Handwritten Gift Card - Mynah

This keepsake card features an original watercolor illustration of the Hill Mynah (Gracula religiosa)—the state bird of Meghalaya, India—perched above a harvest of cardamom and turmeric.

The Artist

Samanda Pyngrope is a Khasi designer from Shillong, Meghalaya. Trained at IIT Bombay's IDC School of Design, her work bridges traditional Khasi culture with contemporary craft. Through her studio Karaki Design Lab, she advocates for the artisans and heritage of India's Northeast—the same misty hills where we source our spices.

The Bird

The Hill Mynah is celebrated for its extraordinary voice—a repertoire of whistles, calls, and near-human speech that echoes through the subtropical forests of Northeast India. Once abundant, it is now increasingly rare. Habitat loss and decades of capture for the pet trade have decimated wild populations. In 2018, a single village in Meghalaya's Khasi Hills—Umpung—declared itself a Hill Mynah sanctuary, banning capture and protecting nesting trees. Within three years, their local population rebounded by 60%.

The Connection

The same forests that shelter the Hill Mynah grow the spices in your pantry. Meghalaya's Khasi and Jaintia Hills produce India's most prized Lakadong turmeric, black pepper, ginger, and cardamom—all cultivated in the shade of the old-growth trees these birds depend on. $1 from every card goes directly to wildlife and habitat conservation in our sourcing regions.