Ten by ten by Nupur Agarwal

‘Ten by Ten’ A Collection of Short Stories by students of the MA program in Art, Design and Communication CEPT University Edited by Skye Morrison

Limited Edition Published by the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, CEPT University January, 2013 Editor: Dr. Skye Morrison Editorial team: Nupur Agarwal, Shikha Singh, Design and Layout: Roshni Chinubhai, Nithya Suri Adobe INDESIGN / Font: Calibri Cover Artwork: Pooja Panchal Assisted by: Nabajit Deka, Paras Patel Photography: Roshni Chinubhai Assisted by: Shikha Singh, Nithya Suri Printed in India Printed by: Siddhi Printers

Foreword ‘ten BY ten’ is an artists’ book created in the Research Writing course at CEPT University’s MA program in Art, Design and Communication. When I was asked to teach the course, my first thought was to find out about the students by having them write each other’s Profiles. These one hundred and fifty word vignettes of the student’s lives to date bring together their experiences and aspirations as young arts professionals. Not only are the Profiles an opportunity for the students to know their classmate’s better, but also they provide information for faculty and prospective students uncovering a deeper understanding of the academic program. The short stories are an exercise in writing creative non-fiction. Students were taken to the edge of the Old City of Ahmedabad. They were given an envelope with a letter of instruction to transcend the Three Gates in search of a specific item. They had one hour to spend ten rupees on a ‘meaningful object’ followed immediately by ninety minutes to write a short story. They submitted their first drafts. We met four times to refine and edit their writing. Everything from spelling and grammar, language use, narrative flow to the moral of the story was on the table. Hard work and persistence paid off. We were able to complete the work, refine the drafts of the stories, create a design, commission a cover illustration, proofread and print this book. In the process students came to understand the differences between copy editing, text editing and proofreading while getting to know their strengths and weaknesses as writers. It is a pleasure to work with the students and my colleagues Sharmila Sagara and Jaai Kakani. This project is the best hundred rupees I have ever spent!

Dr. Skye Morrison

“FREEDOM” A young student named Nupur finds herself at the Gandhi Road Market in Ahmedabad looking for something ‘valuable’ for ten rupees. She sees the shop “Eagle Lock House” and thinks that this might be the answer to her quest. Nupur asks the shopkeeper, “Do you have any locks for just ten rupees?” The shopkeeper, a young man named Akib Sayed, introduces himself and replies, “yes we have some called ‘Desai’ locks, and although inexpensive they are good.” Nupur likes this lock and decides to name it “Freedom.” This lock helps everyone move with security and freedom anywhere. She takes out ten rupees and happily pays for her item.

Nupur’s adventure is not over. She asks Akib about his life. Where was he born, When did he get interested in locks? Who was his inspiration to run the shop? Why does he think locks are important?

Akib tells his story with enthusiasm. “I come from Ahmedabad and my family has had this business for ninety years. When I was a small boy my grandfather introduced me to locks. I enjoyed playing with them. Eventually my grandfather taught me how to repair locks and introduced me to the business. When my father died and my brother took up another business, I became the proprietor of this shop. Since then these locks have been like my family, in my good and bad times. I value them because they are beautiful and practical.” Nupur enjoys Akib’s story. She realizes another value of her lock ‘Freedom’ is that not only does it keep things safe and secure, but also it will remind her of this sincere young shopkeeper and the Old City of Ahmedabad. She will remember this lock and its’ story for the rest of her life. And, she will take care of the lock telling others of the importance of small objects in our busy world.

Lock and Key

Nupur Agarwal :is transforming into an Experimental Artist with an interest in Animation. Her journey from

business into the arts began as an undergraduate student with extra studies in Desktop Publishing and oil painting. At the same time Nupur received a partial scholarship for a two and a half year full time course from MAAC Animation Academy, Surat. After graduation she worked for six months as a graphic designer for an Event Management Company “Partyvaganza” in Surat. Animation is “story telling in motion” and it is the active force of Animation that inspires Nupur. She incorporates her visits to NGO’s including ‘Prayatna’ as the content material for script writing with a social purpose. Following her other interests she received diplomas in acupressure and chocolate making. She is a graduate of Ryan International School, Surat, and Bachelor of Business Administration from NavNirman Institute of Management, Surat and is pursuing an MA in Art, Design and Communication from CEPT University, Ahmedabad. 04

A CLOTH SPARROW

talk in the shops, I found out that we are no longer considered ‘fashionable.’

Rekha, the woman who made me, says, “When some people grow up, they go to Universities.” She thinks that this is wonderful, although she’s never been to a University herself. She makes birds out of printed cloth and ribbon for a living; and sells them through the NGO she belongs to in Bhuj, Kutch. Two months ago, Rekha’s organization was commissioned to create a hundred cloth sparrows to be sold in Ahmedabad. The women at the organization spent a long time creating these birds; adding beaded eyes and cloth tassels for wings. This is how I, Chakli, was hatched.

Altaf Husain, the senior sales person at Raju’s shop, is a lively and knowledgeable fellow. He chats to the customers and tries to make certain that everyone leaves the shop with something. Altaf has not been paying attention to our bag of sparrows since most of his customers are teenage girls. They only want to buy ‘imitation’ silver jewelry.

We sparrows are staying at ‘Raju Kinadiwala’s Shop’ at Manek Chowk, a traditional market in the Old City of Ahmedabad. Many sparrows are sold in bulk to become parts of a ‘Toran’, or wall hanging. Some of my ancestors used to be a part of traditional ‘Ghagra’ skirts. Listening to the merchants

A Cloth Sparrow

One fine day a girl in a pink cap walked into the shop. She asked Altaf unusual questions. She wanted to buy something for exactly ten rupees. ‘That’s me’, I thought. “Are you from NID?” Altaf asked. Apparently many students from this Institute came to the store for unusual purchases. “No I’m from CEPT University”, she replied. I had no idea what NID and CEPT University were, since no one had ever mentioned them to me in Bhuj. I did remembered what my maker Rekha had said about city people going to Universities. I was going somewhere Rekha admired. Altaf opened my plastic packet and I saw the girl smile. “Show me the red and pink one please”, she said. Weighing her options, she held me in one hand and looked at my other sparrow friends. “I’ll take this one!” she said, pointing at me then holding up a stiff ten-rupee note. She left Manek Chowk and walked up to a tall girl; “What did you get Roshni?” the tall girl asked. I was taken out of my snug home. My next viewing was with an older foreign woman called the professor. She appeared to be in charge of the shopping trip and approved of Roshni’s choice. Roshni took me to her University. One fine afternoon she took me outside and used a big machine with a clicking sound to take my picture. Other students discussed the ‘photographs’ and then they put them in another machine called a computer. They went away to work on something called a computer. They talked about putting our ‘pictures’ and ‘stories’ in a book. What will I be used for next I have no idea?

Roshni Chinubhai : Graphic Designer and Visual Artist. Roshni completed a diploma in Graphic Design from MIT Institute of Design, Pune that included internships at ‘Mudra communications’ Ahmedabad and ‘Autocar India’ Mumbai. Roshni worked for a year and a half at ‘Lumium Innovations’, an Ahmedabad Design Firm, where she worked on corporate branding and packaging. Her love for travel and photography led her to complete an independent Diploma in Photography from CEPT University. She is inspired by Austrian graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister’s innovative cross disciplinary graphic expression as well as British artist Andy Goldsworthy’s deceptively delicate alterations of the landscape achieved in his installation art. Wishing to incorporate these exceptional artist’s ways of seeing in her own work, she has chosen to comment on current social and political issues by creating public art through her Masters Degree in Art, Design and Communication form CEPT University, Ahmedabad. 05

INCANDESCENT BULB At a company called Philips in Mumbai, India I came to life in September 2012. My birth was an exhausting and painful trip down a large assembly line full of mechanized robots. At the end of the ordeal all of us, called ‘incandescent bulbs’, went into a ‘testing laboratory’. Most of us shone like stars. The successful candidates were crated into protective boxes, loaded onto trucks and shipped all over the country. My destination was the showroom of the Brahma Shatriya Trading Company on Gandhi Road in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Upon arrival in our retail destination, we were put on shelves in the store. At the factory we were not told what our jobs would be. In the store I came to know that we provide light when the sun is not shining outside, so that people can continue their work after the sky is dark. My shop owner, Harish Bhai, is a wealth of information about our history. He shares his stories with his customers. He

says, “These small objects have a great history to reveal. A genius scientist named Thomas Alva Edison invented us during the late 19th century. We were the greatest invention of that time and we continue to be useful today.” Harish Bhai, talks to everyone who walks into the showroom and tries hard to get them to buy something. He told one customer that he had been a hawker in Baroda, selling household items on the street. As he gained confidence with his business he was able to move to the city of Ahmedabad and find a shop in the Old City. He loved all types of electrical equipment, including me. His business was flourishing. I was languishing in the shop. New stock arrived and it was given front row placement in the showroom. A more difficult problem was that a competing product called the “Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) is squeezing us out. Our competitor is said to last longer and be easier on the environment. However, I do not believe that the light shining from the CFL has a ‘candle’ on our natural brightness. One fine Tuesday morning, on the eighth of January, 2013, my fate changed. A young man in a yellow T-shirt came into our showroom. He spoke with my owner saying, “I need a bulb for ten-rupees as a part of a project for my University.” The owner picked me up. I was worried. It was frightening to go away from the comforts of the showroom. My new owner put me in his knapsack and carried me through the noisy Old City market and through Gates known as Teen Dar waaza. After several hours we landed at a University campus called Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT). I was carefully placed in a box with many other items.

Light Bulb

The next Wednesday morning I was taken outside. My owner and some other students photographed us. We returned to our boxes with great discussion and laughter. As luck would have it, I fell from the top and lay shattered on the ground, broken. But my life is not over. I lie in the storeroom with my lower torso wrapped in paper. My image and story will live on in the book ten by ten.

Nabajit Deka: Architect and Information Design Specialist has a certificate in Cybernetics Project Management from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. While an undergraduate Architecture student he was awarded a competitive scholarship for an International exchange workshop program in Fachhochschule Erfurt University of Applied Science, Germany. For two weeks Indian and German students partnered to develop a Universal Design for a Child Development Centre. He completed his undergraduate thesis in Urban Design of a Commercial and Institutional corridor in his hometown of Guwahati, Assam. After graduation he worked for a year as a junior architect with ‘Kishore Sharma Architects’, New Delhi. Nabajit matriculated from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Guwahati, Assam and received his B Arch. from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. In order to make meaningful connections between graphic arts and architecture, he is currently enrolled in the MA program in Art, Design and Communication at Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) University, Ahmedabad. 06

A SOAP MEMOIR I was born in Indonesia to the prestigious P. T. Megasurya Mas Family owners and operators of a large factory creating our soap community. The owners were happy to see my smart, bubbly body and my inherently sweet fragrance from grape extracts. I was carefully wrapped in cheerful purple plastic paper, sporting fruity graphics and the name “tutti frutti”. I looked and smelled good enough to eat. The factory decided to send me to India by airfreight, as I was attractive for the Indian market. I was excited.

The transport plane arrived in Mumbai, India and the shipment I was part of was transferred into a gigantic truck bound for the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat. My destination was a wholesale trading store called the Sagar Trading

Company. Their busiest outlet was in the Old City near Teen Derwaaja, the Three Gates. With other soaps and beauty products, I was placed prominently on the shelves with brothers and sisters from my company in Indonesia. A few of us were purchased, and the rest waited patiently on the shelves to be taken to a new home.

Finally, on the eighth of January 2013 a student, who said he was from CEPT University, came into the store. He asked the shop owner Chetanbhai Shah for something worth ten rupees. He was directed towards my shelf. From all of the available soaps the student picked me! He hurried out of the area to a nearby meeting place, the House of MG, a heritage hotel. The student met with his professor. The professor said, “This will do very well, but it has such a strong smell that it seems like candy!”

Many more students checked in with their professor. After receiving her approval, they went back to their campus. I remained with my owner until being placed in a box in the professor’s office with many different objects. After a lonely week waiting in the box, we were taken out by the students and photographed with a big machine called a camera. The students and professor talked their project to bring objects back from Manek Chowk and then stories about us. These stories were made into a book with profiles of each writer. What a wonderful end to my excellent adventure as Indonesian specialty soap. I found fame in India! I wonder if they will write a song and dance about me for that place they call Bollywood?

‘tutti frutti’ soap

Vishal Gurnani : Interior Designer and Art Promoter recently worked as a technical assistant for the New York based installation artist ‘Wang Chi Moto’ at the 2012 Cochin Muzari Biennale, held for the first time in India. Vishal has traveled in Europe, South East Asia and the Middle East. His sports background in State and National Tennis has prepared him for the competitive world of arts promotion. At the same time Vishal has been active in social service as a volunteer vacation teacher at Sindhu High School, Ahmedabad. His academic successes include scholarships for two years of study as an undergraduate Interior Design student. Vishal completed St. Kabir’s High School, Ahmedabad, and received his BA in Interior Design from the Institute of Environmental Design, Vallabh Vidhyangar, in Anand. He is currently enrolled in the MA program in Art, Design and Communication at CEPT University, Ahmedabad. 07

“ONCE UPON A TIME...” My name is “CB”, short for Clear Box, and I am a container. My current home is on a vendor’s wagon in the crowded streets of Manek Chowk Market in the old city of Ahmedabad. Although small, I am able to hold several useful objects; a pencil sharpener, erasers and a glue stick. We are not only all useful by ourselves but we also work well together. In combination we can help students with their writing, by sharpening pencils, with their editing, by erasing mistakes and with their illustrations by gluing drawings onto the page. My job as ‘CB’ is to keep everything safe and together close at hand.

One fine day, while peacefully lying on my wagon, a young woman came up to the hawker and asked, “Do you have anything for ten rupees?” She explained that she was a student on assignment to find a ‘meaningful object’ for ten rupees. She was shown several items including me. I had the feeling today was my lucky day, and I was right. A ten-rupee note changed hands and I was dropped into her bag. After a short walk outside the market, she showed me to someone she called her professor. We went in an auto-rickshaw to a place she called the Campus. I came to rest in an office, in a box with several other objects.

Time passed and it became boring to sit with these other objects doing nothing. After a week we were all picked up and taken outside to have our pictures taken. This was fun because many students talked about how we looked and why we were chosen. Now the pictures are in another box called a computer. Unlike me, the trusty and useful ‘CB’ this, box is opaque. It has lots of lights and wires and seems to have mysterious things going on inside. I wonder what will happen to me next? Whatever it is, I know that when the student uses my contents, however quickly or slowly, I will continue to be useful. This is because there is always some sort of collection you need to store safely in a place where it is close at hand and can be easily seen. This is your trusty ‘CB’ telling you the story of my life so far.

‘Clear Box’ container for stationery items.

Pooja Panchal : Artist and Educator, born in Mumbai and sees the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo as a role model because she painted whatever passed through her mind in both literal and metaphorical forms. For eight years Pooja has been exhibiting her paintings across India at galleries including NCPA Mumbai, Art Consult Gallery, Delhi, Mon Art Gallery, Calcutta, Amdavad ni Gufa, Ahmedabad and ABS Gallery, Vadodara. For two years she has been a visiting lecturer in Painting and Art History at Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat. Pooja completed secondary school at Mohini Ba School, Ahmedabad and her diploma in visual arts at C.N College of Fine Arts, in Ahmedabad. She continued her studies with a post-graduate diploma in visual arts from M.S. University, Vadodara. Because of her desire to practice and lecture in contemporary fine art, Pooja is pursuing her MA in Art, Design and Communication at CEPT University, Ahmedabad. 08

THE TWO SIDES OF A KNIFE I am a small knife made by a metal smith in Chandni Chowk, New Delhi. My customary use is for cutting food, fruits, vegetables and baked goods. I am also useful for opening cans, cutting strings and even making small pieces of wood. These are my good traits. Unfortunately, I am sometimes used for bad deeds such as robbery, murder, suicides and other crimes. These uses make me sad. I am sorry for my society. My greatest wish is to be purchased by someone who will make practical use of me to improve their daily life. In coming to life, only my blade was made on the day I was born. My plastic handle, printed with text and flowers, was added at another workshop nearby. When all of my parts were put together, a wholesale merchant

packaged me with many of my knife friends and other small objects. My next home was a New Delhi warehouse. A businessman from Ahmedabad purchased us and we were shipped by truck to his city then stored in a local warehouse. Our final retail destination was the rolling cart of a hawker near Rani ka Hajira, Manek Chowk in the Old City of Ahmedabad. The hawker, named Yogesh Bhai Thakor, kept his cart on the main road. He had a large variety of items. What they had in common was that everything on his cart cost ten rupees. A young man came up to the cart, picked me up and asked Yogesh, “How much for this knife?” Yogesh said, “Ten rupees.” The young man smiled and handed over the payment. He asked Yogesh many questions about who he was and how he came to be selling in this market. Through these questions, I, the little knife, came to know my new owner. He was a student, Paras, at CEPT University and that I was part of his writing project. How strange, I thought. This is when I came to know that everything on Yogesh’s cart cost ten rupees. It made me happy to have been chosen from everything available. Paras took me back to his campus at the University. I was left on a table for a week. Finally I was taken to the garden and photographed. Paras, his fellow student Nabajit, and his professor worked together on my story. I came to be in a book. Paras told his friend Nabajit that he would use me for his artwork at the University and also to cut his fruit for his lunch. It is wonderful to be selected as a knife for a good purpose.

The Small Steel Knife

Paras Patel : Applied Artist and aspiring Film Maker has a passion for getting to the root of a corporate campaign in advertising. He worked as a Graphic Designer for eight months with Ronak Graphics, Ahmedabad specializing in stationary, posters and outdoor graphics. His artistic interests are photography and landscape watercolor painting. He received an award for his photography from Lalit Kala Academy in 2009. He received a State Award for the design of an anti-smoking campaign sponsored by the Gujarat Cancer Society in 2010. Paras completed his Diploma in Fine Arts (Applied Arts) from R.V Shah College of Fine Arts, Dholka, Gujarat in 2010. He went on to complete an Art Teacher’s Diploma (ATD) at the same college in 2011. In order to understand filmmaking and writing campaigns he is continuing his education in the MA program in Art, Design and Communication CEPT University, Ahmedabad. 09

BUNDLE OF PAGES I was born in a papermaking factory called Laxmi Notebook Manufacturing Company in Ahmedabad. Sheets of paper were folded and cut and then a cardboard cover was stapled around the outside. The machines used in the process were huge. The noise was deafening. After many days, there were hundreds of us stacked at the end of the assembly line. We came in many sizes, with different types of paper and varying qualities of materials. I was a pocket-sized notebook, ready for my new owner’s words. Stacked with many brothers and sisters, a gentleman named Vinod Soni came to the company warehouse and selected my bundle. Vinod took me to his store in Manek Chowk a market in the Old City. While feeling nostalgic for the company of other notebooks in the warehouse, I enjoyed the lively variety of people and products at the market. The shop was named Sagar Trading locat-

ed on Gandhi Road near the Bank of Baroda. Inside the shop, I was kept second in a pile of books on the right hand side of the counter. We were not the first books selected by most of the customers. Some others in the bundle were chosen, but I remained on the shelf. Days passed and I enjoyed listening to the different customers throughout the day. Vinod, the owner, was well informed about his products. He encouraged every customer to buy something in the store. All I could do was hope that someone would need me. On January eighth, 2013 at 11:46 am. A young woman entered the shop. She said to the owner, “My assignment from University is to find a ‘valuable object’ for ten rupees.” Vinod picked me up and gave me to the student. She paid the money and put me into her backpack. We went for a long walk to unknown places. I was taken out of the backpack and shown to an older woman she called her professor. Then I went on a longer journey in a vehicle to a place my new owner called CEPT University. What do they do at Universities? Students label their possessions. My owner’s name, Twinkle, was written on the cover of the book. After that, nothing happened for a long time. I was stored in a box in an office. Eventually the objects were photographed. The students discussed writing stories about the objects they had collected and making the stories into a book.

Note Book

My owner and her professor discussed how I could be of use. Twinkle wants to write scripts based on short stories. This sounds interesting. Before starting the script, she needs to read many short stories and choose the one’s she believes are best to be translated into films. She needs a notebook to write down the titles and summaries of all the stories she reads. According to her professor, she should write in longhand in a notebook because it will stay in her head that way. I am going to be that notebook. This time is the most exciting part of my life. I look forward to being completely filled up with words.

Twinkle Pithadia : is a commerce graduate and aspiring Filmmaker, concentrating on script writing for

documentaries and feature films. The practicality of her business background is an excellent basis for organizational skills required in the film industry. Through her current studies, she realized a talent for story telling in an Animation Workshop. This experience opened her mind to career possibilities in writing for film and television. She brings to her goals a keen interest in travel, participation in team sports, particularly basketball, and experience as a folk and contemporary dance performer seen recently at the Gujarat University Youth Festival in 2011. She completed secondary education at Aroma High School, graduation in Business Administration from the Gujarat Law Society, and is pursuing an MA program in Art, Design and Communication from CEPT University, all in Ahmedabad.

TWO IN TEN There are two seeds strung together in two red threads and tied around two hands. These are created as protectors for a couple tying the wedding knot. “Midar” is a cosmic and medicinal band tied around the wrist of a couple just before the wedding. As an outsider I was unaware of the culture and customs of the Indian State of Gujarat. I began my search for a ‘valuable object’ that would stand out as a discovery of the State as well as its’ people in the traffic ridden narrow and encroached streets near ‘Teen dar waaza’, the Three Gates of the Old City of Ahmedabad. I took a long walk to ‘Nagina Pol’ where a helpful shopkeeper redirected me back to my starting point of the three gates. On his advice I located the

oldest and most treasured shops of old Ahmedabad. Finding the smallest gateway of the deep grey, thick walled structure with shops clustered like closely fitted matchboxes I entered my new space. The signboard read: “Saraiya Brothers’ Shop”, one hundred years old. It was established by Kanti lal Saraiya and is now managed by seventy-six year old Nikhil bhai. This grey haired gentleman with a white crocheted cap welcomed me into the shop. After explaining my search for a ten rupee ‘meaningful Gujarati traditional object’, Nikhil explained that he only had a few ritual objects, and even fewer at a low price. Because of the changing marketplace, he sold not only ceremonial and ritual wedding and festival objects but also cosmetics and fake metal jewelry used to adorn a bride or a deity. Not to be dissuaded, I looked around and spotted two seeds with red threads strung through them. Nikhil told me that this object, sold in pairs, was called ’Midar’. It was one of the oldest objects sold in the shop. By tying these seeds with red thread on their wrists, the bride and groom are relieved of tension and feel free and calm during their wedding. Nikhil completed his story, “The seeds are collected in villages and the local women tie the seeds with the red ‘Mauli’ threads and then send it to us for sale. They send them with good wishes which are carried forward to the bride and groom who buy them.” The ‘Midar’ were just what I was looking for. These seeds were part of a cultural timeline of hundreds of years. They had witnessed stories from a pre-independent India to the present day. They were sold to both Hindu and Muslim communities of Ahmedabad even during the Partition of India and the Hindu-Muslim riots in Gujarat. It is amazing how the same threads and seeds positively connected the two religions despite everything. ‘Midar’ mirrored the beliefs of the people of Gujarat. And now as an outsider i have a better understanding of the place where I have come to study. And they were exactly the right price.

‘midar’ thread to be tied around the hand

Two seeds and ten rupees, mission accomplished!

Shikha Singh: Architect and Architectural Journalist, has always been passionate about writing, main-

taining a journal of her thoughts since childhood. She writes poetry, prose, songs and criticism while pursuing her other great interest in architecture. Shikha received a Gold Medal in Architecture from Dehradun Institute of Technology, Uttarakhand. After graduation she worked for a year at “Design Development Forum Consultants” in New Delhi where she not only worked for client projects from concept to working stages but also was able to write for the Company’s newsletter,’The Forum’ gaining valuable experience in writing about architecture as well as editing other’s work.She volunteered for a student installation titled “Chaap” at the 2012 Cochin Muzris Biennale festival, held for the first time in India. Through her writing she will explore connections between Design, Space and Human Experience. Knowing that she wanted to push the combination of architecture and writing further, she is pursuing an MA in Art, Design and Communication at CEPT University, Ahmedabad. 11

BEAUTIFUL BLUE BANGLES The market place at Manek Chowk in Ahmedabad is haphazard at best. It is easy to become lost in the vast array of tiny shops. I was lost, until Tinku called out to me and said, “Madam Ji, dusk ke do (ten for a pair).” He held out two beautiful blue glass bangles. Tinku told me that they are from his home village of Borjabad in Uttar Pradesh. I know that I have found the ‘valuable object’ for ten rupees given as a project by our writing professor at CEPT University. However, my research has just begun. Where did the bangles come from? How did the glass blowers achieve the beautiful blue colour? Is Tinku an artisan or just a sales person? My story telling task is to engage Tinku in a conversation to find the answers to these questions.

Blue bangles

Tinku obliged me by answering all of my questions and more. He described his home village as a hub of industrious people, who have been practicing glassmaking for eighty years. Conscripted at a tender age of ten to the dangerous business of glass blowing for bangles, he escaped the factories when his father invited him to Ahmedabad to sell bangles. Tinku learned marketing by hawking from a cart for many years. Just a few days ago he moved up to the next stage of retail by setting up a shop in the Three Gates of the Old City. I am one of his first customers in his new home. He prefers the convenience of the shop to street selling with all of the uncertainties of temporary locations. He is enjoying the freedom to set up a display that features his favorite products. Not finished with his narrative, Tinku talks about his childhood. Tinku made bangles in dark unlit factories. The fires from the glass furnaces kept them warm in the winter, but boiled the artisan’s skin in the hot summer winds. There were times when he wanted to run away. Other times he found happiness in glassblowing because it was teamwork. You have to be an outgoing individual in the competitive selling business. This was hard for Tinku to learn. The cost of fuel has made it difficult to keep bangle prices low and so now the factories are not happy places. His mother still makes delicate lamp blown bangles back home, in their family workshop. Tinku brings her work to Ahmedabad and displays it in a special place in his shop. The pair of bangles is packed in my bag to return to CEPT and my writing class. As I make notes and recall Tinku’s words I realize that I have been given the story of an ancient Indian Craft, “glass bangle making.” This knowledge is worth more than the ten rupees I have spent, and I still have two beautiful pieces of jewelry to wear. The bangles will remind me Tinku’s life and livelihood. Through my story I can share this with my classmates, teachers and friends.

Nithya Suri : Architect and Author –worked for a year post graduation at “Dutta & Kannan Architects” in Bangalore, India. Nithya traveled to Dubai and Bhutan to study vernacular architecture. She conducted research on Indian fishing villages affected by the tsunami and the role of architecture in disaster relief. Her recent activities include as a volunteer for the art gallery “Kala Kruti” at Hyderabad. as well as “Burrp” an online food guide, by ‘Infomedia 18 Venture’, where she worked as a community manager. She hopes to be self-employed in the hospitality industry where she can devote some of her time to writing about architecture. Nithya completed secondary school at Narayana Academy, Hyderabad and received her B. Arch from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad with a 6-year proficiency diploma in Hindi. To combine Architecture and Writing she is pursuing her MA in Art, Design and Communication at CEPT University, Ahmedabad. 12

THE INCENSE STICK My life began when the Omnipotent One, God, asked me, “What do you want to be if you had to be an object?” My mind filled with the smell of the Temple, the scent of faith and the aromatic pleasure of happiness. I wanted to be a stick of incense. How could I make this happen? In villages all over India, women and children of the lowest caste collect dung from animals and cut sticks from local trees. They do this to make a few rupees to feed their families and because they are the only people who collect the priceless yet untouchable dung. Upon drying the dung and smoothing the sticks, they mix the dung with perfumes extracted from flowers and plants. Their employers who will package their wares and take them to Market, gives these perfumes to them. The scent is added to the dung and rolled onto the stick to create incense, also known as ‘joss’ sticks for the Temple. This is how I, a simple stick of incense,

in a large package of similar brothers and sisters, came into being. When the incense maker’s employers took their wares to the Old City of Ahmedabad,I found myself, one incense stick in a package, on a bicycle with a young boy. His work was to go from car to car on the busy intersections trying to get people to buy his products. He was unsuccessful for several days. But, on the eighth of January 2013 a young lady stopped the boy on his bicycle and asked, “Do you have anything for ten rupees?” He replied, “Yes mam, these freshly made incense sticks. See what a large package there is for only ten rupees!” The young woman happily put me in her shopping bag and then met with her friends and a person she called her professor. The professor said, “incense sticks, that’s nice, these remind me of the scent in Temples.” Soon her friends started showing objects, which they got it from the same market place called “Teen dar waaza”. Amongst all of the student’s choices, I was the only object that possessed both spiritual and practical design. My scent brings the senses of the user into a calm, and divine consciousness and masks unpleasant odors wherever it is lit. It pleased me to have been chosen by my student. When I arrived at my new home it was called CEPT University. The package was given a label with the title Shweta Vala, AH0912, my new owner’s identity. After a week in my storage box, I was taken outside and photographed. My life had begun, but my mission was incomplete. Following the photography the students wrote stories. My owner took me reverently out of the package and wedged me in a folder on the professor’s desk. When the professor returned, my scent permeated the atmosphere. The professor was able to relax, sit down and edit my story. This was an excellent end to the life of an incense stick.

Incense sticks

Shweta Vala: Multidisciplinary Artist is directing her creativity to work with site-specific public art installations. Having completed her Bachelors in Business Administration at GLS College, Ahmedabad, Shweta decided to change directions and bring her organizational and human relations skills to the world of art. Throughout her childhood she received numerous awards in fields including sports, dance, film and creative writing. She is currently exploring mixed-media: sculpture, performance and installation art, in greater depth. Since she began studies in art and design, Shweta has achieved success with her lighting designs and will work on other applied art projects in her research studies. Shweta chose Art, Design and Communication at CEPT because of the freedom to choose both the subject matter and the process to express art in contemporary culture. 13

Acknowledgements

The idea of this book was born in the assignments we were given by Skye Morrison. We owe her a great debt of gratitude for her advice and mentoring. This was in addition to the personal attention she gave to every student in our class during the two week Research Writing Workshop. We are also grateful to Sharmila Sagara and Jaai Kakani for ongoing inputs with our work through previous teaching and future classes. We thank CEPT University and the MA program in Arts, Design and Communication (M.A.D.C) for providing us with the platform to explore our writing skills and share our results by publishing this book.It was a pleasure interacting with the House of MG, a Heritage Hotel, which was the beginning point of the Short Story exercise. We express a heartfelt gratitude to Priyanka Naik, M.A.D.C Administrator, for all of her last minute help. Late nights and early mornings in our studios would not have been possible without the teams of CEPT security guards and front desk officers. We thank our fellow students and visiting faculty at M.A.D.C for all the brainstorming and the hard work that created â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ten by Tenâ&#x20AC;?.

Afterward

Ten By Ten is an expression of life encountered by young students in the MA program in Art, Design and Communication program at CEPT University. This is an outcome of a workshop conducted on Research Writing by Dr. Skye Morrison. Skye always had this idea of taking students to the Old City which is her home whenever she is in Ahmedabad. Skye has the capacity to connect with people to the core and extract the essence of their life and experiences bringing out the best in them. Through this workshop her intent was to make students touch such lives around them and respond through words. Here was a ten rupee note and the thought of purchasing something “valuable” with it, a challengein itself. One can hardly have a cup of ‘chhai’ in ten rupees so imagine if you are looking for a special object? But it is Skye who is as ever ready to take flight .The ten rupee note worked to create ten stories. They are not simple narratives but real slices of life. I am sure these ten students have seen and experienced much more than what they are showing us here through their writing. I also believe that this inquisitiveness inculcated in them by Skye will remain as an effective tool with them for life. Beware this tool is sharp but needs to keep its’ edges bright and shiny before you use them. I wish all the students and ‘Dr. Skye’ keep weaving their web and showing us how beautiful is the world around us. Sharmila Sagara