In India, traditionally, the making of objects was carried out by guilds of craftsmen and artisans. Usually, a craft community specialized in a trade and the knowledge and the skills of the trade were passed on through generations. One was either born into the trade or initiated into it by aptitude; and learned to practice it through a long period of apprenticeship. One identified with the trade one practiced, and that in turn formed one’s identity. The working class crafts and artisan community considered ‘Vishwa-karma’ (The Creator of the World) as their God, and making things in harmony with nature’s creation was their creed. Objects were made following the laws of Vishwa-Karma, making things well was itself an act of worship. Learning craft this way lent an immediate advantage to the Indian craftsman in the form of sensitivity and a complete feel of the material and its manufacturing process; along with the specialized skills of a craft. The continuity of tradition enabled products to be refined and perfected over generations leading to the creation of classical forms. Many different regional styles developed and there we regional centers known for their excellence in a particular craft. In the normal course of events, these artisans should have formed the core of India’s subsequent engineering industry. In a free situation, they would have adopted the tools of mechanized mass-production for greater productivity offered by such tools. In the process of this adaptation, a period of innovation and development would have come as demanded by the requirements of the objects to be produced. However, this was not to happen as the products of mechanized mass-production made their appearance in India, imported from Britain. The traditional crafts industry, thus, still exists in almost its original form, making traditional forms and products with the same traditional excellence and finesse. There have been, however, changes in forms and visual appeal to suit the modern trends and decorative requirements. Through extensive international patronage and Arts and Crafts centers like IHE, the tradition is still kept alive to amaze the world with the glory of the yesteryears!"It is to the suppleness with which the whole frame of an Indian is endowed, and which is still more remarkable in the configuration of his hand, that we are indebted for the exquisite perfection of their manufacturing of linen. The same instruments which an Indian employs to make a piece of fabric would under the rigid fingers of an European, scarcely produce a piece of canvass"- Orme’s History of the Military Transactions of the British Nation in Indostan, 1773