Snippets from "A Hundred Hands exhibition"

Bombay is known for its exuberant art scene and come winter, a passionate art and handicrafts lover like me is overwhelmed with the sheer number and range of exhibitions of art and craft the city hosts! One of the distinct exhibitions I never miss around this season is organized by an NGO, "A Hundred Hands, a Handmade Initiative". This year, the third edition of exhibition was showcased at Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum a fortnight back and as expected, it brought an interesting menagerie of artists and artisans from various parts of the country.

There was a time when art and crafts blossomed under royal patronage and were highly regarded and duly rewarded until the outbreak of 19th century industrialization. Unfortunately, with time stigma of inferiority and backwardness was attached to handicrafts, diluting its true value. The handicrafts industry still continues to be viewed as decorative, peripheral and sometimes even elitist despite being the second largest source of employment!

Millions of Indians still depend on indigenous modes of production, traditional skills and techniques to make a living based on handmade products. Most of the times, artists and artisans from smaller villages and towns suffer at hands of middlemen.  Typically, due to lack of exposure and proper education beyond their art form, they aren't equipped to handle urban markets and lack confidence to match up to the prerequisite skill sets and compete in larger markets. This trend leads to exodus of artisans to urban cities in search of livelihood. 

The founders of A Hundred Hands initiative, Mala Dhawan and her sister Dr. Sonia Dhawan discovered the lacunae in Indian handicrafts industry and decided to find a way to sustain revival of arts and handicrafts by providing a platform. Their NGO plays great role in reaching out hundreds of artists and artisans by creating a huge network, empowering and encouraging them with guidance on different concepts, design aesthetics, communication and presentation skills and enhancing their product/craft with providing knowledge on contemporary styles and thus equip them to compete with global products without losing ethos of their art form or craft. 

It is need of the hour as nation to have more initiatives like A Hundred Hands to sustain and carry forward legacy of our rich and diverse country and its culture, myths and religions in our art practices. Traditional arts and handicrafts are unique expression of a culture or community and define a civilization hence they must be protected and promoted to keep our identity alive and relevant. I must say, A Hundred Hands initiative is doing a fine job at doing their bit considering how crucial the concept of "handmade" is in today's times and how it helps bringing together such wonderful creativity from gifted artists and artisans! 

Here are some snippets from the exhibition that showcased amazing art with its complex, colourful and simple yet captivating raw charm and immensely gifted artists who were such delight to meet with! 

Artisan Abdul Kalam and his group of weavers from Mirzapur are reviving old tradition of fine craftsmanship and intricate designs of  Kilm and carpet weaving 

Ironsmith Hanuman Lohar and his community's ironware  making skills date back to Rajput era in Rajasthan from 

Bio degradable bags made from banana fiber by artisans at Gramya, a social enterprise 

Traditional Patwa thread work accessories made by artisan Vishnu Patwa 

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Chemical free earthern cookware by artisan Bhansing

Chanderi sarees from artisan Afzal Ansari

Art of Metal sculptures carried forward from the Gupta period,  artisan M.Raju 

Revival of natural, traditional remedies by Sonia Dhawan

Kawad artist Dwarika Prasad Jangid 

Shibori by Umoya designs 

Fascinating work from Siyahi studio 

Traditional work from Rajasthan with interesting social message

A traditional work from Rajasthan 

Tales of change from Mann Deshi Mahotsav

सुंदर माझे जाते ग फिरते बहुत

ओव्या गाऊ कौतुक तु येरे बा विठ्ठला

जीव शीव दोन्ही सुंडे ग प्रपंचाच्या नेटे ग

लावूनी पाची बोटे तु येरे बा विठ्ठला.... 

It was a pleasant surprise to be greeted by these melodious lines from ovees (songs sung by rural women while performing arduous tasks like using grinding stone, mortar and pestle or rahat; a manual wooden wheel used for fetching water from well), as I entered Mann Deshi Mahotsav, at Ravindra Natya Mandir last week. 

Mann Deshi foundation, an initiative where women are at helm, provides a dynamic platform for rural women and their communities  from lower strata of society (women who work as homemakers, goatherds, vegetable sellers, roadside tea stall owners, domestic helps and farm labourers), empowering them to be entrepreneurs; helping them equip with knowledge, capital, access to markets and social support nurturing financial and digital literacy. 

One has to really meet women working at grass root level at small and medium enterprises and listen to their stories to understand what terms like "inclusive growth" and "women empowerment" really mean and how it impacts their life and society in general.

For most of us from financially affluent and educated class, it is impossible to imagine plight of an uneducated, hard working woman with saving potential of barely five rupees a day!

A latest International Finance Corp, (IFC) study shows that nearly 75% of women-owned small and medium enterprises have an unmet financial need leaving huge gap that usually ends up being met with help of family members or money lenders who charge exorbitant rates of interest, forcing women into a debt trap. The critical challenge of lack of credit compels most of these small entrepreneurs to wind up their businesses or stunt growth of their startups.

At Man Deshi Mahotsav, I met many successful micro-entrepreneurs who once faced lack of access to institutional banking services, opportunities for skill building and access to support networks due to complete lack of education and skill sets. Listening to their experiences of starting their ventures from scratch was great learning and quite an eye opener for me! 

A micro enterprise movement in a small village of Mhaswad, in Satara district that was started about two decades back has spread into a strong platform for myriad community initiatives like organizing cattle camps, building check dams, running a local radio station and sports talent hunts, helping millions of rural women pulling them out of dire conditions and give them wings. When one meets these gritty, confident rural women with dreams in their eyes, one agrees with the visionary founder of Mann Deshi Foundation, Chetna Gala Sinha's words,"Literacy is not just about reading and writing." 

A warm welcome at the entrance by women singing ovees

A woman singing ovees while grinding grains 

Display of organic produce at Mann Deshi Mahotsav 

 Gaji dance performers in their traditional white attires and hand embroidered red scarves

A woman selling Masalas and chutneys 

 

Farm fresh fruits at Mann Deshi Mahotsav

Beaming with pride and confidence, these women explained how they make medicinal oils using more than a dozen plants and tress

One of the stars of Mann Deshi Mahotsav, Kerabai Sargar a radio jocky,  who launched her CD at exhibition 

Woolen blankets made with organic wool 

A couple from Karnataka, selling sarees and  handicrafts 

 member of Eklavya Foundation, answering queries from curious minds 

Farm fresh vegetable stalls 

From Ravi Varma calenders to New Year diaries...

We are barely a week in the new year and the euphoria of last few days is fading. Predictably, those chest thumping proclamations of new year resolutions are also losing the steam. Life is slowly getting back to normalcy and I love it! 

At breakfast table this morning, while discussing our respective schedules to check feasibility of attending a social function, we all opened our apps on mobile phones and got busy for few minutes. It struck me how one ritual that most of us have witnessed growing up, is also on verge of dying its natural death. I am talking about acquiring the new year calendars/panchang (almanac) that one would eagerly await (post Diwali) and the corporate diaries.

If you are born in seventies or eighties, you will remember all the fuss about new year calendars and corporate diaries. The sheer anticipation and curiosity about the touch and feel of new pages and that enticing golden sheen of the tail, top edge and fore edge of the diary was the ultimate kick! Owning a new diary till one had reached a certain age was "unnecessary". Usually, diaries were hand me down "gifts" containing scribbled notes and despite the charm of newness missing, they were still cherished as prized possessions! Once in a blue moon if by some divine intervention and testimony of good karma, parents felt too generous and passed on new, spare diary, the thrill of carefully and neatly writing one's name and other details on first page with the best ink pen available (usually borrowed from older sibling or parent) was beyond words!  

With high tech world and fancy apps for just about anything under the sun we all are privileged to have, there is paradigm shift in our life bringing great convenience. Gone are the days of writing things down anchoring events in one's muscle memory, silencing the mental rambling for those fleeting moments and crossing the tasks off once completed!

The new year calendars...

The new year wall/desk calendar, once the most sought after commodity seems to be disappearing quickly from our everyday life.

Do you remember seeing beautifully bright calendars; prints of Ravi Varma's paintings on walls, framed paintings of our favourite Gods and Goddesses in puja rooms/corners of almost every Indian home while growing up? With Ravi Varma's three-dimensional form and radically transformed religious iconography with very human depiction of divinity, Gods and art became accessible to everyone! And those images were so vividly ingrained in us that while praying, one could visualize and as if knew how Gods looked like. Those Puranic stories of Nala Damayanti, Vishwamitra, Shakuntala, Satyavan-Savitri and so many other tales from the Mahabharata and Ramayana that granny told us at night had great context as one could instantly identify the characters through Ravi Varma calendars and decorative illustrations. In a way, those calendars awakened national and cultural identity. 

With passage of time calendar art changed and paintings of Gods were replaced with pictures of Nature followed by Bollywood brigade that ruled the world of calendars for some time. With corporate gifting becoming a growing industry, diaries and calendars evolved and became more personalized and hyper functional catering individual needs, profession and aesthetic sense.

With our fast-paced existence and constantly changing needs, high tech devices are becoming pivotal in ensuring we sail through everyday routine smoothly and life without them feels almost impossible! 

Calendar art today is a thing of bygone era. Once in a while I do get a peek of this important piece of cultural history at some art exhibition, or at auction house. Diaries have vanished completely from the scene too. With our high-tech devices that keep us connected to the world 24/7, catering our every possible need at just one click, there is barely any room for the good old diary. 

The new digital versions of the diary give no reasons for any complain, albeit I do miss the romance of seeing a dry peepal leaf or a flower from between musty pages of a diary, reading a hurriedly written recipe, unfinished poems and notes pregnant with tales and possibilities, poignant quotes and beautifully drawn sketches that were witness to the times less hurried. 

Call me old school if you wish but the more time I spend disconnected to gadgets and digital world, the more Zen like life feels! And oddly enough, those are the times when I really understand meaning of what my son often tells me, "to take a chill pill" in its true essence!       

New beginnings

It is late at night as I write this post. I am past two cups of coffee after tossing and struggling endlessly to get some sleep. The quiet breeze, aroma of flowers from the potted plants and random, fleeting music of rustling of leaves from the garden keep me company. A distant sound of a plane flying high is very comforting noise; a raucous sound that strangely holds its own rhythm and breaks the silence and stillness of my house that has comfortably slipped into quiet of night.

From across the room wafts remnant of magical fragrance of Amber incense that has long been burnt. I see the calendar next to it and realize, the year is coming to end. The world seems to be going bonkers as if in hurry to be done with last few days, eagerly awaiting the fresh start. It may sound bizarre but I like the way this sense of anticipation fills our hearts with hope!

2018 has passed in a jiffy and as it hurtles to close, I look back and realize this year has been truly amazing and I feel immensely blessed and grateful. The best thing to happen for me was joining post graduate P.G. Diploma course in Indian Aesthetics that has opened up new vistas of learning for me. 

It was a year of potpourri of experiences; fulfilled dreams, achievements, great learning, contentment, pursuit of my passions, forming deeper bonds, creating beautiful memories, friendships, soulful conversations, some travel, frayed nerves, unspoken aspirations, dormant desires, things to do list; part of which still remains incomplete and so many other things that made me whiz around in zillion directions with its cadence. No,I am not complaining as I have learnt great deal about myself and have become more accepting of my limitations and vulnerabilities and life in general.  

The midyear saw me undergo a surgery that left me almost inactive for few months. Some health issues still continue to threaten to take wind out of my sails but the midyear sulk months almost seem a good distance away now. And as I write this post, I am in happy space, all charged up to welcome what 2019 has in store for me. 

I have been in stupor of sorts for past few months, enchanted by life and the road it took me on. But contrary to what is evident on this blog, I have been writing regularly and intend to share all that and more on this blog henceforth.    

Here is wishing you all a happy New Year 2019 in advance! Let the party begin! :) 

Taking a step back

As I write this article sitting near my window occasionally looking out at the sky and outside world, the day looks neither bright nor gloomy but is soaked in a blue grey tint.  My mind wavers at the thought of mango pickle kept in balcony for sun bath. The light is not ideal. I run and bring back the pickle in the house. Just when I try to start writing again, the bell rings. Courier has arrived. I am about to close the door when the neighbour catches me and seems keen to update me with gossip. I silently pray the Universe for rescue and like always, it obliges. My cell phone rings. I make a sorry face and excuse myself. On the phone is my aunt in law who demands to know why I have disappeared from the social scene completely! 

You get the drift. 

Life has been harried on personal and professional front with zillion things demanding my time, attention and energy.  Past few months have been like running life on "auto pilot" mode, mechanically as if running after some insatiable chase moving like an addict into unheard, unseen rhythm of uncontrolled chaos! The impact shows in the way every single cell of my body protests for the torture I inflict upon it time to time. The fatigue is not only physical but emotional and psychological too.

I realize, it is time to cut off completely from frazzled routine and grasp at something real, spend time with myself or perhaps do nothing! Maybe just enjoy the incorrigible, idle inertia and be present in the moment. Maybe it is time to have a quiet dialogue with life with help of my camera and go for shoots. Or maybe write all those stories brimming in my head but somehow never find a way to this blog. 

Being a person who thrives in urban, metropolitan chaos it is a great reward to find time just for myself. I love to shut myself from outside world and be happy with my cave like world; a womb of complete peace, a sacred space deep inside my cerebrum. 

Sometimes I wonder if there must have been times when we human beings were mightily happy to just sit and be! How many moments during the day do we really feel the stillness to focus on the moment passing by, the present and deeply enjoy it? Exploring alchemy of stillness and its intricacy in otherwise chaotic and often claustrophobic spaces is an art not many of us have mastered and that is certainly what I strive to achieve.

The frenetic cadence of life rarely allows us to see beyond our softly padded walls. But we often find our truth in least expected spaces, in the least imagined ways.

Maybe, I am going through a strange phase these days. I feel irresolute, conflicted, discordant, unmoved, uninspired and sometimes completely overwhelmed by incessant challenges life keeps throwing at me.

There are times when something within compels us to be silent and stay still. Times when we naturally remain withdrawn and just witness the world around us and listen. I believe, when our heart leads us somewhere, it is always for a reason and when the inner core revolts for serious attention, we need to follow and find out the reason behind it. I intend to do just that. It is time I claim myself back!