PROFILE: SEEKER, DOER Archana shah, founder of bandhej, chats with prism
Empathy, passion, doggedness and a long-term vision have been important values in the life of Archana Shah, whom the world of Indian crafts knows, as the founder of brand Bandhej and who continues to be vocal about the need to conserve and preserve the crafts. Excerpts from a personal interaction…
Peacocks from Paradise
The long, rectangle, wooden bay window that overlooks the thick, wild garden - where, somewhere, we know, peacocks are in a paradise of their own - is ajar. We are waiting - with our hearts in our mouths - for their arrival to satiate our urban curiosity and appetite for a life amidst nature, and capture that moment on the memory of our smartphone.
We – Archana, her husband, Sanjiv, my colleague and I - are sitting around a huge, square table that is full of home-cooked, wholesome food; there is a huge bowl of sumptuous aloo (potato) poha with a small serving of sev (batter fried crisps) for frills and the crunch, some toast and baked beans, and a pot full of fresh, flavoursome ginger tea.
Gautambhai, Man Friday of the Shah household for the last 29 years, is luring the peacocks with some homemade rotis; he stands leaning by the window and scatters tiny bits of the chappati all around, simply saying, “Aao, aao (come, come, in Hindi).
“This should do the trick,” Archana assures us. She is right. In less than ten minutes – even though they seem like twenty - one after another, the peacocks arrive at the window; pecking away at the scrambled rotis, unperturbed by our presence. My colleague clicks away… I make a mental note to ask her to share the images with me. To store it in my memory…
A Minimalist State-of-Mind
We walk down the long verandah that frames the house and that is open on one side to the garden and the wilderness. Summer is slowly making its presence felt in Gujarat, but here, in the Shah household, there is a mild nip in the air.
But the monsoons are on my mind; it must be quite amazing to watch the rains sitting in one of these chairs, I wonder aloud, pointing at one of the alcoves that dot this household where a clean, straight wooden rectangular table is at the centre of four wooden chairs.
Simplicity and minimalism are this home’s foundation stones. For 16 years now, Sanjiv, Archana, their 31-year-old son, Vyom, who is a sculptor, and their dogs – Tika and Chiki - have lived here, travelling into the city, everyday to attend college, and tend to business, but retreating at the end of a long day into this hand-crafted sanctuary that is undoubtedly a reflection of their personalities and the values they stand for…
Tucked away quietly within Ahmedabad’s Cantonment quarter, located off an arterial road in the capital city of Gujarat, in Ahmedabad, Archana and Sanjiv hand-picked this home and re-built it to realise their ethos in design, craft, and life, at large, in a home that allowed them to remain secluded and still connected with civilization, and yet in a quiet spot with only nature and peacocks for company…
“Well, honestly, by the time we moved here,” Archana says, sipping a glass of cold Nimbu Paani (lemonade), “we knew for certain that we wanted to adopt a simple, minimalist way of life. In 2004, one night, we had a huge fire in the workshop. I lost all the textiles that I had collected… I was shattered beyond belief but that episode taught me something about the idea of possession; of them, becoming in a sense, a pain, a burden…Since then, I’ve consciously tutored myself to live in the here and now.”
Things of Beauty
It’s an old story; one that many of us are familiar with. Nearly three decades ago, fascinated with the craft of the Kutch and fuelled with a desire to engage with the crafts and their creators, and enable the possibility of sharing its richness and legacy with urban India, Archana Shah, FOB (fresh-off-the-boat) with a Degree in Design from the prestigious National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, launched a label called Bandhej.
Today, several years later, the brand has taken a beating, thanks to cut-throat competition and a rapid change in sensibilities, but Archana has not lost her enchantment for the craft and its creators, remains unfazed.
“Even as a child,” she remembers, “I was fascinated with things where people used their hands; crafting something of beauty using your hands delighted me. I found that experience very sensory… I still remember that exhibit of jhadoos (broomsticks) that I saw at Jodhpur-based Rupayan Sansthan. I mean, 150 brooms collected from across the State! Now, come on, how fascinating is that… I loved that idea; the fact that something we use to clean our homes is in itself an object of grace and beauty. And the fact that every region has its own unique craft is just so amazing.”
Chronicles of Kutch
A restless spirit, a seeker and a doer, in 2010, Archana and her son, Vyom, took a trip to Kutch. It had been a while since Vyom had been there and Archana wanted to meet with the craftspeople. That journey happened to be a journey of self-discovery.
“People I had worked with, were so warm and giving,” Archana says, “I heard, yet again, a host of fabulous stories and when I returned to Ahmedabad, I felt a deep desire to document these stories and share it with more people.”
The challenges were aplenty. For one, until then, Archana had never ever used a computer. Secondly, she had never written, especially stories of other people. Thirdly, it meant she spent abundant time in Kutch, re-visiting the land, and unravelling its many layers. “But the desire was deep; I was willing to overcome all these challenges to be able to document and record their stories. It had to be done; I knew it was now or never,” she says.
In the Preface of Shifting Sands – Kutch: A Land in Transition, a 260 pages coffeetable book with 427 photographs and that was published by Bandhej Books three years ago, Archana writes: “Though the focus of my work was primarily on their textile craft skills, I became increasingly fascinated by the people of Kutch, by their values and their world view.”
Late afternoon, at about 5pm, in 2013, in Khamir (a platform for crafts, heritage and cultural ecology), Kutch, Archana and her family launched the book with the artisans and their families. People from nearby and villages afar, took all modes of transport to partake of the proceedings; five of Archana’s best craftspersons launched the book and an array of artisans shared memories with the audience. “It was a very deeply moving experience,” she says, as tears well up in her eyes, “The women and their families had accompanied the men; it was a re-inforcement of the special bond and the connections that I had formed with the land, its people…”
The Matter of Crafts
Vyom went to the Rishi Valley School in Madanapalle (Andhra Pradesh). Many years ago, while visiting home on a summer break, while watching his mother brush her teeth, Vyom pointed out to Archana that she wasting water by leaving the tap open while brushing. “He caught me by surprise,” she says, “He was 11; but the school had taught him to conserve water and that every drop mattered and that truly stayed with him.” She believes that sensitization of crafts must begin early; must begin at a school level; when minds are open, and willing to absorb and share.
A month ago, a friend’s daughter played in the garden and spotted chikoos dangling from the tree. “We plucked them together and ate them for our evening snack. And suddenly, chikoo, a humble fruit became delicious and exotic. That is imperative; to enable for the crafts an environment that accords them the respect and the empathy they deserve.” And it is that dire need to carve for the crafts, a new direction, that is consuming Archana, these days. “If I could help it, I could give up the stores tomorrow,” she says without batting an eyelid, “I’m keen to be involved in and work with policy makers who have the possibility of making significant shifts in the world of Indian crafts and ensure our heritage and skills don’t die. The crafts really need a long-term plan; the skills are still alive; we’ve got to see what we can do to ensure they are not lost.”