sridhar. He also has a range of pickles on offer – recipes collected from his travels and his own creations. “I make traditional pickles like mango and tomato thokku but also some inspired by my travels like raw turmeric pickle (a proper Rajasthani style pickle), and dates pickle inspired by my trip to Kerala. My best-seller, though, is my own recipe – hot garlic pickle which goes well in ramen noodles, Thai curry and more."
Details: @podinanmaga on Instagram
With prices starting from ₹4,000, Kii Seran’s tattoo studio in Indiranagar, in her words, is a ‘safe space for queer bodies’, where she creates intricate custom tattoos inspired by influences from growing up in the middle east combined with elements from Indian culture. “People use tattoos for landmark moments sometimes and it really creates a change in their life. They come back here because the process and environment of the studio are so light – there’s no judgment. That’s the vibe I aim to create with every session.”
Details: @kii.ink on Instagram
Started by queer college students Manas and Ashi, this business has trendy handmade jewellery pieces including earrings, anklets, bracelets, and waist chains, made from semi-precious stones and glass beads. It all started with the duo not being able to find the exact type of chandelier earrings they wanted for a college event, “Manas wanted a particular chandelier necklace like the ones we see on Pinterest but nothing we found came close so we thought – why not make it ourselves? We just fell in love with the process and result,” says Ashi. “For Pride Month, we’ve launched phone charms with Pride Flag colours – there’s a lesbian flag, gay flag, asexual flag, non-binary flag, and more,” adds Manas.
Details: @themimib0x on Instagram