“Some days I sold everything, some days nothing at all,” says Behram, a 39-year-old potter from Uttar Pradesh. “It was always uncertain. You never knew if the day would bring work or empty hands.”
For years, his livelihood depended entirely on the passing crowds near the roadside or the rush of festivals. He would shape terracotta pots and diyas, his hands skilled and steady, yet his income remained fragile.
Middlemen often took a cut, festivals dictated the flow of earnings, and long months could pass without reliable orders. For artisans like Behram, talent was never the problem. Access, opportunity, and visibility were.
This uncertainty, however, began to change when artisans started receiving orders through a simple platform on their phones. He did not have to download an app, he did not need to navigate an unfamiliar interface in English, and he did not pay any commission. Instead, he sent photos of his pottery, set prices in his own language, and received orders directly.
Behind this deceptively easy system is Hunarsetu, a digital bridge built by Yuvan Aggarwal, a 17-year-old student from Gurugram.
A student who saw what adults overlooked
Yuvan studies at Shikshantar School, Gurugram, and is currently in Class 12. Soft-spoken, thoughtful, and curious about systems, he does not see himself as a disruptor. Yet, at 15, while most teenagers were navigating exams and hobbies, he was building a platform that would eventually onboard over 4,000 artisans across India.
The idea for Hunarsetu did not take shape from a classroom lesson or a competition, but from the streets outside his home.
“I have always been interested in technology, but more in how it can actually help people, not just in creating new tools for the sake of it,” he tells The Better India.
The idea for Hunarsetu did not take shape from a classroom lesson or a competition, but from the streets outside his home. He lives near Sohna Road, where generations of potters have worked along the pavement, shaping clay into everyday objects. His family would stop there every Diwali to buy diyas.
“One day, I noticed one of the potters, Behram, looked unusually worried,” he recalls. “He told us sales had been low, and festivals were the only time they earned properly. The rest of the year was unpredictable.”
That conversation stayed with him. He began noticing patterns that others had normalised, like skilled artisans with no stability, talent constrained by geography, and an economy that celebrated crafts but failed to sustain craftsmen.
Seeing the possibility where others saw limitation
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Yuvan had learnt programming. He had also watched how UPI and simple digital payment methods spread across India, reaching people who had never used a bank account before.
“That is when it clicked for me,” he says. “If people are motivated and encouraged, they can learn anything. The idea that artisans can’t use digital tools is just not true.”
Artisans register on Hunarsetu by chatting with a WhatsApp bot in their preferred language.
What they struggled with, he realised, was not intelligence or willingness, but unfamiliar interfaces. Apps felt alien, heavy with English terms, and often intimidating. The fear of being scammed was a real and understandable concern.
“The most common reaction was, ‘This isn’t for us. There was fear, and there was indifference. Both came from exclusion. People had never been invited to participate in the digital economy,” the founder explains.
Instead of building another complex e-commerce app, he asked a simpler question: What do artisans already use? The answer was obvious. WhatsApp.
Building Hunarsetu: a bridge, not a marketplace
Hunarsetu launched in late 2023, when Yuvan was 15. Built entirely by him and a small group of school friends, the platform uses a WhatsApp-based system to help artisans sell online without learning new technology.
Artisans register by chatting with a WhatsApp bot in their preferred language, including Hindi, English, Marathi, Telugu, and others. They select options rather than type, upload product photos, set prices, and manage orders directly through WhatsApp. Payments go straight to the artisan via UPI. The platform takes no commission.
“Everything is designed to reduce effort. We don’t ask for information we don’t need. The aim is to make the system familiar, not foreign,” says the 17-year-old founder.
Once listed, products appear on the Hunarsetu website, which is built for customers rather than sellers. For delivery, the platform integrates with logistics partners such as Shiprocket, while order updates, buyer details, and delivery tracking all reach the artisan via WhatsApp.
Hunarsetu is integrated with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a government-backed initiative, to help artisans find more customers.
Behind the scenes, the system is powered by WhatsApp Business APIs, cloud hosting on Firebase, and a lightweight SQL database. The technology is intentionally modest.
“The challenge was not complexity,” Yuvan explains. “It was empathy.”
Learning by listening
Before rolling out any feature, the founder tests it with people who resemble his users, not tech-savvy peers, but carpenters, electricians, and local artisans.
“We ask them to try it without help,” he says. “If they struggle, we redesign. The goal is not perfection in technology, but simplicity in use.”
The platform is designed to be easy, but people still need to know they are not on their own. Artisans can call the team at any point. Trust is built through availability, transparency, and the fact that Hunarsetu never asks for money.
“I wouldn’t trust a new platform with my livelihood either,” the 17-year-old admits.
From one potter to thousands
Over time, Hunarsetu has grown steadily. Today, it supports 4,127 sellers, lists 47,626 products, serves 6,355 users, and has facilitated over 3,372 orders. Popular items range from terracotta pots and wooden toys to handwoven bags, embroidered textiles, handmade soaps, and traditional decor.
Crucially, the platform is integrated with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a government-backed initiative. This allows artisans on the platform to appear on major buyer platforms connected to ONDC.
“For us, marketing was impossible,” he explains. “ONDC gave our artisans visibility we could never afford. It allowed small artisans to reach beyond their neighbourhoods, without the need for expensive ads or intermediaries.”
Lives behind the numbers
For Sarla Devi, a 46-year-old artisan from Alwar, Rajasthan, Hunarsetu offered something she had never had, which is control. “Before, I sold to shopkeepers,” she says. “They decided the price, and I had no say. I would work for weeks and then barely see the value of my labour.”
For artisans, talent was never the problem; access, opportunity, and visibility were.
She creates embroidered cushion covers, bags, and wall hangings. After joining the platform, one design unexpectedly went viral. “I sold over 30 pieces in one week. Earlier, I sold maybe 15 in a whole month,” she recalls.
What mattered just as much was dignity. “The money comes directly to me now,” she continues. “I don’t feel dependent on anyone else, and I feel respected.”
For Ramesh Kumar, a 34-year-old woodworker from Bihar living in Gurugram, the platform expanded his world.
“Earlier, I sold wooden toys, keychains, and other similar items outside schools or small markets. Now I get orders from different parts of India. People I would never meet are buying my products,” he says. With a steadier income, he invested in better tools.
And for Behram, the potter who started it all, the platform has brought peace of mind. “I don’t wait for festivals anymore,” he says. “I can plan my work and know that orders will come. Some months are still quiet, but at least I am not at the mercy of passing crowds.”
Technology as inclusion, not instruction
Yuvan is careful not to romanticise technology. “Tech does not have to be understood to have impact,” he says. “It just has to be designed right. The goal is not to teach them to code, it is to make their lives easier.”
His biggest learning has been self-sufficiency. “People don’t need constant hand-holding. They just need a start and reassurance that it works,” he adds.
Artisans get a fair price for their craft through the Hunarsetu platform.
Hunarsetu remains non-profit, entirely self-funded, with server costs covered by his parents, Rajiv Kumar and Kriti Aggarwal, and volunteers. The 11-member student team works out of their homes, motivated not by revenue but by results.
The roadmap includes AI-assisted product listings, making it even easier for artisans to upload items, and partnerships with NGOs, schools, and corporate buyers, especially for festive gifting.
But for Yuvan, growth is not just about scale. “It’s about stability. About knowing your skill will feed your family next month,” he says.
Back on Sohna Road, Behram no longer waits for festivals. “Don’t be afraid,” he says to other artisans. “If you can use WhatsApp, you can use Hunarsetu.”
All pictures courtesy Yuvan Aggarwal
