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The Journey of Lakshya - Badhte Kadam

Every year thousands of children are rendered homeless because of tiring and terrible situations.Many of them are either forsaken by their parents or guardians or the children run away because of hardships that force them to look for comfort outside of their homes. But the sad reality is that hardships become worse once these children find themselves on the streets.

In this post, we commend the many young artists who have brightened our Diwali. These artists are young boys who found renewed hope amidst a life of prior hardship working as rag pickers and pickpockets in railway stations. Lakshya is a Self Help Group that strives to help these children by rescuing them from a life of terrorizing hardship. Their attempt is to rescue these runaways from the streets and the railway junctions by providing them food, shelter, opportunities to attend school on a regular basis while also vocationally training them such as they become self sufficient over the years.

Lakshya was started in 2004 by Ramesh Gupta in 2004 in the village of Bhatola, Faridabad
because he wanted to help those kids who had undergone a similar nightmare as he had in his childhood. As a kid he was rescued from the streets; he was exceptionally lucky because he was picked up by the police but was later handed over to Salaam Baalak Trust where they provided him shelter and rehabilitated him by teaching him some vocational skills.

In terms of craft, Lakshya is an amazing initiative because this organization has an eco-friendly approach to the things they help create. Not merely that, they have even managed to provide support to over 100 children and over 150 women in the years they have become active. The SHG is mostly known for its bag and similar such products made from waste paper and cloth.

Umesh, a member of Lakshya and Ramesh Gupta’s brother, insists on the advantages of
recyclability. According to him, there’s an abounding work culture at the SHG because the work is linked to the greater cause of helping children who are in dire circumstances. He says that children aged 8 to 15 help in rolling out these products to be sold later on. They are usually taught how to make bags from recycled paper. The fact that these children understand that even this recycled paper should be used to avoid wastage is a commendable feat to Umesh.

Umesh tells us that the newspaper bags are usually made by the women who are of Bhatola village because it provides them a means of income. Meanwhile jute and patchwork bags are a specialty of the street boys. Around 25 boys come together, some of whom are now married but still working with the SHG to make the jute & patchwork bags which are then sold later.

Umesh rues the market conditions as we talk. He says business has suffered a bit because of weak markets. He worries because it affects the group in terms of the allocation of their funds. The money that they gather from their sales goes in the children’s education because they feel that education is the true empowering tool that these kids require. He also vehemently discourages the donation system and says that Lakshya has survived all these years because of the hard work that their children put in.

Umesh also excitedly tells us about Lakshya’s products that are being doled out in collaboration with The Color Caravan. He tells us about patchwork products such as belts, wallets, wall hangings, handmade diaries, lampshades and photo frames that are being made by about 15 boys from Lakshya. Patchwork is mostly done with stitching small patches of differently hued cloth together to form an interesting piece of cloth (in this case the cloth is usually a leftover piece). He tells us that this cloth is then cut and stitch in accordance to what the final product is supposed to be. The children are capable to getting at least 3 -5 big bags ready but the durations keep varying. Similarly, around 4 -5 wallets are done while 5 -6 belts are produced in a day. 

He says that considering the SHG is situated near a village, it also becomes their duty to generate work opportunities for the village, and that is why much of the stitching and sewing work is handled by the womenfolk of the village. At the same time, children are sent out as small sentinels on the lookout for recycled paper and clothes from the streets. 

By the end of the conversation, we was left in awe of the work ethic of the organization and therefore we sincerely wish that Lakshya brings a bright future to all the children who were seen as stowaways.

 Lakshya's colorful products in patchwork are available on The Color Caravan. Check the collection here.

Artist Talkies: Sajid Khatri on the tie and dye tradition

In the remote town of Bhuj in Kutch, the now traditional and well known craft of tie and dye was first born about 5000 years ago and over the years it has found recognition as a traditional Indian craft. Bandhej or Bandhani is derived from the Sanskrit word “bandhan” which loosely translates into “to be tied together”. This word alludes to this notion of something that is closely knit together. This is such a sacred notion in the Indian tradition that in Gujarat and Rajasthan, brides are made to wear Bandhani saree because it is supposed to bring a lot of luck in their marriage.

The Khatri community also has a long drawn ‘bandhan’ with Bandhej. The entire tie-dye tradition is indebted to the Muslim Khatri community who allowed this method to thrive in India. What started as a means of barter with the different nearby communities as a means of survival became one of the trademark craft of not merely their community but also of the country over the recent past. The tie and dye method was used on clothes and then they were worn as turbans, sarees and ‘odhnis’ by the different communities. The various patterns on these clothes also were a means of identifying which community a person belonged to. 

Sajid Khatri, son of master craftsman Khatri Abdul Shakur Osman, has been over the years the torchbearer of the Bandhej tradition within his community and he is really humbled by this. He says it has been over 15 to 16 years since he joined the family’s craft tradition. A craft that was seen as necessary only as a means of survival for the community has thrived for so long that it has become part of the Indian heritage. He constantly reiterates the skill that is required in the art form and how over the years this skill has somewhat declined. But he is an optimist who talks about his community with pride. He tells us about how thousands of men and women are central to this continuity of the tradition. 

Sajid Khatri at work.

Abdul Khatri won the National Award in 1998 for his
contribution to the Indian craft heritage.

Sajid talks us through the process of bandhani and tells us that there are three major division of the process; first is the pressing method which is followed by the tie and dye methods which makes for beautiful and multi colored and layered cloths. In the pressing method, the design to be used is imprinted onto the white fabric. This imprinting is done with a thin transparent paper which has pinpricks on it to allow the colors to be transferred onto the cloth. The cloth is then pulled with a long fingernail where the hole has been imprinted on the cloth. This area is then tied and tightened in such a manner that the cloth protrudes to form a knot or a bhindi. Sajid tells us that this process is usually done by women. He says that the community has thousands of women who are adept at this technique, having learnt it from their childhood itself. 

Once the entire design has been implemented by tying knots or ‘bhindi’ over the cloth, it is then thoroughly washed. This is followed by drying and then dipping it in napthol and then some lighter colors. It is then again dried before the actual dyeing method is introduced wherein darker and then lighter colors are dyed onto the cloth to achieve the desired print. The tied knots avoid getting colored as the color doesn’t seep into those tightly tied knots. Once the final stage is dispensed with, the cloth is washed and if it is deemed necessary, is starched. 

He tells us that over the years, the community has shifted from natural colors to synthetic colors because it allows them a varied range of colors to be used on the cloth. He also says that natural dyes, even though they make their craft much more authentic, don’t allow for a good get up of the cloth overall. Plus over the years, natural dyes that are extracted from roots, berries and other such resources are dwindling; this along with the cheap availability of synthetic dyes have made such shift important. 

Another interesting fact that he tells us is that the one can recognize the design pattern based on way the knots are tied on the cloth. Many of the final products of Bandhani are known by various names, some of the common ones being Khombi, Patori, Ghar Chola, etc. The patterns on the cloth are also representative of the class of the various community, but they also tell whether a woman is married or is expecting kids based on the colors she wears. 

When we near the end of our conversation, Sajid tells us that his father, Khatri Abdul, who inspired him ever since his childhood, won the National Award in 1998 for his contribution to the Indian craft heritage. He humbly adds in that he himself is a National Merit Certificate holder since 2008 for the efforts he has put in. He enjoys the recognition the community has gained because it allowed him and his father to go places. He proudly tells us that he is waiting to go to Columbia in December for another demonstration of his skills at Bandhej. 

Sajid Khatri signs off by saying that over the years his art has flourished only because the community managed to travel around to display their wares. Older generations suffered because they remained within their boundaries. 

Abdul & Sajid's stunning creations are available on The Color Caravan. Click here to view the collection.

Artist Talkies: Sufiyan Ismail Khatri & Ajrakh

In June 2010, a few months prior to The Color Caravan's formal launch, I travelled to a small village called Ajrakhpur in Kutch, Gujarat. I was introduced to Ajrakh - a unique technique in handblock printing by my friend Stina Gardek, a textile designer from Sweden who was then a visiting faculty at Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya. Stina introduced me to Sufiyan Khatri, son of master craftsman Dr Ismail Mohammad Khatri, who invited us to his home for a delicious lunch, followed by a visit to his workshop where he told us about his family’s history and walked us through the process of Ajrakh printing. 

Sufiyan told us the meaning of Ajrakh; it is loosely translated into “aaj rakh” which means “to keep it today”. These simple words are so evocative of this idea of patience that is really necessary for the survival of this art form. The process is complex as it may involve anywhere from 14-16 steps, depending upon how many colors and layers of block print are desired. The art uses natural dyes that include a mixture of camel dung, soda ash and castor oil, waste iron, myrobalan, madder, indigo, pomegranate peel boiled in water, the root of rhubarb and sprays of turmeric water.

Sufiyan Ismail Khatri

Sufiyan's roots can be traced back to the medieval times (circa 17th century) when his ancestors coming from Sindh settled in Kutch. He easily recounted nine generations of his forefathers ever since they settled in Kutch. The then emperor, Raja Rao Bharmal I invited these people to settle themselves in the village of Dhamadka so that these printed fabric could be provided to the royal family exclusively. This really helped the community because of the proximity of the Saran river to this village; water is an essential ingredient of the Ajrakh process because it constitutes an important part of the natural dyeing process thereby cutting down on many expenses that the community might have otherwise incurred. 

Gum

Indigo dye

The indigo plant from which the indigo dye is extracted

Blocks for printing

The Khatris have been a trading community and they thrived because of the traditional market of the olden times. The Kutch traditional markets included the Malir, Sirakh and Ajrakh forms of printing which were worn by the men and women of the Sindhi and Jat communities. These prints and patterns were an important attire of the Sindhi and Jat cattle herders who wore them as turbans and other clothes of various patterned designs. The proximity of the market and the Saran river were the essential reasons that made the Khatri community settle in Dhamadka, apart from the easy availability of the natural dye ingredients. 

Printing in progress

The process is complex as it may involve up to 16 steps, depending upon how many colors and layers of block print are desired.

A stunning Ajrakh stole

Around 1950-60s, the making of natural dues was stopped for about 15 years due to the easy availability of chemical dyes that infiltrated the markets. This meant that many of the local artisans shifted to chemical dyes over natural dyes. Sufiyan’s grandfather, Mohammad Siddique Khatri was also one of the artisans who shifted to chemical dyes, but wanted at the same time to keep hold of the tradition that had helped the community survive for so long. This meant that he ensured that his three sons, of whom one was Dr. ismail Khatri, learnt the traditional method of using natural dyes in Ajrakh printing by telling them the nuances of natural dye printing and then elaborating the process on small pieces of cloth. 


Sufiyan’s grandfather used to sell clothes in the local market and that is how his family’s luck changed. Once while transporting his products to the markets, he was stopped by a police superintendent and was asked to show what he was carrying. What was going to be a harrowing experience changed his luck entirely. The police superintendent was so impressed by Mohammad Khatri’s work that he visited them and seeing the naturally dyed cloth, ended up ordering many of them while referring the Khatri’s art to many of his friends. This spiked interest in the art so much that Sufiyan’s grandfather restored the vegetable dyes in the resist printing process. This lead to an even more exciting venture where the family was introduced around 1975 to Mr. Bhasin, who was the director of Gurjari (Gujarat State Handicraft Development Coperation Limited). When Mr. Bhasin saw the natural dyeing process, he was impressed. But he wanted them to excel at their work, so he collaborated with people of National Institute of Design and sent two designers to their village. They stayed for a little over a week with the family to teach them color combination and improving on the overall layout of the patterns. This mutual appreciation helped Ajrakh printing so much so that they ventured out to the national markets. They reached to markets in Ahmedabad to Delhi and Bombay, ultimately finding appreciation in the global markets ever since. 

After the devastating earthquake in 2001, many Ajrakh block-printing artisans in their native village Dhamadka had their homes and workshops destroyed.The earthquake not only affected buildings, but affected the mineral content of the river Saran. This change affected the way the fabric absorbs the dye through this traditional process. That's when Dr Ismail Khatri decided to move his base. He came forward to establish a block printing settlement, a tiny village named 'Ajrakhpur' in Kutch and the artists relocated to Ajrakhpur which has suitable water. This small village is an example of rebuilding lives from scratch.

Sufiyan credits his grandfather and father as the men who inspired him to take up his family’s tradition. But he’s greatly indebted to his father who over these years has gained recognition in the world of handicrafts. Dr. Ismail Khatri has so vociferously stood by his family’s craft tradition that he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Leicester de Montfort. 

'The' Dr Ismail Mohammad Khatri

Sufiyan had a story up his sleeves regarding this too. He told us that when his father gave his first lecture in broken English at the university, people were amazed by his history, which made them proclaim that he would be awarded the doctorate 

for his achievements. His father who didn’t know what it meant, asked them what a doctorate was? They explained that it was the highest degree awarded for excellence in a particular field of study which prompted another question from Dr. Khatri on why was he being considered given that he hadn't studied at all. They smiled and told him that he was the reason that many of their students had got their doctorates in the research of Ajrakh block printing methods; that he was a Master of his Arts that had prompted the university to consider Dr. Ismail Khatri for such an honor. Dr. Ismail Khatri also holds a National Merit Certificate for his contributions to the field of Indian handicrafts. 

Sufiyan Ismail Khatri

Sufiyan also told us a little more about his connection to the Ajrakh printing process. He said it has been sixteen years since he was first introduced to the craft form. One of the biggest reasons that he has continued in the family tradition is because he never saw it as a business process. He was rather enticed by the colors and the patterns when he first took it up as a hobby. From gaining recognition in the traditional markets to being earmarked by many Indian designers like Tarun Tahiliani, Sabyasachi, Anita Dongre; Sufiyan has seen it all. But he prizes his UNESCO Award that he received in 2008 as one tenderest to his heart. He just wants his craft to do well in a time of extreme competitive markets where many replicas of the Ajrakh print have infiltrated the markets. And with the labour costs increasing and the water resources depleting in their village, he seriously fears for his craft. Probably that is why he wants to impart knowledge of this dying art to as many people as possible. 

He coyly told us that over the years, he has travelled to a few countries to demonstrate the Ajrakh printing process some of which include Germany, Austria, and Switzerland although he prefers to show them the natural dyeing process back at his village. He told us that over the past few decades he has seen many art enthusiasts visit the village to know about the intricacies of Ajrakh resist printing method on sarees, stoles, dupattas, lungis, and even on suits. 

Sufiyan's says that true art can only be recognized when it is both seen by the eyes and felt by the hands because these are the two senses that an artisan invests in the most when he creates a piece of art. And these words really do ring true when cheaper replicas are thriving in the markets. 

 The Color Caravan is extremely lucky to be working with great craftsmen like Dr Ismail Mohammad Khatri & Sufiyan Ismail Khatri. 

To check some of the their creations available on The Color Caravan store, click here.

We turn three today:)

Artist Talkies: Weaving a Kutch craft story with Vankar Murji Hamir

It has been around 22 years or more since Vankar Murji learnt and excelled the art of weaving. Hailing from the Kutch community of Marwada Vankar, he reminisces about the family tradition that has made him the man that he is today. Tradition is of a lot of import for him because it is the reason that made him take up weaving. His father and his grandfather were weavers in their time and parampara (tradition) made him pick up this wonderful art himself. His father, Hamirbhai was a master weaver associated with the Bhujodi Weaver’s Cooperative and Murji bhai sources him and his brother Dayarambhai as his inspirations to take up weaving.

Vankar Murji  
pic courtesy: Vankar Murji

Now, he is a self made weaver who wants to continue this family tradition. He has 10-15 artisans working alongside him to promote Bhujodi village’s otherwise dying art. Many of them are his relatives, some directly related to him while others are distantly related to him. In a village of about a few hundreds of weavers, Murji bhai wants time to be his ally so that this fading handicraft finds appreciation in a growing modern India.

Murji bhai as he’s fondly called by many who know him, talks us through the process of weaving. From the olden days, his village had tie ups with the nomadic clan of the Rabaris who’d provide dhaaga or thread from woolen fleece from the local sheep and goats that would be used for weaving to be exchanged as shawls and other such necessities. For his predecessors, wool has been their trademark material in the production of shawls and blankets for the community.

But since India’s independence in 1947 to the protectionism phase of Indian economy till about 1991; that saw the local markets opening up for national markets, to the impact of globalization a few decades later has seen wool losing contention against the acrylic wool counterparts and cotton. He rues the slow process of converting the yarn to thread that has made the community to shift to acrylic wool.

With the open market leading to increasing opportunities, the materials and their handloom weaving business progressed by incorporating designs and patterns to their products. They started fusing their traditional patterns with market trends to improve their business and name. One of the biggest motto that Vankar Murji abides by is the elaborate yet intrinsic fusing of traditional and modern methods but incorporating the insignia of his community; of weaving with hands and working the traditional loom to weave fabrics dipped in warmth and affection. Thereby reiterating that time is not the essential factor in the completion of his products.

pic courtesy: Vankar Murji

Over the years, the Bhujodi village has found recognition with Vankar Murji Hamir’s weaver organization where a group of 10 weaving families along with 20 women experiment with their traditional form due to mutating fashion trends. Changing times have seen them bringing together weaving and designing techniques together; nowadays, different block printing, embroidery works and tie-dyeing art forms are learnt by them to combine with their traditional weaving methods.

                        

Murji bhai recalls devoting time for a designing course in 2008 with a childhood friend at Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya in Kutch, Gujarat. And that was one of the biggest moments of inspiration for him and his organisation. His final project for the academy was named “Miri” and it was inspired by the Dhablo weaving method, called ghoontni wherein he placed an extra finger weave over the handloom weaved cloth. This became his specialty and has been his trademark method ever since.

One of the biggest credits that one can give to Murji bhai is that he loves learning more about his tradition and improving on it. But that doesn't mean he’ll forego the importance that technology bears on his art. He and his team are constantly on the lookout for trends that help his products in the market. He is constantly working with Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya, local NGOs and other organizations like The Color Caravan wherein he keeps in touch with not only the market trends but the virtual world. He believes that “age is no barrier when it comes to learning” and his best teachers over the years have been his customers.

Currently, Murji bhai is attending exhibitions in and around India where he displays his weaving prowess. His organisation specializes in shawls, stoles, jackets, sarees, mufflers. They have even expanded to bed sheets, cushion covers and even curtains. When quizzed about his children’s reaction to his growing fame, he says that his three children themselves question him about his art. He wants them to learn because he says this craft is his sole lineage, an essential part of his community’s identity. It’s his identity. He wishes his son would grow up to be a “loom ka engineer”. But he also has great designs to include his daughters into his business, thereby breaking tradition of allowing women in the weaving business. 

He signs off by echoing his family’s words; our identity lies in our craft. We wish to see Murji bhai climbing great heights on the basis of his works because amazing artists like him are a rarity in this age of blind consumer capitalism which has seen many traditional art forms in India dying out. He knows that struggle is unavoidable since he’s an independent artist but he has not lost heart. He’s rather inspired and sees a bright future for his craft and his community.

Vankar Murji's beautiful creations are now available on thecolorcaravan.com
To buy them online click here.

The photographs in this post cannot be used in any form without written permission.