ARTS & CULTURE
THE WEEKLY OBSERVER SUPPLEMENT tueSDAY, MARCH 21, 2017
The Lesser Known Weave of Ahom Discovering a little-known gem in Assam’s textile rich textile heritage Romita Majumdar
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he one-horned rhinoceros once flourished across the length of breadth of northern India from the Indus to the Brahmaputra basin. Today its presence is limited to highly protected sanctuaries in Bengal and Assam. Yet, the beast made an elusive appearance in the Silicon city last week. Albeit, on six yards of loom. Handlooms in India have derived inspiration from nature since inception. Be it the bright colors of Rajasthani fabrics contrasting the stark desert, peacocks on Maharashtra’s ubiquitous Paithani saree or the subtle golden stripes on Kerala’s sett saree to offset the colorful landscape; nature never ceases to inspire. Similarly, when one thinks of Assamese weaves the first image that crops up in the mind is that of the iridescent Muga silk and the Mekhla-Chador or Sador which is the traditional outfit of Ahomiya women. Yet, the once abundant one-horned rhino turns up quietly on sador (stoles) and sarees of the erstwhile kingdom of Ahom. The Kaziranga weave is a unique saree weaving technique originating around the wildlife sanctuary. It is an ode to the delicate man-animal bond in forests of the East. The saree is characterized by muted colors like milkwhite and dull pinks offset by bright rhinos in red, green and black. The aanchal which is the most heavily embroi-
dered part of the saree consist of deers, Adjutant storks and other endemic species along with the rhino. Shilpi Rani Baruah, 31, hails from a family of weavers. She never planned on becoming a weaver herself. She stud-
ied computer science and went on to work as a stenographer before realizing her calling lay elsewhere. Unlike other weavers, she learned the skill much later in life but it did not deter her from finding a niche market. “These sarees take up to ten days to complete depending on the intricacy of the weave,” says Baruah. Originally, these sarees were purely woven for casual wear unlike the Mekhla which tends to be more of a festive outfit when it is made out of Muga silk. Mekhlas may also be woven on cotton or silk but the Kaziranga weave was exclusively created on cotton owing to its functional use in the fields and
forests. This robust loom does not require starch or ironing. It is an ideal fabric to survive the extreme temperature shifts of the fertile Brahmaputra basin. However, the emergence of a cosmopolitan market warranted the switch to lighter fabrics like mercerized cotton and Dupion silks in many weaving communities which raises the cost. They range anywhere between 1500 to 5000 rupees based on the quality. So unique is the craft that each family of weavers can have exclusive motifs and patterns. Baruah holds a certificate from the Ministry of Textiles for her technique which enables her to create sarees which are locked away in the Ministry’s vault for their sheer rarity. “Although, I do wish they would let me market those designs instead of turning them into showpieces. The only way to promote the industry would be by taking it to more buyers,” she says. While Baruah isn’t the first weaver to bring the saree to Bangalore she is definitely one of the few entrepreneurs from the east to identify its demand in urban enclaves. She moved to Bangalore eight years ago. She goes back to her hometown near Guwahati a couple of times annually to update the community about current color and design trends based on client feedback. The Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath regularly hosts Shilpa Melas that provides a platform for small handicraft entrepreneurs like Baruah to connect to keen buyers and handloom enthusiasts. So the next time you are looking for some a unique gift for your saree-loving friends or just a comfortable outfit, do try the rhino weaves of Kaziranga to add a hint of the wild to your wardrobe.
Nothing Like “Nothing like Lear”! A roller coaster of emotions, the play juggles with the original Shakespearean play Ashima Chowdhary
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taging a single character play is a big risk. The character has to engage the audience while staying true to the script. He has to have a massive stage presence and deliver to the expectations of his audience as well as those of his director. The writer and the director have to maintain a quick pace and keep the proceedings interesting and minimalistic. And ‘Nothing like Lear’, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear, directed by Rajat Kapoor manages to do just as same. The play was showcased in Bangalore as part of the Shakespeare comedy festival at JyotiNivas Auditorium, JyotiNivas College, Koramangala. Vinay Pathak plays a clown battling happiness, sadness and madness. Watching the play is like a game where the audience and the actor fight for the upper hand and the actor always wins. The whole idea behind the play is the ability to talk to a stranger about things which we cannot talk about to even the people closest to us. Pathak narrates the story of his life starting from his childhood to his tryst with depression, a therapist and a laughter club to becoming a father and finally being abandoned by his daughter. The element evident while watching (/reading) King Lear is tragedy. King
Lear is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It depicts the gradual descent into madness of the title character, after he disposes of his kingdom giving bequests to two of his three daughters based on their flattery of him, bringing tragic consequences for all. On the other hand, Nothing like Lear teases the audience and makes it hard for them to decide what all to accept and what all to reject. Pathak juggles truth and expectations. He nods appreciatively when the audience gives him the word he’s been trying to recall and sprinkling an “I know my lines,” every here and then thus hinting that the audience better take his words with a pinch of salt. At the heart of the play is the miserable relationship of the clown with his child. This unfolds through some splendidly considered scenes in which Pathak ventures into the role of a narrator and switches between that and the role of an actor, talking with the group of audience one minute, talking lines of tremendous anguish the next.The play takes deeper, darker turns as it progresses, plummeting the clown into madness. The clown, sometimes in the role of a father and sometimes a son, spews unspeakable bile that only long-suffering, patient men are capable of. There are moments in the play where the clown, after a very poignant scene, claims to have faked the entire story just to get the audience’s goat thus taking away the cathartic effect
of the scene. The lighting in the play was fascinating and was used to set the tone/mood of a particular scene rather than being obtrusively loud and showy. This was a technical masterstroke since it allowed the audience to focus on the character and did not distract them from the storyline. All in all, Kapoor has created a play which is funny interactive and insightful. It is a rollercoaster of emotions and the flow of the script makes it clear that Kapoor is a man who knows his stuff.
BUSINESS
THE WEEKLY OBSERVER SUPPLEMENT TUESDAY, march 21, 2017
Fintech Without Finance India is being encouraged to go digital, but who wants to invest in the Indian fintech sector? Anirudh Saligrama
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ince November 2016 the Indian Government is encouraging the Digital India movement. Although Fintech encourages digitalisation, in an almost paradoxical situation, the Indian fin-tech space witnessed 75 per cent fall in funding. However, the number of deals soared five-year high to 50. Venture capital (the financers who invest on startups and SME) witnessed 13 per cent decline in funding in 2016 globally, in contrast to 2015. CB insights conducted a research in three countries: India, USA and China. USA managed to stay on top with $5.5 billion funding in 2016 and 422 deals. India stood second with $ 388 million and 50 deals. China took the third position out of the three countries with $ 4.6 million and 46 deals. According to sources and reports by Bloomberg, Douglas Feagin, SVP head of International operations at Ant Financial said, “This gives a very attractive business that is already quite engaged with a substantial consumer base in the United States. Remittance is a very important activity and we think this is a great way for us to build a presence around U.S consumers.” But the story in India is different. Most of the fintech companies in the Indian market are looking to capture and retain their customer base. It was only One97 communications, the parent of Paytm, who managed to get a spot at number 4 in terms of valuation of 22 companies across the globe, according to a CB
insights report. However, Nainesh Kapadia, co-founder of Indian fintech company, Fund Tonic, said, “The share of Angel investment is higher compared to Venture Capital in the
Indian Fin tech space. Hence higher the number of deals, smaller is the funding. Angel investors are private or individuals who invest on start-ups when the start ups is at a nascent stage as compared to Venture Capitalists who can afford to invest in larger volumes .“Also M&A in Fin-Tech space is still under test phase. If observed closely, there are no major M&A or in fin-tech space except a few which are at very high level,” Nainesh added.
Investors in India may not be convinced about their earning potential by investing in the fintech sector. Balram Nair, VP at Chennai Angels, a venture capital firm said, “Most of the companies are creating their own barricades in terms of execution platforms for investors. But if you come up with hard-core robust and robot advisory platforms, and if you can prove that robot advisory is good in terms of execution, then there are chances of receiving funds. There are systems now that can exit credit costs. Space also includes payment gateways. Hence it is difficult to take a call if fin-tech is a good platform or not for investing. If a fin-tech company is ready to solve the problem which exists at different stages, it certainly may be a good investment option. There are chances of a decline in vanilla apps and wallet payment systems. However, there are also certain risks in terms of lending money depending on how the company can generate revenue,” Balram added. The giant push that the government is planning in terms of B2C space towards going digital is a huge incentive for the fin-tech segment in India. This way, it attracts a lot of investors to invest in fin-tech space, says Anil Chhikara – former Principal at Jaavris Accelerator. Anil added that the bigger impact is going to be for the SME segments. “From using non-digital methods to going online, I expect the number of deals and funding to go up drastically. In India, this is the starting phase of fin-tech. I think six to twelve months down the line we can expect large consolidation of acquisitions happening and witness the larger number of funding coming in.
Bridging the Artisan-Consumer Gap E-commerce portals and social media have given a new lease of life to the once dying art of Kalamakari Ahana Chatterjee
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hat was a dead art few years ago has returned to the markets with a bang. Kalamkari art is not only is becoming a trend in the industry but giving a new dimension to the business of the handlooms. Recently, in the Shilpa mela which is regularly organised at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Kalamkari has been given three stalls. It shows how much it being commercialised and people prefer the handloom. This art has also a Geographical Indication tag in Andhra Pradesh. There are around 250 families in Tamil Nadu practising hand printed Kalamkari art. Also, the e-commerce portals like Amazon, Ajio live,
Jabong, iTokri, Tjori, Flipkart have started selling Kalamkari in different forms. Femy, an eco-friendly company has started marketing Kalamkari sanitary napkins through Amazon. Other essential products like shoes, phone covers,mugs, bags and file covers are also sold on different e-commerce portals. iTokri and V.Poojitha are some online stores which customise Kalamkari products. Social media like Instagram, Twitter has been used by new entrepreneurs to promote this art from. Various celebrity designers have also started working with this fabric recently. Last year in Lakme Fashion week in summer resort’s segment, designer Divya Seth showcased Kalamkari in a different manner and named it as Nijmandir. Another designer Gaurang Shah worked with this textile and showcased in 2015’s Lakme Fashion Week. Celebrity designer Nita Lulla used Kalamakari in her winter collection in Lakme Fashion Week 2016. People of all age from prefer to wear this as it a very soft fabric. Not only women but men also have started using it as it is a very comfortable and soft one. “One of my friends suggested me Kalamkari. I love it because of the comfort,” said Shreya
Chatterjee, a media professional from Mumbai. Many new designers and boutiques are using social media to promote this art form. Instagram has a huge audience for Kalamkari fabric. Poojitha VS from Kerala makes this fabric on her own and then exclusively retails through Instagram. “Actually for me, Kalamkari is so comfortable to wear and the prints are so unique and different from other fabric. If we wear a maxi dress or kurta or any other stuff that we made of this fabric, it gives a traditional touch,” said Poojitha who makes maxi dresses mostly and sells it to her customers through Instagram. “I have customers from age of 20 to 40 and I think this brought a new trend in the fashion industry,” she added. “Being a Bengali boy, I have a love for kurta and dhoti. Kalamkari being attractive and comfortable always puts glamour to my traditional wear list. My elder sister is a boutique lover; she prefers handlooms and tribal sarees, kurtis and shirts. So, I developed the love for Kalamkari shirts and kurtas from her, “Abhirup Ghosh, a student from Kolkata stated. This textile was recently being introduced in the syllabus of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT). Recently, the Association of Kalamkari artists in Andhra Pradesh also staged a protest against cheaper screen printed varieties flooding the market. Madhu Jain, an Indian revivalist who has completed 30 years in the fashion industry recently debuted in the Amazon Fashion Week with her work on Kalamkari. In an interview with Business Standard, Madhu said, “I am trying to show my thirty years of work with this collection. I have never done a show before and I thought this was the best time where I could present my work especially ikat and Kalamakari fabrics.”