August 15, 2017

MARKING MILESTONES

India Celebrates 70 Years of Independence today , it’s 71st Independence Day.

I am looking back into time, to 1997, when we are celebrating our 50 th. I was wondering how I could pay personal tribute to mark the occasion, the historic freedom struggle, Mahatma Gandhi’s message of non-violence as the path to that freedom, my own work designing with khadi which I started in 1987 (30 years) through Raj Creations, the boutique my mother established in October 1967 (50 years!). The idea came to me then that I could do it through presentations on Khadi which would include a talk, a fashion and style show along with a spinning demo.

In the same year, ’97, I wrote an article on Khadi for the Hindustan Times Magazine Section. The opening line was proving to be difficult and I spent a few days, mulling over it, experimenting with words and deleting them, dissatisfied each time. The deadline was fast approaching and my anxiety was building up. I knew that first sentence was critical to the rest of the content , which I was confident, would follow smoothly. Finally, after going through many a mental contortion, it came to me, “If any country can boast of a national fabric, it is India”. I loved it. I shut down my computer. The article would now be a breeze.

And so it started. My first presentations were for women’s groups in Delhi, Ankur and Mahila Mangal, DCWA, GLOW , the French-Speaking Group and WIC. As time progressed other groups also requested the presentation, especially around the time of Independence Day or Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary, October 2nd.

In 2003, I exhibited khadi garments at the Indian Embassy in Washington D.C. In 2007 (10 years!) my application to the very popular Santa Fe Folk Art Market was accepted on the basis of my work with Khadi. I was asked by someone at the UN (who also found me by doing a google search on Khadi) to reach out to inform people of the first UN-declared Day of Non-Violence on October 2nd. Visitors at the Market assured me they would wear khadi on October 2nd and remembered also to send me photographs of themselves wearing khadi (pre-selfie days!).

Headed to Santa Fe, 2007 . Model wearing Raj Creations Khadi kurta with Gandhi Smriti spinner, Miheelalji. At Gandhi Smriti, New Delhi.

In between those years, I was asked to volunteer at Gandhi Smriti, the spot where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, to help young women in their tailoring unit with the objective of setting up a shop to sell khadi garments.

Inauguration of Gandhi Smriti Tailoring Centre, Srijan, New Delhi.

Incidentally, it was at Gandhi Smriti that I learnt how to spin. Initially a woman who was working there would insist I go into the enclosure where are kept Mahatma Gandhi’s few possessions. I used to protest, it seemed a profane act but she insisted and got her way! Now that enclosure is well, firmly enclosed to visitors.

In the same room is a tall window, the same tall window, just above floor level, that Mahatma Gandhi jumped out of instead of walking out of the door as he was late for the prayer meeting, and was assassinated. I used to take friends , family, kids to Gandhi Smriti and that window used to be open or opened for me so we could follow the path he took. It was” kind of cool”, I have to admit.

Ideas to promote/use khadi alongside designing garments and the presentations were always coming forth. A Little Bit of Khadi in Everyone’s Life, wherein I would always add a piece of khadi fabric in every garment, Messages of Peace, white cotton khadi shirts bearing Mahatma Gandhi’s sayings.

An exhibition which I very much enjoyed working on was The Election Collection in 2009, coinciding with the General Elections in India of that year. The idea came to me in a dream. In the dream I was talking to a young politician in Hauz Khas Village and as we entered my boutique, I told him my next exhibition was The Election Collection…And so the seed was sown. (I’m not mentioning the name of the politician!)

A proof of The Election Collection card

A photoshoot for The Election Collection

Around 2011, I was mulling over why people were using their personal medium of expression, other than writing, to focus on Mahatma Gandhi. A young stamp collector, who collected only stamps which depicted Mahatma Gandhi from across the globe, I heard of a book on Mahatma Gandhi’s sculptures throughout the world, art, music, literature, dance , theater and my own work with Khadi. The next big idea, originated from those thoughts but came to me in a dream as well. A fragment of that idea was accepted by the India International Center, New Delhi: the concept of an exhibition, Bapu: The Craftperson’s Vision. So Bapu, the Father of the Nation, as Indian craftspeople visualized him through their respective craft. Held in 2012, it was another fun project to work on, singlehandedly, of course and as usual.

I love this particular work and the story which emerged from it. This is Sanjhi, a cutwork craft from the city of Mathura and dedicated to Lord Krishna (whose birth we are celebrating today, Janam Ashtami).

I had put up a small sign which read: “Is Bapu walking away from us?”

A French visitor who knew I spoke French asked me what it meant and I explained it to her. She shook her head vehemently in disagreement. No, she said. He is asking us to follow him !

This is the handpainted craft Gond from Central India. The craftsperson narrated his vision:

Villagers are waiting for Bapu to arrive in their village and as they wait, they spin on the charkha (spinning wheel). When he does arrive (depicted with his walking stick), nature expresses its happiness and blesses him with rain. The flowers bloom joyfully and the leaves sway gently in the the breeze

One of four works. Warli craft from Maharashtra and the artist is Rajesh Chaitya Vangad. The four works together show the life of Mahatma Gandhi. A publishing house in Chennai requested these works for a children’s book which has by now been translated into Hindi and six or seven other Indian languages.

What a great feeling to see this book on sale at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad earlier this year !

This same exhibition travelled to Vishakapatnam in India in 2016 thanks to the Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts (it was inaugurated by our very new Vice-President who was then a Minister in the current government !) . Later in the year , there was a surprise invitation from Teamworks India, for it to participate in the Festival of India in Australia again in 2016. I will be ever grateful for their recognition of this heartwarming show !

With the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Australia.

Followed by a well received Khadi Fashion Show in Sydney:

For this show, I adopted the theme of Unity in Diversity as the khadi I had used for the garments was sourced from various parts of the country.

2017 has been marked by a talk on Khadi at Delhi’s National Museum and an article which appeared in French in the ICCR journal.

I have travelled to different parts of the country, in small towns and villages, and always ask about any spinning activity. I have been lucky to see women at work in many of them. It certainly adds a new dimension to travel and to my work as well.

Some of the other work I have done in the crafts has also linked itself to khadi and Mahatma Gandhi. An American friend would have attributed it to serendipity.

The Phulkari Embroidery project I worked on for seven years : Phulkari traditionally was always done on khadi, its warp and weft facilitated embroidery without tracing or printing on the fabric. An article on this project has appeared in 2015 in the American online magazine Handeye and this year again in an American magazine, Textiles Asia.

But much before that, in January of 1996 I was swept away by delicious visualizations of the magic of Indigo dye and by September I was ready with a show, transforming my boutique premises into all things Indigo. Entitled Shades of Indigo, this technique became and remains an intrinsic part of all collections in the boutique.

As they say, the journey is the destination and so it was with indigo itself. But that is another story which also needs to be documented for the twilight years, keeping in mind that India has officially launched celebrations for 100 Years of Champaran , Mahatma Gandhi’s first satyagraha in India, also referred to as The Indigo Revolution.

Handblock printed Ajrakh and Indigo dyed Khadi Stole

2017 is the year of anniversaries, important milestones, for the country, for Raj Creations and for me, personally too!