“All the work I do with communities involve understanding their cultural context, skillset and limitations, the use of natural materials or upcycling low-value waste,” says Bengaluru-based Krishnan, 50, a design consultant. Whether it be collecting used tetra paks from garbage heaps, and weaving them into baskets and handbags through Joy At Work enterprise in Bengaluru’s Janakiram Layout slum, or making blockprints of tigers — the reason of their displacement and the symbol of their livelihood — in trying to revive bandhani there through Dastkar Ranthambore project. “The theme of the jungle is always kept in mind,” she says, “Our decade-old foray into creating scrap fabric replicas — by plaiting and plying — of the birds of Ranthambore.